2008 Woodie Awards
EagleNet system gives new abilities, headaches
With no tutorial service provided online, EagleNet registration system causes confusion among students
Adam Martin
Issue date: 9/15/05 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
The 2005 fall semester at Kirkwood saw the introduction of a new web interface registration system called EagleNet.
The abilities of this new system are far greater than those used through Kirkwood's previous form of registration, the K-TRAC system.
With K-TRAC being terminated this summer, students were notified of the change to EagleNet in April via mail.
What some didn't expect was how nonuser friendly the program turned out to be.
With little to no tutorial provided online, students became confused as to how to search for specific classes.
"I was lost," said first-year Kirkwood student Jordan Stamy. "Luckily I registered for most of my classes in person."
Registering on campus as opposed to doing it online was a decision some students made instead of learning the new system.
Datatel Inc., makers of the EagleNet program, admitted some flaws.
"High levels of EagleNet use by other members of your institution also affect your response time," the company spokesman said.
This issue caused the system to periodically go down during the evening hours of the first week of classes when students attempted some last minute registrations.
"We had trouble with portions of the system tripping up," said Arron Wings, Kirkwood library director and head of the team that implemented EagleNet.
These issues were attended to immediately, including hardware and security upgrades.
"You no longer use the last four numbers of your social security number as your user name," said Wings.
"Instead, you now have a specific college ID along with a predetermined password. This has helped our security a lot," he added.
Despite some early bumps in the road, EagleNet is on track to make a smooth transition as Kirkwood's latest form of online registration, Wings explained.
"We won't know until we get there," added Wings.
The abilities of this new system are far greater than those used through Kirkwood's previous form of registration, the K-TRAC system.
With K-TRAC being terminated this summer, students were notified of the change to EagleNet in April via mail.
What some didn't expect was how nonuser friendly the program turned out to be.
With little to no tutorial provided online, students became confused as to how to search for specific classes.
"I was lost," said first-year Kirkwood student Jordan Stamy. "Luckily I registered for most of my classes in person."
Registering on campus as opposed to doing it online was a decision some students made instead of learning the new system.
Datatel Inc., makers of the EagleNet program, admitted some flaws.
"High levels of EagleNet use by other members of your institution also affect your response time," the company spokesman said.
This issue caused the system to periodically go down during the evening hours of the first week of classes when students attempted some last minute registrations.
"We had trouble with portions of the system tripping up," said Arron Wings, Kirkwood library director and head of the team that implemented EagleNet.
These issues were attended to immediately, including hardware and security upgrades.
"You no longer use the last four numbers of your social security number as your user name," said Wings.
"Instead, you now have a specific college ID along with a predetermined password. This has helped our security a lot," he added.
Despite some early bumps in the road, EagleNet is on track to make a smooth transition as Kirkwood's latest form of online registration, Wings explained.
"We won't know until we get there," added Wings.