| Summary: | Technology: Hardware and Software involved in registration (Servers, Banner) Process: Communication: How we go about registering How we get info about the (Seniors-Freshman all at 6:30) registration process (E-mail) GRAPHIC BY EMILIE BOWMAN •THE CONCORDIAN The registration process is broken down into three main components, according to Bruce Vieweg, chief information officer. Will Seger Polar Explorer ConcordianPaper ow. Follow. Follow, Follow, Follow. Follow. 4 riConcordian theconcordian.org • November 30, 2012 BANNER: Registrar thinking "out of the box"to improve the registration proccess and the communication FROM PAGE 1 upward of $100,000, to improve this system. "Would that be a very wise use of resources?" Vieweg said. "I think not." As is, there has been a large amount of money put in to im-prove the system over the past year. One recent upgrade was to purchase a faster hard drive for the system, which cost $40,000. Vieweg said this has already al-lowed for much faster data pro-cessing than before. The college also must consider the number of factors that go into registering on a technological level. The system is simultane-ously processing data on who the students are, what classes they are eligible for, whether there is space in the course and checking for conflicts with previous regis-trations. "It isn't as simple as entering my CRN number and being en-rolled," Vieweg said. The process of registration includes the order in which stu-dents register and other details such as how classes are set up. This involves the work of the registrar's office and each and every academic department on campus. To start with, the registrar sends out requests for class sched-ules for the next semester. Each department is then responsible for creating a schedule that will suit the needs of their students. According to Bryan Luther, head of the physics department, this process can be difficult. "The trick for a department like physics is that we serve a va-riety of different students in dif-ferent majors," Luther said. Luther said that he works with department heads from biology and chemistry to make sure that their courses, which usually in-clude both a lecture and a lab, do not interfere with each other. Lu-ther also said that they have al-ready submitted their schedules for next fall semester, far before they can predict the number of students who will be enrolled. In addition, Luther said that his department tries to plan ahead so that students who will need a class at a specific time will be able to get into it. They do this by setting lower capaci-ties for courses. This way, there are spaces left for students to be overridden into. While this may create more stress for students, it allows many students to get into the classes they need. Graeme Wyllie, who is in charge of scheduling for general chemistry courses, said that the chemistry department's solution is to create a lab section that does not have a set time. Students who cannot find a lab time that works for them are then asked to reg-ister for this `to be announced' timeslot. "We went out of our way now with waiting lists and with this TBA section to take a lot of the sting out of (registration)," Wyl-lie said. Students who register for the TBA section are later sorted into lab sections or a new section is created if there are many stu-dents who cannot take • the labs that are offered. Then comes registration day, where students can sign up for the classes they want. Current-ly, registration is done in four days, each beginning at 6:30 a.m. But why so early? According to Vieweg, this is when the server receives the least amount of traf-fic, meaning that more register-ing students can access the sys-tem at once. "We don't want to be in compe-tition with the regular work day," Vieweg said. The final piece of registration is communication. This involves how students learn about how to register and all other commu-nication that takes place during registration. As of right now, the main way students can learn about registration is by e-mail or from their advisors. Looking to the future Registration has come a long way from the paper registration that was standard for previous generations. Instead of standing in lines for hours in the gym, stu-dents now stay in their pajamas and, usually, only have to wait a few minutes to register. However, there are some things that are be-ing done to make the system even easier to use. Peterson is working to find new ways to teach students about registration. She said that they are working on how-tos that she hopes will be more fun and more helpful to students. "I've been thinking out of the box a lot lately," Peterson said. There have also been talks about changing the order in which students register. Vieweg has gotten feedback from stu-dents who have suggested using a system based off of earned cred-its. There have also been talks of using a lottery system like the one used for housing sign-ups in the spring. Either way, it is the process and communication that are most likely to be changed, not the system. Students can help to alleviate some of the problems by simply being knowledgeable about the registration process. Part of the reason that the system had to be reset was that students were attempting to log on directly to Banner. If students are on C-port too long before they try to sign in to Banner, they will be presented with a log-in page. The page requests a pin num-ber that Concordia does not use. Vieweg requested that students who reach this page simply close their browser and start again. Students who try to log in are locked out after five attempts. This year one student was locked out over 180 times. Students can also plan ahead by creating several extra sched-ules that they can choose from if their first choice doesn't work out. This helps to prevent stress on the student's behalf. It also keeps them from trying to log in last-minute to Banner, which is backed up and unavailable from 4 to 6 a.m. each day. Vieweg said he understands how stressful registration can be. "Our goal is to make this as pain-free and stress-free as abso-lutely possible," Vieweg said. Polar explorer visits campus to shares stories RENTALS: More than 150 new titles available for rental BY THEA GESSLER • THE CONCORDIAN tgessler@cord.edu Will Steger, po-lar explorer, re-turned to Concor-dia on Monday. Joining him was J. Drake Hamilton, science policy di-rector for Fresh En-ergy. Together, the two presented the forum "Clean Ener-gy, Climate, and Health" addressing climate change and the role of Min-nesota in these issues. Steger, who has been called "Minnesota's eyewitness to climate change," shared his observations of and concerns about climate change. Steger has been an explorer of both poles for over 45 years. In response to his concern,• he founded the Will Steger Foundation, which "educates, inspires and em-powers people to engage in solutions to climate change," according to the foundation's newsletter. The founda-tion focuses on three specific areas: K-12 education, emerging leaders (ages 17-27) and public policy. One of the issues Steger addressed was the concern over the loss of ice at the poles. The ice cap at the poles is believed to help stabilize the climate because it reflects a lot of energy from sunlight. Starting in the '90s, open water be-gan to be observed in the summer in the Arctic. This is a concern because open water leads to a progressive cycle of ice loss as the dark, open wa-ter absorbs more energy. The greater absorption of energy leads to further ice loss, which leads to more open wa-ter. In the summer of 2012, two-thirds of the ice cap melted. This has reper-cussions. "If we lose the sea ice we lose the wildlife that lives on the sea ice," Ste-ger said. Loss of ice also results in rising LIKE US ON FACEBOOK sea levels, which is a major concern for island nations and continental countries at low sea levels. Hamilton is a science policy di-rector. Her job involves recommend-ing environmental action and policy based upon the best science avail-able. Hamilton came from a family where all the kids were expected to help make the world a better place. This expectation led her to pursue a career in environmental science and policy because she saw it as an area in need of immediate action. Hamilton finds inspiration for her work through forums like these. "When we go out and talk to peo-ple across the Midwest, we find inter-est, ideas and creativity everywhere we go," she said. Hamilton's role in the forum in-volved addressing efforts taken in Minnesota to address climate change. "[Minnesota has a] multi-year track record of success," Hamilton said. When people see a track record of what people are capable of, they be-come inspired, she said. Some steps Minnesota has taken include passing the Next Generation Energy Act, which acknowledges that the state needs to be good stew-ards for the youth. Ninety-two per-cent of legislatures voted for the bill. The legislation has science-based goals and plans to cut carbon dioxide use by 80 percent by the year 2050. Additionally, 25 percent of Minne-sota's energy must come from renew-able sources by 2025. Minnesota has also led the nation in the reduction of mercury output by coal burning plants, and shown that it can be done in a cost-effective manner. The state is third in the nation for wind power use with 12.7 percent of energy coming from this source, com-pared to the national three percent. "Minnesota has already started down the road to clean energy and has already seen the benefits," Ham-ilton said. She hoped people attending the fo-rum would come out understanding this. The evening was coordinated by the Office of Vocation and Church Leadership. Concordia is stop num-ber four in a tour of eight similar forums. "The Office of Vocation and Church Leadership was invited to help in a collaborative way to coor-dinate the arrival of Will Steger, and to make sure the evening is framed thoughtfully," said Tom Schlotter-back, director of vocation and church leadership. He sees the event as part of Con-cordia's vocation and mission. "In general, Concordia College is a place.where the life of faith and the quest for truth occur in dynamic ten-sion," Schlotterback said. "Our life of faith, our theological grounding stirs us to care for creation profoundly so, authentically so. With that, our quest for truth about creation, including the climate and health of our planet, matters." Approximately 300 people from Concordia and the surrounding com-munity attended the event. Also speaking at the forum were President Craft and Bishop Lawrence Wohlrabe of the Northwestern Min-nesota Synod, ELCA and member of the Board of Regents who provided faith reflections. Craft cited the forum as a part of Concordia's commitment to sustain-ability. He also addressed it in the context of Concordia as a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The position of the synod, according to Craft, is that "care for the Earth is a profoundly spiritual manner." Within this context of steward-ship, Craft considers wonder to be and integral piece. "We are lucky to have with us this evening," Craft said, "people who are full of wonder." FROM PAGE 1 has a rental flag on it," said Seewald-Marquardt. "We provide the quantity we need to based on sales history." He said all of the op-tions will also be offered online: used rental, used book, new rental, new book. "It's all at your finger-tips for purchase," See-wald- Marquardt said. Hines said there are two things students should take note of when using the new rental op-tion. Textbooks will only be rented by semester, so even if the book is needed for the entire year, it will have to be rented a second time. If students do not return the book by five o'clock on the last day of finals, their ID will au-tomatically be charged the replacement value of the book. Hines and Seewald-Marquardt said that multiple reminders will be used campus-wide to remind students of this deadline, such as in C-News and posted signs. The return process of rental titles will be simple, Hines said. Students will bring their books to the cash register, where the barcode will be scanned, a receipt will print, and the return will be complete. She also said these books can be returned at any-time throughout the se-mester— they do not need to wait until the end if they are finished with it. While specialty text-books like custom and loose-leaf styles are not available for rental, Hines said the bookstore is excit-ed about this new option. The specialty titles are more difficult to fit into this option since many come with additional ma-terials, such as online passcodes. While this downside ex-ists, the bookstore did not go into this adjustment blind. "We really wanted to make sure that if we of-fered a textbook rental program, because that's what is trending in our industry, it was the right thing for the students and the college long-term," Hines said. Hines attributes the rental trend to not only saving money, but also the idea of becoming more sustainable. Renting a textbook will put it right back into someone else's hands, the following se-mester. The books are be-ing recycled and reused through the system, year after year, decreasing the amount of books needing to be printed. Olivia DeLeon, Concor-dia senior and bookstore student worker, said al-though she did not have the opportunity to use the rental system first se-mester since none of her books were options, she hopes to use it second se-mester for her non-major classes. DeLeon also said she has seen a lot of interest in the new option already, especially in the new freshmen. "One of the main books we offered to rent (first se-mester) was the Oral Com-munications book, and they did rent that a lot," she said. After a successful beta test, Hines and Seewald- Marquardt are excited for the expansion of the pro-grain. "We looked at a lot of different options," See-wald- Marquardt said. "We looked at outside sources, inside sources, and what we found was that this made the most sense for our college, as a bookstore that is owned by the col-lege."
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