VIP replacement avoids crash, reaches ‘peak load’
As of this week, the days of complaining about the VIP registration system have come to a close.
The next target of students’ grievances is Self Service Carolina (SSC), the newest change to USC’s class registration system.
Among the woes of those trying to register came complaints of servers shutting down, the lack of graphic schedule representations and, in first-year biology student Caroline Dewey’s case, accusations of false American residency.
“When I finally talked to someone, they told me that I was on a temporary visa because they didn’t have proof that I’m a U.S. citizen,” Dewey said. “I told them I was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and that I am most definitely a U.S. citizen. They told me I should have sent in a birth certificate, and when I said I did, they kept telling me I didn’t.”
Though her issue was later resolved, Dewey was still irritated about the situation.
“I was a mess,” she said.
Other students shared their registration woes via Twitter, voicing aggravation over the limited amount of sections and times, and how difficult it was to view schedules after classes had been selected.
For some, missing information hindered the selection of courses.
“For some classes professors still aren’t listed. It just says ‘TBA,’” first-year mechanical engineering student Katie Morsberger said. “That’s a problem.”
Though some students would beg to differ, OneCarolina is confident in the efficiency of the new system.
“On the Columbia campus alone, more than 14,000 students have successfully registered for more than 58,000 classes, the vast majority of them in the past three days,” OneCarolina spokesman Elwood Hamilton said.
Despite the lack of enthusiasm from students, those behind the scenes of the new system believe the changes will do more good than harm.
“While there are things that VIP still does well, it was built on technology that is increasingly difficult and expensive to maintain,” Hamilton said. “SSC will prove to be a far more reliable and comprehensive self-service system over time, and we will have the ability to add enhancements over the next several years.”
The updated system will allow students to access more information than was shown on VIP, including bills, degree progress, CarolinaCard options and parking, all on the same website.
Students also voiced concern with servers being down during what OneCarolina refers to as “peak load.”
“While the system was never down, some users were unable to reach the system during this time,” Hamilton said. “The peak load subsided after 10 to 15 minutes each time, resulting in SSC becoming fully available once again.”
By far, the busiest day for registration was Wednesday, as Web traffic was much heavier than the two days before, according to Hamilton.
“In response [to increased web traffic], we quadrupled our server capacity during the day on Wednesday,” he said. “We believe this will reduce the number of students experiencing technical issues moving forward. Technicians will continue to closely monitor server activity and respond appropriately.”
Though many students blamed their unsavory experience on their year or major, neither had an effect on the process.
“The issues are related to the total number signing in at once and not based on any particular class status or standing,” Hamilton said.
Students are encouraged to contact the Office of the Registrar. SSC technical questions can be answered by calling 777-1800, while general registration questions can be answered through 777-5555.