Correction (Feb. 28 11:35 p.m.): Due to a reporting error, a previous version of this story incorrectly stated that graduate student Keith Lee attended UNC as an undergraduate. The story has been changed to reflect the correction. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.

UNC’s new registration system underwent student testing Thursday and will go live March 3, in time for registration for the fall semester.

The new registration system represents a change from the old Student Central program to one under the ConnectCarolina system.

Administrators and students who have tested the program said it is streamlined and easier to use, and they hope it will work well when the full student body uses it.

“It’s just prettier and nicer to work with now,” said Debra Beller, information communications specialist for ConnectCarolina.

Students will be able to use the new system by logging on through the MyUNC portal and selecting “ConnectCarolina student center,” Beller said.

The major benefit of the new system is integration of information from several different sources, like the undergraduate course bulletin that lists classes, said Max Beckman-Harned, a computer science major who is on the ConnectCarolina student advisory group and has been involved in the development of the system.

The system, which has been in the works for almost three years, has information organized by tabs and sub-tabs. Students can “search,” “plan” and “enroll” for classes.

“You don’t have to go through 10 different Web sites to track down the information,” Beckman-Harned said.

One of several other perks of the new system includes a “shopping cart” like those used by sites such as Amazon and eBay. Students can add classes to their shopping cart while searching and then return to the shopping cart later to view the classes.

But simply adding a course to the shopping cart is not the same as registering, which requires extra steps.

Students can also search for classes based on the general education requirements those courses fill, even adding multiple requirements to one search. Search results will be listed by course section, and icons will identify if classes are open, closed or waitlisted.

Data is also updated in real time, so if a class is canceled or full, a student will know right away.

After selecting a class, students can click a button that will automatically waitlist them if the registration process begins and that class is full. But students are only allowed to use the waitlist option for one class.

Pin numbers used to log on to register for classes have also been eliminated. Some classes will still require a permission number, however, and administrators said more information will be available soon about those permission numbers.

As with Student Central registration, students will not be notified of prerequisites that might prohibit them from taking certain classes.

“We built this to enforce the same rules that you work with now,” Beller said.

Students will also have the option of using a virtual plan to schedule their eight semesters at UNC by allowing them to organize, plan for, and keep records of the classes they plan to take.

The “swap” tab is another feature. From here, students can drop and add, or “swap,” a class all in one step. If a student is not successful in adding the new class, that student will not be automatically dropped from the other. This will eliminate the need for students to drop classes and then scramble to add another.

“It looks fairly straightforward,” said Keith Lee, a graduate student in computer science who tested the new system. He recalled the stress of securing classes as an undergraduate and said that the swap feature should help students tremendously.

“I think that will be really helpful for competitive classes,” he said.



Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.