SIS system offers updated registration for students

Elizabeth Taggart

After 24 years of using the legacy system, in Feb 2008, Maricopa colleges switched to the new student information system, my.maricopa.edu.Bill DeHaan, director of information technology services, said discussions about a new system have been ongoing for more than a decade because the legacy system was just too antiquated.

“The structure was outdated, inflexible and built on a database that’s circa 1984 and ran on hardware no longer in use. In order to update and do backups we had to kick people off.”

Dean Joni Grover said the old systems capacity just didn’t meet all of the current needs of the school or the students.

As technology changes and becomes more integrated into student life, there was some concern that students without a lot of computer knowledge would be left behind and unable to use the new system on their own.

Grover said student focus groups were conducted last summer at multiple Maricopa campuses, including Mesa and Paradise Valley.

They had students run through everything on the system to make sure it was easy for anyone to use.

MCC student Alexandra Allen said she doesn’t consider herself to be very adept with computers but found the system relatively easy to use.

Although she did say that she was confused about the new MEID number.

Grover said that they had more problems with duplicate IDs than they had anticipated, but that when 10 different colleges are consolidated onto one system, there are bound to be some challenges.

If a student had been registered under a slightly different name at one of the other colleges at some point in the past, they were assigned two Ids, Grover explained.

MCC student Jessica Cox said she had a harder time using my.maricopa than the old system.

Cox explained that she was dropped from two classes and charged twice for something else.

She said she got the double charge fixed eventually but that she had to go see someone in person.

DeHaan said that from a technical standpoint, they have had very few problems with the new system but that there have been some issues in awarding financial aid separate from the system because the process takes more time than before.

Grover said there are processes at both the college and district level to deal with problems as they arise but that overall she is pleased with how well the system is running and how many advantages there are over the old one.

There is a lot more self-service and the online student center is great, Grover explained.

“Students can register online for classes with pre-requisites and they can view their transcripts from any of the colleges because now it is more like a Maricopa student record as opposed to a college student record.”

The new class search feature is also an upgrade because students can get a description of the class right away, Grover added.

Though she did admit that issues had come up with the online catalogue and the system was still being refined.

Cox said that she liked the new class search because she could see how many spots were left in a class and it made it easier to register but that overall the system was still really jumbled when moving from page to page and that she wished it was just more organized.

Grover said that communication is key and feedback from the students as they learn how to the system and get more comfortable with it gives the colleges a chance to improve the system.

“Don’t be discouraged by the experience this fall. We are looking to make it better,” Grover said.

DeHaan said that there are many places that students can go to for help.

The help line for the student system was outsourced to a company called Perceptise, but Perceptise and all 10 colleges use the same trouble ticketing system so any issue can be raised from anywhere.

Students can also still go to the help desk on campus, kiosks in the student center or the advisement center if they are having difficulties.

If students are having problems with the system, DeHaan said to seek help as fast as possible because nobody benefits from a student getting upset or frustrated.

“There is no reason why we shouldn’t be in contact with you. We don’t want to do anything to make you consider someone else. We want you here. We wouldn’t have jobs if it weren’t for students.

  • Mesa Legend Staff

    These are archived stories from Mesa Legend editions before Fall 2018. See article for corresponding author.

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