With registration for the spring semester almost at hand, UNC students will have a new tool at their disposal in ConnectCarolina.
A “validate” feature, also known as Shopping Cart Appointments, has been added to student registration shopping carts and is now active. It allows students to check whether or not classes in their shopping carts will be approved when they try to enroll.
Assistant Provost and University Registrar Chris Derickson said the feature runs through the same process as enrollment. The goal is to give students earlier feedback on classes, allowing them to communicate with departments and better prepare for registration.
“The basic premise is that you put classes in your shopping cart before your enrollment appointment starts, and then it’s a nice way to check if you have any issues with those classes,” said Assistant Registrar Heather Duncan.
“Validate” will check for classes requiring permission, prerequisites and time conflicts. However, it cannot check for requirements by year or major/minor, so the Office of the University Registrar is trying to get departments to make those clear in the class notes, Derickson said.
Similar to enrollment, a successful validation will give the student a green circle with the message “OK to Add.” The student will see a red ‘X’ and a brief message explaining the problem if unsuccessful.
Derickson said the school is continuing to develop ConnectCarolina and he hopes that people are starting to appreciate the system’s tools. UNC has been on the current system since 2009.
Junior Woody Gram said he has issues with the ConnectCarolina system and registration is difficult because of potential enrollment conflicts. But he said he thinks the new feature will save time.
Derickson said the idea for the feature came from the student advisory group to academic advising last semester. He said the department makes it a priority to take suggestions from students and faculty seriously.
