College cuts the cord on phone registration method

Austin Community College eliminated their long-standing automated phone registration option (TREG) on Sept. 22.

Students received notifications through emails and postal mail informing them of the method changes. The message indicated that a trend in online registration has grown significantly high and has become the primary choice for most students.

According to Kathleen Christensen, vice president of Student Success and Support Systems, the number of students using phone registration has steadily declined over the past few years with only 32 percent of all students using the phone registration in 2008, which led to an even lower 15 percent by the spring of 2011,

Christensen said that security issues were also involved with the decision to eliminate the phone registration option.

"Personal information like Social Security numbers are just not secure with the use of an automated phone system," Christensen said. "It just does not conform to the law in the way that we would like it to."

Few students have felt that the change creates problems with the registration process, but many still believe that more changes need to be added in order to improve the process.

Student Kim Baker said the decision to eliminate this option was not a drawback and that the online option offers a better overview of the classes available.

However, Baker said she chose to register for her first semester through an adviser to be better informed on the type of classes she needs.

"I was advised that if there was a way to choose a teacher over a time and location then that would be the best way to go," Baker said.

Student Chelsea Lee said she remains neutral on the automated phone option decision, but that online registration should have a way to store students' billing information so that it can be used for future semesters.

"I found out later that my classes were dropped, so I had to start all over again," Lee said, after assuming that her previous payment information would automatically provide payment for her current classes.

For more information about registration, students can log on to www.austincc.edu/register.