April 30, 2014

By Alexandria Zamecnik

Imagine: a UW-Whitewater student sits at a computer to register for classes. Instead of manually selecting each course, the student identifies which classes he or she wants to take and with the press of a button, multiple schedules are created.

This could be the reality for students by the spring 2015 semester.

College Scheduler is a web-based schedule planner that automates the scheduling process by working with the Whitewater Information Network for Students [WINS].

Registrar Jodi Hare said she has spent the past few years eying the program down to decide if it was a good fit for UW-Whitewater.

“It’s one of these things where I think it can make the registration experience so much better and easier,” Hare said.

If the program is implemented, professors will get a behind-the- scenes look at what courses students are interested in enrolling in. Professors will then be able to decide if they want to open up more courses.

The program will cost $20,000 and total less than $2 a student per year.

Before College Scheduler can come to UW-Whitewater, it awaits approval from iCIT and Provost Beverly Kopper.

Hare said this program will be beneficial to students because it will allow them to take fuller schedules with the classes they want.

“I think it’s really going to work well for all types of students, because if you have a job or can only take night classes, you can put your blocked times in,” Hare said.

Lauren Kats, academic affairs director of Whitewater Student Government, said the program will be a good thing for students.

“I think the biggest problem with the scheduling system right now is that students don’t look that closely into their scheduling and this system would definitely help,” Kats said.