A quick fix for Penn InTouch isn't going to make class registration any easier, officials say, but neither will just talking about it.
Penn InTouch has been under heightened scrutiny since last month, when Engineering and Wharton senior Danny Panzer released ClassBuster, a computer program that notifies users when space in a closed-out class opens up.
Class registration under Penn InTouch is mainly being criticized for forcing students to wait around at their computers to determine when a class opens up. It does not give any preference to students who need a specific class to graduate or complete a major.
But while these criticisms have resulted in talk of changing the 12-year-old registration system, no one is rushing to do anything just yet.
ClassBuster was a red flag for the Registrar's Office to start seriously considering the problems with Penn InTouch, Registration officer Ron Sanders said.
Still, while administrators and student groups acknowledge that Penn InTouch needs some fixing up, both groups have yet to come up with a viable solution that could be quickly implemented.
"It is doubtful that we will make any meaningful improvements in time for the regular registration process that will start [at] the end of" October, Sanders said.
And in the meantime, they say, ClassBuster won't do the trick.
"It's going to take more than . changing some code to address [the] underlying concerns," said Engineering junior Gabe Kopin.
Kopin - chairman of the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education, an advisory branch of student government - pointed out that any enhancements to Penn InTouch "absolutely cannot be done" without help from administrators and other technological hubs like the Registrar's Office.
Sanders added that the University is not planning to use ClassBuster's technology to clean up Penn InTouch.
He said, though, that the Registrar's Office has been discussing the matter with Computing and Information Systems and student representatives.
But both SCUE and the board have yet to speak with the Registrar's Office to discuss plans for class registration.
"I can't say we've been taking any specific steps to get this off the ground," said College senior Amy Rublin.
Rublin, co-chairwoman of the College Dean's Advisory Board, noted that while the board is determined to upgrade the system, it is still figuring out "what exactly [it] wants to press for and [whom to] talk to."
Some professors, however, enjoy doing things the old fashioned way - with students approaching them and begging for a spot in class.
"I like the idea that students come and talk to the professor and explain . why [the class] is important to them," said Cinema Studies professor Timothy Corrigan.
Others, like Sanders and the DAB, have suggested creating waiting lists for classes in each department.
Proponents of this technique, which is used in the Wharton School, are still brainstorming ways to apply it to the College of Arts and Sciences. "It's really complicated, so it's taking a lot of time," Rublin said.
