 "Photo: Alicia Schuster / UCD Advocate")
This spring, expect things to look much different when you try to register for a class, pay your tuition, or check your fall grades.
The current SIS computer system that allows UC students and staff to register for classes, view or post grades, and make payments for classes is in the process of being replaced.
The new system will cover the entire University of Colorado network, meaning this system change will affect all students enrolled in all UC schools: Boulder, Denver, and Colorado Springs.
The new system, ISIS, has already been slowly introduced since Aug. 3.
Kaye Orten, assistant vice chancellor for Student Financial Services, explained what to expect.
“ISIS is coming up on a series of ‘rolling’ go-lives. The undergraduate admissions on the downtown campus is now processing applications in ISIS,” said Orten. “The registrar’s office and some departmental staff are beginning to use ISIS to build the schedule of classes in preparation for fall 2010 registration.”
The saying is, if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it, but, according to some faculty, the old system really was broken.
Danielle Zieg from the university communications department said, “The old system was not capable of taking us forward into the new millennium. Technically, it was not able to deliver all the services that the university feels are now state-of-the-art services that we need to be able to deliver.”
And according to Orten, this change has been a long time in the making.
“We have worked hard for 20 years to update it with new functions for students, faculty and staff, and requirements for federal and state regulations. It is time to replace it.”
According to Zieg, response to the new program has been good during training sessions for staff. Those sessions have been packed.
“This is [the advisors’ and other staff’s] tool for going forward, and these are people who want to do their job, and they want to know how these tools interface with their daily activities,” she said.
Orten explained that the new system will be easier to use for staff and students alike.
“The new system is web-interface based, and for those faculty and staff who are using the system online, there will be web navigation tools that will simplify access,” Orten said.
“Most faculty, some staff, and all students will access the system through a portal. Staff will have the advantage in this portal of being able to see things exactly as the student sees it—it will make it easier for us to problem-solve and assist students in their daily activities.”
Members of the desk help line declined comment, and the supervisor could not be reached to say whether the new system was working correctly, or if the office had received any complaints about ISIS. So only time will tell if the system works, or if it works better than the old one.
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