WebAdvisor — the online interface used for college employment, registration, and academic records — recently received an update from Information Technology Services to improve its speed and stability during periods of high traffic, among solving other technical issues.
“Previously, there were two versions of WebAdvisor, a standalone version and the SharePoint version,” Information Systems Manager Kevin Maurer said. “We wanted to stop the problem of miscommunication between the two versions. That’s the reason students would get what they called the ‘spiral of death.’”
In addition, ITS improved WebAdvisor’s browser compatibility. The system now runs on Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari, instead of the limited number of options in the past.
ITS spent the past six months planning the updates. Conversations between employees of ITS and registrar Douglas McArthur prompted the changes.
According to Maurer, registration went significantly more smoothly this year than in the past. Fewer students called in to the IT department to solve technical issues.
Not all students, however, had an easy experience with WebAdvisor this semester.
Freshman Joshua Brown tried registering for classes Tuesday morning, but due to an unexpected crash on the WebAdvisor website, he was unable to register using the regular process.
“Our online software is extremely difficult to work with and non-intuitive,” he said. “In a world where online interface and software are the primary method of advertisement and outreach, Hillsdale College should put more money and effort into their website.”
The Registrar and ITS are planning even more changes for WebAdvisor.
For instance, many problems freshmen and sophomores encounter during registration are due to the level of traffic the site experiences. The department is looking into ways to improve stability during these peak times.
In addition, ITS is developing a way that WebAdvisor and the myHillsdale portal — the website used to access WebAdvisor — can have a single sign-on instead of the redundant verification currently operating.
On top of that, ITS is talking with the registrar’s office about ways to address non-institutional credits allowing non-upperclassmen to register with seniors and juniors, which sometimes leads to seniors having difficulty getting into classes they need to graduate.