Wo .........Senate 

?

From L.M.Srivastava 

Acting Vice-President, Academic 

?

Pre-registration. ? 

..............1 

?

November 21, 1969 

?

I.

?

We have been in consultation with a local computing firm with 

expertise in pre-registration at two American Universities. We would 

like to adapt this sytem to our needs and institute computerized 

pre-registration beginning Summer 1970. 

A brief description of the proposed system and an estimate of 

time necessary for pre-registration are included. It is also indicated 

what the system can do and what the conditions are that must be 

satisfied before the system becomes a reality. If senate and Departments 

cannot meet these minimal conditions we will drop the idea of pre- 

registration. We think the project has merit, it can be adapted to our 

system with minimal conditions, and over the long run (that is within 

2-3 semesters) the system will have paid for itself and our registration 

costs per student will be considerably lower than at present. It has 

numerous advantages for students, faculty, and administration. 

. ?

11. ? 

The pre-registration system was first implemented at the University 

of Utah in the Winter quarter 1967 and since then has been used without 

fundamental change to its design. The University of Utah has approximately 

18,000 students and about 800 different course offerings each quarter. It 

was instituted at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in the Winter of 1968, 

without modification, and the system has been in use there ever since. 

The Utah pre-registration can be implemented at S.F.U. The designers of 

the Utah system are at present working with a computing firm in Vancouver. 

They are available for consultation with our Data Centre and Registrar's 

Office at a minimal cost. 

?

III. 

?

Operation of the pre-registration system: 

a. ? 

The system asks the students to provide two types of information on 

appropriate cards: courses that they want in the next semester and 

blocks of time they want to keep free from formal instruction. 

Naturally if a student blocks out, say, all afternoons as free time, 

his chances of getting proper course fit are lessened. 

Before students fill out this information they are provided with a 

Course Guide which contains the following information: 

i. For the semester immediately following: 

a.

all courses and only those courses that are to 

.

?

be given next semester, 

b.

names of faculty members in charge of these courses, 

and

timetable with courses, sections, time and place. 

ii. For two semesters after the one immediately following - 

• .2 

a all courses and only those courses that are to be given 

S

in each of the two semesters, and 

b. names of faculty members in charge of the courses. 

b.

The cards can be collected in or mailed to the Registrar's 

Office, or they can be dropped in assigned boxes. 

c.

This information is put on punch cards. 

d.

The computer then schedules the students taking into account 

their course preferences and requests for free time. It 

edits errors. It can be programmed to give preferences to, 

for example, seniors over juniors, or graduate over under- 

graduate students etc. 

e.

A printout is produced which indicates the students' course 

selections by course, section, time and place. The departments 

can then review the student demand, close unused sections or 

open additional sections. This is an administrative function 

and the student is not put to any trouble. A second run is 

produced from the revised data and course registrations are 

produced for mailing to the students. 

f.

Students whose requests have not been satisfied or who have 

failed a course and cannot take the one they asked for appear 

at a registration 'clean up day' one or two days prior to the 

S

start of the new semester. 

IV. ? 

Estimated time for pre-registration: 

1.

Students would require at least two weeks for filling out their 

cards. Some may require more time. During this period they 

must get adequate counselling especially in regard to pre- 

requisites. Students can certainly start as early as they want. 

2.

The Registrar's Office must have the students' course preference 

and free time cards at least three weeks before the end of a 

semester. 

3.

Cards are keypunched, preliminary and final runs are made and 

registration notices are mailed to students all within two weeks. 

Student is informed of the registration about one week before 

the beginning of the semester. 

V. At the University of Utah and Virginia Polytechnic Institute 

the success experienced in satisfying student requests has been 

as follows: 

a.

65% of students have had all the requests, including free 

time requests, satisfied. 

b.

907. of students were able to register in all courses requested. 

97% of total course requests were satisfied. 

.".3 

VI. ? 

Minimal conditions necessary to make the system operative: 

1.

The success of the pre-registration assumes that a large majority 

of the students will participate. This must include new students 

as well as transferring students, and re-admitted students. 

Accordingly, it should be mandatory for all students to pre-register. 

2.

A firm adherence by students to time as far as collection of 

course preference and free time cards is concerned. 

3.

The participating students, in order to have valid schedules, must 

not have conditions arise between registration and the beginning 

of the semester that will cause their schedules to change. 

Accordingly there must be firm commitments by departments on 

courses offered and faculty assignments for a period of three 

semesters at a time. 

4.

To facilitate item 3 above, a ruling by Senate that courses approved 

by Senate shall not be •off-red for at least two complete semesters 

following such approval by Senate. 

5.

The magnitude of the 'clean-up' day must be minimized. If the cost 

of clean-up approaches the cost of manual registration then the 

system cannot be regarded as economic. Accordingly there must be 

a clear identification of pre-requisites by departments and faculties, 

and there must be an improved pre-registration counselling. 

VII. Senate may further consider the pesLbility that a student pays a portion of 

his tutition fee at the time of pre-registration. 

VIII. Advantages of pre-registration: 

1. To the students: 

a • 

an opportunity to plan his work schedule prior to the start 

of the semester, 

b.

an extension of his working period on off semesters, because 

he can register by mail, 

c.

a reduced risk of not being able to obtain the courses 

desired, and 

d.

provision for selection of courses in a less hectic environment 

than that presently existing at registration. 

2. ? 

To the faculty and administration: 

a.

an opportunity to allocate teaching resources more effectively, 

b.

rapid and economical processing of students' course enrollments, 

c.

less course time losses, and an opportunity to begin tutorials 

in the first week, if desired, and 

d.

more useful information regarding course selection patterns and 

student demand 

....,4 

IX

??

If Senate agrees with the principle of pre-registration we will 

immediately undertake to prepare a system for our needs in consultation with 

the computing firm, our own Data Centre and Registrar's Office, and will 

plan to implement this system for Summer 1970. 

X.

?

The Senate is requested to adopt two motions: 

1.

"Senate agrees with the principle of pre-registration". 

2.

"Courses approved by Senate shall not be offered for at 

least two complete semesters following such approval by 

Senate'.' 

:ams 

?

L.M. Srivastava 