RAMweb sees new services

The days of waiting in line at Moby Arena to register for

classes have long since come and gone. But, some students still

struggle with the registration process.

Thanks to University Technology fees, RAMweb is making

registration easier for students.

“Our goal with RAMweb is to allow students to serve themselves

outside of business hours,” said Chris Seng, director of student

systems for Enrollment Services. “With RAMweb we’re now able to

serve more people.”

Some students are recognizing the self-service features of

RAMweb.

“It’s pretty accessible and convenient, but the process really

isn’t very personable,” said Matt Houck, a sophomore speech

communications major. “I just wish that survey stuff at the

beginning was optional. Sometimes I just need to register and don’t

want to take a survey.”

Recent installations to RAMweb include the printable weekly

schedule, adviser information and a university class search engine

where students can search for classes by a variety of subject

areas.

Academic Computing and Networking Services sat down with the

Associated Students of CSU over the summer to propose new ideas for

RAMweb.

“ACNS came to us this summer with the plan to make additions to

RAMweb,” said Jason Huitt, speaker pro tempore of the ASCSU Senate.

“We basically authorized them to do it through the Student

Technology Fee legislation.”

Seng said that ACNS had planned to make changes to RAMweb, but

it did not have the resources to do it. When ASCSU passed the

technology fee it was a push to provide more services.

After the technology fees were passed, ASCSU President Jesse

Lauchner said ASCSU wanted to implement something that students

could see their money going toward.

“We really wanted students to see an immediate input,” Lauchner

said. “We ran the new services on a test site for some students

this summer and they loved it, so we’re pretty excited about

it.”

Seng also said the feedback he has received has been

positive.

“Advisers are telling us that it’s enhanced the process

tremendously,” Seng said. “I’ve also heard that a lot of kids carry

their printable schedule with them all over campus, so it’s good to

see students using the services.”

Along with the RAMweb additions, Seng said ACNS is working on an

Internet portal, a service that will among other things allow a

student to sign onto RAMweb and WebCT at the same time and provide

students with a calendar.

RAMweb on average services 24,225 users a month and since

January has experienced more than 1.3 million log-ins.

“I used (RAMweb) this year to find classes that Professor

(Tracy) Brady (in the) history department teaches,” said Shannon

Palombi, a junior sociology major. “I don’t know how many people

know you can do that though, my roommates had no idea until I told

them.”