To Print or Not to PrintThat was the question at UIW!

Who we are

Private, Catholic university Campuses in San Antonio (Texas),

China, Mexico and soon in Germany Bachelor degrees through Ph.D. and

PharmD. Fall 2011 enrollment, 8,500 with 3,100

classes Approved at Provost’s Dean’s Council Discussed and announced, Fall 2010 First online-only schedule, Fall 2011

Hit ‘em with your best shot!

Schedule available only through Bannerweb

Alerted IT team and network guy Provided priority registration

schedule to IT team and network guy to monitor load on SIS and network.

Posted signs and sent email to remind faculty/students of no printed schedule

Still had faculty/students asked for printed schedule

Oops, Part One

Law of Unintended Consequences

IT inactivated important link Students/faculty reviewing courses

online slowed down online registration

More activity online created pressure on all systems—network, SIS, and web

Surge on the system brought down the network and the SIS—for 30 minutes

Peaked and crashed at each priority group entry

Our best shot! Part Two

Updated IT team and network guy about date/times of registration

IT team sent notices to all offices that they would kill all non-registration activity (batches, reports, etc.) during registration

IT created a real-time PDF document (same format as the schedule) to download

Registrar sent faculty/students the link to the PDF document

Login Screen

Oops, Part Two

Two out of three worked!

System did not crash Ran at 100% capacity for extended

periods Offices not related to registration stayed

away Network did not crash Web access crashed

4-5 clicks to reach schedule/registration links

Affected all web activity—online and in offices

Frustration was had by all!!

Our best shot! Part Three

Have a specific one-click URL for registration

Send that link to students and faculty along with the link to the downloadable PDF schedule

Turn on online schedule earlier to allow for thorough study before registration

Change priority registration schedule to two days—graduate/Ph.D./PharmD./O.D./athletes and then undergraduates

Create your best shot!

Communicate, communicate, communicate again, and again, and again.

Talk to your IT team, your network guy, and your web team IT controls your SIS load Network controls the load on your

network connections (routers, web-based software, etc.)

Web guys control access to your web pages

Create your best shot (cont) Provide what faculty/students want

without creating a burden on your system Create real-time PDF schedules Create alternate links for the login screen

Actively monitor your systems Get support to “kill” all non-registration

system-draining activity Remind faculty/students to read course

comments and pre-requisites