University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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adios. L crisp LADY r With the installation of the new Wolverine Access during the summer came happier students around registration time When registering for classes this fall, students were introduced to a whole different wave while surfing the new Wolverine Access. Deviating from the former touch-tone telephone system, the reg- istration administration developed an alternate way to schedule classes; a decision made based on student requests. We implemented the web page registration system because consistently over the last five years students have expressed their desire to have a web- based registration system, said registrar Tom McElvain. Students in focus groups expressed preferences to be able to do registration over the web and to be able to combine the class search function with the registration function-tof ind open classes in the same system. One benefit that McElvain saw in the system was that It allows students to access their per- sonal information. Its primary purpose is to em- power students to have the ability to maintain their own data. Fifth-year pre-med senior Reena Newton, who majored in anthropology-zoology, approved of the new registration system. You don ' t feel rushed as opposed to the old system. With the telephone system, if you don ' t dial in the correct course number it cuts you off. Or if you don ' t have all of the information in front of you, like if you forgot to write down the second section number that you wanted and you ' re trying to flip through the course book to find it and you ' re kind of running out of time, you would get cut off. Then you would have to call back and sometimes the lines were busy. Senior Malikh Prot, studying organizational stud- ies and cultural anthropology agrees that the new system is much easier and beneficial. What ' s great about it is that you can access it anywhere. Most people own computers, so you could drop and add classes when you are home. It ' s nice to have that option. by Nedda Mehdizadeh Welcome to the University of Michigan Wolverine Access System 92 New Wolverine Access

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expanding narrow HORIZONS As all LSA students were aware - and many unhappily so - fourth-term proficiency in a lan- guage was a requirement for graduation. Accord- ing to the LSA Course Guide, Competence in languages has traditionally been a sign of a well- educated person. ..The study of another language is a way to gain a new reflective understanding of language and communication systems. While some students agreed that foreign languages were an important part of a quality education, others complained that their future careers will never be impacted by languages they were forced to take while attending the University. I think learning a foreign language is part of a well-rounded education, and without it the LSA curriculum would not be as balanced, said Nicole Practicing pronunciation, a Spanish 101 instructor uses an overhead to aid her students. Many introductory language courses were taught by Graduate Student Instructors from other countries proficient in the language they taught, photo by Naomi Trager The LSA fourth semester proficiency language requirement forces prima- rily English speaking students to indulge in a bit of foreign culture Muendelein, a junior majoring in political science. She completed the requirement in French, then decided she missed studying the language and made it her minor. We always hear that we ' re not going to get a job in the exact field we study. I think it ' s important to have these skills because you never know what you ' re going to need for a future job. Sophomore cell and molecular biology major Justin Christy wholeheartedly disagreed. Fourse- mesters of foreign language is completely unnec- essary, he said. German is not my utmost con- cern when I ' m studying to become a doctor. Jennifer Fisher, a sophomore art history and film major who studied Italian, had a less extreme take on the subject. I think the language requirement should be cut in half, she said. A lot of students take the four semesters, finish up and never take a language again. I think it gets in the way of a lot of people ' s schedules when they ' re trying to get their distribution out of the way. The language requirement may have been wel- comed by some LSA students and abhorred by others, but one thing remained universal: it was required for everyone, by Cortney Dueweke Academics 91

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With computing sites scattered all over campus, the new Wolverine Access provided students with virtually unlimited access to their personal files, financial information and course listings and availability. Registering on-line also provided students with a preferred alternative to telephone registration, photo by Michelle Sohn The new Wolverine Access system offers a fresh new look for its many users. The old telephone registration system was replaced with a quicker online method over the summer. graphic by Nathan Busch THE links wolverineaccess . umich . ec Student Records personal information registration class schedule grades and transcripts financial information U of M Course Catalog course search time slots availability Frequently Asked Questions how to register troubleshooting Academics 93