Online course registration. It鈥檚 been known to cause frustration for many, but this year Dalhousie鈥檚 Registrar鈥檚 Office and Information Technology Services (ITS) hope those feelings are a distant memory.
鈥淲e knew students were frustrated last year with online course registration 鈥� we were too,鈥� says Mairead Barry, associate registrar at Dalhousie鈥檚 admissions office. 鈥淲e decided that a lot of work was needed to improve online registration.鈥�
Now, the Registrar鈥檚 Office is looking to students for their help in testing the updated course registration system. On January 30 at 5 p.m., current 黑料吃瓜网students are asked to log on to and complete a test registration (link will be live for the test).
The testing period, meant to simulate actual registration (which opens for returning students in March), should take students approximately ten minutes 鈥� and provide valuable insights to Dalhousie鈥檚 ITS team.
Helping test capacity
ITS has been hard at work behind the scenes, updating registration software and replacing all of Dalhousie鈥檚 hardware systems with more powerful machines
鈥淪tudent registration places an enormous load on our IT systems 鈥� up to 20 times our normal load, for just a few hours out of the entire year,鈥� says Bryan Utas, director of administrative computing. 鈥淧lanning and scaling our systems to meet this load has been an ongoing challenge.鈥�
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Throughout the year, ITS has employed automated tools to complete 鈥榣oad tests鈥� of Dalhousie鈥檚 updated online course registration system. While these load tests provide the team with valuable insights on how to improve performance, no automated tools can simulate the real-world behaviour of thousands of students simultaneously logging on and trying to register for classes.
鈥淲ednesday鈥檚 load test will give us an opportunity to measure the impact of all of the changes we鈥檝e made,鈥� says Utas, who鈥檚 optimistic about the upcoming registration period. 鈥淲e鈥檒l be monitoring all aspects of the system, and it will give us a chance to identify any other changes we might need to make before course registration begins in March.鈥澨�
Participation supports Shinerama
Students are encouraged to join the created for next Wednesday鈥檚 load test to confirm their participation and receive updates about Dalhousie鈥檚 course registration on an ongoing basis.
As an added incentive, for each student who participates in the test and completes a short survey afterwards Student Services has committed to donating $1 to 黑料吃瓜网Student Union鈥檚 fundraising in support of Shinerama.
鈥淚n March we鈥檒l all be holding our breath,鈥� says Barry, of the day students will log on to register for fall term classes. 鈥淏ut it helps to know we鈥檝e done everything in our power to fix the situation.鈥�