Fall Term course registration is going to look different this year. Rather than registering for classes in August, students will be registering at a predetermined time between May 23 and May 25. Rising seniors will register on May 23 at a specified time between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m., and rising juniors and sophomores will register during the same time window on May 24 and 25, respectively. The instructions for registering are outlined on the Carleton Registrar’s Office website. 

There was an initial software change communicated at the beginning of the month . “The changes to the registration system are happening because Ellucian, the software vendor that makes the Hub, is ending support in June for the part of the Hub that registration runs on,” said Austin Robinson-Coolidge, Associate Registrar for Technology Operations. “Basically, the ‘old Hub,’ including registration, runs on a platform called WebAdvisor. Ellucian has replaced WebAdvisor with a new platform called Self Service, and is ending support for WebAdvisor in June.”

But some students had been dealing with loading difficulties on the new software, and the Registrar’s Office responded by going back to the original software used in order to limit the technical difficulties that may arise during registration. The registration times remain in place. 

“We’ve got some serious concerns about whether or not Course Search is going to be viable for registration,” said Robinson-Coolidge in a follow-up conversation. “We have made the difficult decision to revert back to using Enroll and the registration screens on the ‘old Hub’; the new Course Search simply hasn’t been reliable enough for us to feel comfortable using it for registration.” 

In an email sent out to students on Monday, May 17, Robison-Coolidge explained the change and mentioned the plans moving forward: “ITS and Ellucian have identified a strategy for moving forward, but it requires more time to implement than we have available to us before registration starts. We will continue to test the new system and will reconsider how best to handle registration before Winter 2023 registration begins.”

Additionally, prior to the pandemic, returning students would register for fall classes during Spring Term. Students were informed of the initial change at the beginning of the month through emails sent out by the Registrar’s Office and their advisors and have had varied responses about the time change. 

“I dislike how fast the college is pressuring students to choose classes for next year, especially while this term’s classes are still in full swing,” said Julianna Baldo ’25 regarding the switch from August to May. “I feel it puts unnecessary pressure on students to plan the next year out when they are still reacting to the stress of this year.”

“I don’t understand why they left it so last minute,” said Holly Lake ’25, referring to the emails sent out earlier this month. She then followed up with a comparison to last year’s registration: “I liked having the whole summer to make a decision. I am afraid that if I choose my classes now, I may no longer be as interested in them in the fall.”

Emma Carlson ’23 also talked about the summer registration: “I’ve gotten used to registering during the summer, and because I’m a junior, that’s just how it’s always been for me with Covid. In the summer, I got time to think through my class options. I feel as though the change was last minute.”

Another noticeable response from students is about the time period of registration: each student has a registration time between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. on their predetermined day. 

“I can’t wake up at 7:00 a.m.,” said Kyra Landry ’24. “I feel like I’m going to accidentally sleep in and miss my time slot.” 

For now, students will register on the Hub like they have in the past, but the original change in registration times is set in place.