KU students to enroll online, not in line, for first time Friday

LAWRENCE -- The days of waiting in line to enroll are over at the University of Kansas. Starting Friday, KU students will bid farewell to the infamously long lines at the enrollment center in Strong Hall as they enroll for fall 2003 classes through KU's new online enrollment system. KU officials have been working for several years to prepare the campus for the new enrollment process, which integrates student and enrollment information from all four of KU's campuses into one Web-based system.

"I think it's a definite benefit to the university; I'm so glad it's finally here," said Loren Malone, student body vice president. "It's going to be a lot easier, a lot faster and a lot more efficient."

Malone, who will complete her undergraduate degree in December, will get to enroll online once before she graduates. She said that the new online system will make the complex process of enrolling more convenient for students.

"Enrollment is kind of an intimidating process anyway, especially in your freshman and sophomore years," she said. "Online enrollment will make the whole process more accessible. I think that this time, there may be a few frustrations because it's the first time and people will be learning to use it, but once they do it once or twice, they'll get used to it."

To prepare the university community for the new online enrollment process, KU officials have sent e-mails to the entire student body, as well as faculty and staff, with instructions on how to get oriented to the new system and prepare for the new process. Those messages included an e-mail address to provide a human contact to answer questions, and many students, including some who are studying internationally, have sent questions about the new system.

"In just the past few weeks, I've communicated with KU students who are studying in Italy, Spain and Japan," said Bob Turvey, online enrollment project manager for the Lawrence campus. "In each case, we were able to help them figure out how to navigate the new system and usually respond to their e-mails within a few hours."

Turvey said that since this is the first implementation of the new system, he and the other administrators continue to tweak it according to suggestions from advisers and students so it will match KU's needs.

"Already, we've made a number of changes based on the feedback from the students," he said. "In each case, I'd say that their input led to improvements, such as renaming some categories, that will make the system more intuitive for when enrollment begins on Friday."

For students who would like help with their first online enrollment, the enrollment center in Strong Hall will be set up for walk-in assistance. Similar assistance will be provided at the KU Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., and the Edwards Campus in Overland Park.

Enrollment appointments begin Friday and will continue throughout the month of April. As in previous years, students will have assigned enrollment times, with graduate students and upperclassmen enrolling before sophomores and freshmen. The new system can accommodate up to 600 students enrolling in a single minute, which is the total number of new enrollment appointments that will be assigned each day.

Online enrollment is partially funded by KU students through the Tuition Enhancement Program.