UPDATE: OU Official Announcement

 

University Technology Services staff are working around the clock to resolve any technical difficulties pertaining to registration through the SAIL system. Overwhelming demand has created some capacity issues, and further service interruptions may occur. Both UTS staff and external service providers are working to limit this as much as possible. University administrators apologize for any inconvenience this is causing students. Updates on the situation will be posted as they are made available.

 

 

It’s usually an exciting time in the semester, and a surprising realization that you’re about halfway done with your classes. 

 

Registration by class standing began Monday at midnight for the winter 2010 semester. A good majority of Oakland University seniors stayed up dawdling on their laptops Sunday night, with CRN numbers for the last three or four classes they need to graduate jotted down somewhere nearby. Undoubtedly, some of OU’s 3,645 graduate students were also among them that night.

 

Juniors got to take part in this event Monday night, juniors got to do it Tuesday night and freshmen will be able to wait up to register Wednesday night.

 

The record enrollment might have something to do with the fact that it took some students an hour or more to register online. Some say it’s the slowest — and most frustrating — it has ever been. Especially when you’re getting to the point where there are certain classes you need to take, your May graduation depends on it, and there are only so many seats available. Some classes are even only offered once a year or once every two years. A culmination of thousands of hours of studying and working and tens of thousands of dollars in tuition are all riding on the last semester. The poorly timed registration comes as a shock, especially since some midterms were pushed later to make up for the first couple weeks of missed class. This only emphasizes the rush factor for picking those last couple classes. 

 

We also ought to point out that if you want to register, on top of being painstakingly slow, the process itself is unclear. The site, if you’re able to find it, isn’t user-friendly. There are multiple log-in requests, and the degree evaluation system doesn’t work. So if students hadn’t met with their advisers, they had no way of double checking what they needed to complete their degrees. 

 

To be fair, some remember how horrific it was to try registering online years ago on older servers at schools without a registration system broken down by class standing. Macomb transfers might recall staying up all night hitting refresh and re-dial simultaneously in hopes of getting into a decent class.

 

OU’s office of the registrar did not return The Post’s inquiry for comment on whether any server updates were made to the SAIL system in anticipation of the higher numbers. But even if they didn’t make any updates, it’s understandable considering that the university was only expecting a 1 percent enrollment increase as opposed to the actual increase of 4 percent, and that figure was only released last week by the administration.

 

One thing that’s certain is that Facebook’s servers have been able to keep up with all of the disgruntled Grizzlies between midnight and 2 a.m. That seems to be where most students were electronically hanging out while waiting for SAIL to load page after page after page in the registration process. 

 

“::clicks:: ‘Register for Classes’ …………… CRASH!!!!!!” one OU student left as a status early Monday morning. “would love to graduate…come on OU and let me register!!!!” posted another. 

 

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. Whether it’s parking or class registration — Let’s keep looking for ways to upgrade this school to accommodate all the students the administration works so hard to recruit. We don’t want them coming here just to go to register or park, then get so pissed off they turn right back around.