Page F-4-Thursday, September 6, 1979-The Michigan Daily
It's man vs. machine at
CRISP (man often loses)
* ByELEONORA DI LISCIA
f your idea of fun is feverishly
running around campus and waiting in
long lines, then CRISP is for you. If not,
the University's course registration
system may be just one of the,
headaches you'll.have to endure at least
once a term.
SEvery semester University students
must go through{ CRISP-Computer
Registration Involving Student Par-
ticipation-in order to enroll in classes.
The experiences can be some of the
most, frustrating, time-consuming en-
counters with the University
bureaucracy you will run into during
yohr stay in Ann Arbor. Many students
have logged a dozen or more hours in
dealing with CRISP, which is located on
the second floor of the Old Architecture
and Design building.
WHILE STUDENTS are often
processed through CRISP without
delay, the range of difficulties involved
in CRISPing may include being closed
'out of classes, being barred from
registration, or being forced to wait in
line for hours as a result of a computer
breakdown.
The first step in registering is to
assemble the necessary paraphernalia.
Needed are a student verification form
(which may be picked up at the college
of your enrollment), a student iden-
tification card, and an election
worksheet. This year, following early
registration, time permits will only be
required in the afternoons and may be
picked up at CRISP. Registration times
are printed on each verification form.
According to Assistant Univesity
Registrar Tom Karunas, it is helpful to
know if you've received hold credits or
tacademic holds. Academic holds are
sometimes assigned to students on
academic probation or students tran-
sferring between two colleges. Hold
credits are placed for financial debts to
the University. "Any institution in the
University that charges fees can place
hold credits for debts of more than $5,"
Karunas said. It is important, he added,
when paying off a hold credit to have it
released by the cashier before going to
CRISP.
"THE NEXT THING to do is ... (to)
check the closed course board. It would
save a good deal of time if people would
check that. If sections are not open,
they have a variety of recourses,"
Karunas said.
He added that trying to register for a
closed course anyay in hopes that it
,might open up is a bad policy. "Many
times someone will say 'try it anyway,
maybe it will open up.' this is a big
waste of time. The chance of it opening
up is very, very slim," he said.
If courses or sections are closed, a
student can select another course, see if
there is a wait list and get on it, or get
an override. The terminal will specify if
there is a computer waitlist. Although
there may not be such a list, sometimes
there is a departmental one. But even
on a wait list there is no guarantee of
getting in the section.
AN OVERRIDE will allow a student
to enter a course regardless of entry
restrictions. Honors courses and those
reserved for upperclasspersons are
examples of restricted entry courses
that can be elected with overrides. In
order to obtain an override "the best
bet is to go to the department and find
out what their policy is. PI, or per-
mission of the instrucion means go to
the instructor. Honors section, go to the
honors office," Karunas said. "If it's
junior standing goto the instructor or
the department."
One final suggestion for avoiding
hassles: Check your schedule before
leaving the printer's desk. Re-entering
CRISP may require a time permit and
another wait in line.
CRISP, which keeps track of all
students dating back to 1973, provides
up-to-date information on registration
to the different departments. The com-
puter processes between 1,600 and 1,800
See CRISP, Page 10
Daily Photo
STUDENTS WAIT for the terminal operators at CRISP to inform them of the availability of their desired classes. Although
students are often processed through the computer registration procedure without much delay, any one of a number of factors
can make the CRISP experience a painful encounter with the University bureaucracy.
N
'U' CI
By JUDY RAKOWSKY
CRISP, .distribution, drop/add, do
you. want plan A, B, C or 1, 2, 3; So
goes the baffling maze that confronts
ea'ch newcomer to this massive
bureaucratic institution. Faculty -and
student counselors sit in their offices
waiting to guide wayward students
through the seemingly inpentrable
mire of rules and procedures which,
along with about 120 credit hours,
separates incoming students from
diplomas.
Before visiting any of them, though,
the University Bulletin for your par-
ticular school' or college should be
thoroughly consulted in order to be
acquainted with all the trappings of the
curriculum. Armed with the resulting
questions and goals, each student will
be mote adequately prepared for the
first appointment with an academic
ounselors try to unravel academic tangles
counselor at the start of the first term
here.
At this meeting the student often
discusses with the counselor the degree
he or she plans to earn, as well as the
distribution plan used to get there.
Procedural matters and the difficulty
of course load can also be straightened
out on this visit. If all goes well that
visit may suffice until senior year rolls
around, but any questions arise which
the bulletin cannot answer should be
taken to these individuals-not ignored.
LINA WALLIN, an LSA academic
counselor, said the goal of the first
meeting is to acquaint students with the
requirements and to help them wisely
plan a course load that is challenging
and successful.
Her advice to University- newsomers
is "Don't become worried about what to
do in ten years, take it a term at a
Scholastic requirements
often boggle studen ts
time." But she added that the coun-
seling office maintains close contact
with the Career Planning & Placement
office as well as other parts of the
University in order to offer up-to-date
information about the job market.
Later on, when students return for
subsequent counselor visits, Wallin said
she asks students to pretend they are
out of school to help them see areas in
which they later might want more ex-
tensive preparation. During the
sophomore year, students are en-
couraged to see a concentration ad-
visor, who is a member of the depar-
tment in which they are planning to
major. That faculty member can help
the student with questions about
specializing in the field, further study,
and in-house advice on what courses to
take.
SENIORS ARE required to check
with a counselor to make sure they are
set to graduate on time.
For frank information on professors
and courses, students can go to 1018
Angell Hall to read what other students
say. Unlike many University-written
course evaluations, the Student Coun-
seling Office's voluntary evaluations
coittain unconventional questions.
"Could you have skipped three
lectures? the readings? anything else?
or "Propose an alternate, descriptive
name for this course." Many students
can save themselves endless hours of
boredom, wasted time, and excess
work by simply consulting the SCO's
evaluation file. "Students are the only
ones who can be objective about
teachers," said SCO coordinator Bill
Robinson.
Another helpful feature is the old
exam file. This service used to be one of
the benefits enjoyed only by some for-
ttnate sorority and fraternity mem-
bers, but now all students can sup-
plement their study materials this way.
Sbme professors, such as Economics'
Ann Anderson and Political Science's
Joel Samoff, even send their old exams
to the office to aid students in their
studying. Midterms and finals given byx
several different professors who taught,
the course at different times are also
availble. Robinson said some depar-:M
tments are reluctant tO hand out old,
exams, but others see it as part of the
learning process.
The least publicized service of SCO is
the "Dean's ear," which is the official
complaint bureau of LSA. Complaints
are tegistered with the SCO and a copy
is sent to the dean's office. Then the
student is contacted or a resolution i-
simply worked out. One example of a
concrete response to a gripe is the
opening up of rooms on the fourth floor
of Angell Hall for students during the
evenings when libraries are jammed.
Only eight other, complaints were
registered last year, but Robinson said
he expects more students to complain
when they find out about it.
. .
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