With the approaching twilight of the fall semester comes the promising dawn of the spring semester, and like many of you I have already concluded the selection of my courses. Throughout the previous semester, registration has been characterized by problem of finding advisors, the struggle to obtain course booklets and the indecisiveness of establishing a schedule that best suits oneself for less work and a surplus of dormant behavior.
Whatever one’s personal objective, registration is relatively easy. The university is making every attempt to help students so that they can obtain the classes they want. Although some may object that too many obstacles impede the way we choose our classes, these obstacles are needed to organize the registration process. Moreover, St. John’s provides capable systems, whether it is Redphone or the university’s Web site, helping to reduce the opportunity for human fallibility.
Redphone is perhaps the most reliable of the two options, and best of all, most accessible to all students. As a faithful user of the service, I have found that it guides you through a journey of dial tones and automated messages. Redphones are available in each building throughout the university.
While the Internet registration service is perhaps equally as useful, my skepticism regarding computers and the Internet service is growing. The Web, even though it offers more time to complete the process, requires too many technicalities. Students have to enter more than three different ID numbers before being able to access their online information. The Web does provide one benefit and that is that it allows students to check which instructors are teaching particular courses and in what rooms the classes will be held.
Even though I did encounter some trouble concerning my evaluation chart, the problems were definitely minimal. The deans were helpful in explaining the mistakes made with my record and offered me the advice I needed to remedy the situation. St. John’s provides a fairly well-organized system for students registering for new classes. For all you computer savvy individuals, the Web site could definitely be helpful. As for myself, I will stick to using the automated service called Redphone.