The USC Class of 2019 got a glimpse of the technological issues that can plague a university with the new student orientation registration glitches this week.
We think it’s unfortunate that one of the first interactions the incoming students had with the university was a negative one.
It’s easy to armchair quarterback, but we think it’s worth questioning the response (or lack thereof) of the university to the registration flop. Tweeting to worried prospective Gamecocks on their Twitter that has a total of 415 followers rather than emailing them or posting a message to the website can’t be the best way to reassure panicked parents, who flooded the phone lines unaware of the work going on to fix the problem.
We as students must make do with sometimes-spotty Internet coverage and scramble during online registration periods. But we don’t complain (usually) because we love USC, warts and all.
The incoming freshmen don’t have the same emotional attachment to the school, and it’s not too late for them to change their minds. We doubt any will — you have a right to be upset about errors but only to a point. Good luck to anybody searching for a large school without any technical difficulties.
We think it’s great that the university places such a large emphasis on orientation. It offers new students a chance to come to campus and get a small glimpse into their future experience. Maybe it’s somewhat helpful that they got a crash course in the realities of university technology as part of their orientation, but we think they could do without a bad introduction to USC.