Saturday, December 6, 2008

Online Registration Makes Sense for Today's Students!

Here's a typical conversation of a student talking to his wife about registration...




Here's why we are advocating online registration for students at The Art Institutes International Minnesota...


In an effort to increase efficiency and to facilitate greater convenience for its students, The Art Institutes International Minnesota has instituted an online registration program. No longer will students have to wait in long lines for an opportunity to speak to one academic advisor with the possibility that the class he or she has planned to register for is closed. Students will now be able to register from the privacy of their own homes at the time of their choosing. This change will enable students to use their time far more productively. In November of 2008, the Orlando Sentinal reported that a public school using online registration for the first time was successfully able to register 60 to 70 students within 20 minutes. This not only saves time and energy for students, but academic advisors are able to deal with students and immediate concerns within the classroom rather than only counseling students one by one from a line and then entering their class choices. The November edition of Parks and Recreation reported that a Vermont parks organization was able to register over 300 individuals for one of their programs in a 90 minute period using online registration. These reports illustrate how online registration can give both students and teachers more time to truly be effective.

Many students in colleges and universities have adopted online registration due to convenience and an added sense of autonomy that comes with the process. In 2005 the Greyhound, the student newspaper of Loyola University reported that 736 of 837 of its seniors registered for classes in a location other than Newman Towers, the location for traditional registration. This online process also fosters a sense of personal responsibility that some students forfeit by just sitting with an advisor and automatically taking the advice given to them. Adult decision making is one of the positive byproducts of an online registration program.

This new registration process will allow students more time to attend to their studies or actually sit in classes rather than waiting in long lines outside the advising office. Many times students in crisis, who need immediate attention from their advisors, are not assisted because registration processes take precedence and they cannot break through lines to speak to their advisors. The effects of online registration may not be felt immediately, but in the future they may prove to be powerful and positive. We encourage students to begin registering online this quarter so these changes may become a reality and the school is able to be of greater service to all who attend here.


Here's a survey we want you to take to gain information about your registration experiences during past quarters.

Click Here to take survey





1 comment:

Anonymous said...

HA! LOVE J's voice-acting.