Sitting in the 1902 Room on Wednesday afternoon, Susanna Kalaris ’16 submitted her major plan with the click of a button.
Over the past 18 months, the office of the registrar and computing services have worked to develop, formulate and implement an online major and minor declaration system to replace the previous paper card system.
Members of the Class of 2016 who have completed five terms of classes could declare their majors through a Banner Student service beginning early February. Students enter their past and prospective major courses into the Program Planner, a supplement to the existing Degree Works system. Students can then view their submitted plans and declared majors elsewhere on Banner Student.
As of this week, around one-third of eligible sophomores have submitted a major plan, registrar Meredith Braz said.
Braz explained that faculty members identified the transition to a paperless system as a top priority. The initiative is part of an effort to better integrate technology with the office of register’s services, like the ability for faculty to submit grades online.
Moving online has streamlined the major declaration system. The prior system required students to fill out three cards: one for the office of the registrar, one for the academic department overseeing the major and one for the student to keep, Braz said.
“Three cards led to problems,” she said. “With a central database, everyone is working with the same information.”
In the past, physical cards were occasionally lost, or the three different versions did not match, Braz said.
Braz said her office has worked closely with faculty over the past two terms to implement the new system. Since December, the office has held several training sessions, which Braz said have been attended by almost all department administrators and several faculty members.
“Some of the departments will have a question here or there,” she said. “There are always a couple of bumps when you transition from paper.”
Faculty and students have mostly responded positively to the change, Braz said.
Government professor Brian Greenhill, who came to the College in 2010, said he was surprised that the College had not transitioned to a digital format sooner.
“It kind of seems like a no-brainer,” he said.
History department administrator Gail Vernazza, who said she understood the motivations for the transition, expressed concern about the online Degree Works system. It does not account for nuances like concentration area planning, she said.
“Our situation may be different due to the complexity of our major,” she said, adding that history students should meet with a faculty advisor to talk about their concentration and major plan.
Vernazza said that with the current online format, some students have filled out their plans without taking into consideration major requirements, resulting in complete plan revisions.
“I think down the road it will get better, the more we do it,” she said.
Members of the Class of 2016 said the process was mostly straightforward.
Stephanie Alden ’16, who filed her biological chemistry major this week, said though the system was initially confusing, it did not take her long to understand.
Austin Boral ’16 said he was concerned that the digitized process may stop students from meeting with their advisors, which could be detrimental. He added that he liked the process in theory, but not in practice, noting that most of the College’s online infrastructure is “clunky.”
