The Dixie State University registration website needs an upgrade.
For one thing, some of the class information is missing or inaccurate. Every semester I’ve registered for in the last two years, there have always been a few classes listed as available that clearly aren’t once you click “View Sections” and see “Please search again.” There are also classes that have a specific time set, but they don’t list who the instructor is.
It’s always important to know who the instructor of your class is so you can gauge whether their teaching style and standards work to your advantage based on your own previous experience or the experiences of others.
Knowing which instructor is teaching a class can also be helpful if the class requires an add card and the student registering doesn’t know who to contact.
DSU could even implement an option to let us make online requests for add cards and use e-signatures as a way of streamlining the process instead of having to grab add card signatures in person or using the current temporary fix of making email requests.
I still remember what the last version of the registration website was like, and aside from a new look, the current version doesn’t feel any easier to use. But then, what should I expect from a university that considers an aesthetic reskin of its main website “new and improved?”
A real improvement would be if we could look for classes by time slot and then filter by subject and instructor rather than searching by subject and having to click on each class listing to see which section works. It would also be nice if we could click on instructors’ names to see what else they’re teaching if we already like taking classes from them. The possibilities are practically endless.
Above all, a good registration website should be a useful tool for students to find, plan and register for classes, even without setting up a time to get help from our advisers. While advisers are useful and their purpose is to help students, we should have a registration website that makes it just as easy to register without them, especially during times like now when we can’t meet with them in person.
DSU can do better with its registration website and should strive to, especially if it wants students to have an easier time adapting to the current online-only circumstances. Make a change, and don’t let it be just another reskin this time.
