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

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Students crowd the Fishbowl in a desperate attempt to grab a computer to register for classes. Since Wolverine Access required students to register online, the Angell Hall computer lab was bustling the first few weeks of each semester. V. Granata photo QUICK SSTIONS HERE ivere cow jtneqnisK Sc lool ' Thfl LeiLeiSui ibid); nig COD mill one ' s - once. Akb D ptobb.Fi to lit into ' Tkpetr foimiK.lt n F During a break between his classes, a student attempts to figure out his definite schedule for the fall semester. Filled courses and waitlisting procedures made setting schedules difficult for students at the beginning of each term. V. Granata photo An advisor helps a student in need of assistance outside of the Academic Advising Center. The Quick Question Table was set up to respond to any concerns students may have had with the registration process. Y. Granata photo 70 Academics

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(Continued from page 67) Two months after the Supreme Court decisions in the lawsuits against the University ' s Law School and School of Literature, Science, and the Arts, the University announced its new undergraduate admissions process to comply with the rulings. Undergraduate students applying for winter, spring, summer, or fall semester of 2004 would be the first to be affected by the changes. Applications would include new questions designed to seek out more information about the student ' s background and personal achievement. The previously employed point system was replaced by a more personalized and individualized review process, involving separate reviews by a trained reader , a professional admissions counselor in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions (OUA), and a senior-level manager in OUA. In the case of disagreement or inconsistency in the reviews, an admissions review committee would make the final decision. The evaluation would be based on academic factors such as high school grades, standardized test scores, and the quality of his or her high school curriculum, as well as a variety of nonacademic factors, which ranged from personal interests and achievements, geography, and alumni connections, to race and ethnicity, family income and family educational background. Combined, these academic and nonacademic factors would identify students who would best contribute to the intellectual vibrancy and diversity of the student body. Student reactions to the new admissions process varied. I don ' t think the changes address the problem, said LSA junior Bobby Raham, a member of Young Americans for Freedom. It ' s just a show; it ' s the same policy implemented in a slightly different way, he added. Other students, however, demonstrated more approval for the new admissions process. The Supreme Court decision was a huge victory for everyone who fought for it. I support the University ' s new policy; it ' s a step in the right direction. We ' ll continue to work to make sure that the new details maintain minority enrollment, said LSA senior Kate Stenvig, a member of By Any Means Necessary. Two weeks after the Supreme Court rulings, University of California regent Ward Connerly visited the University, outlining a plan to place an anti-affirmative action referendum on the Michigan ballot. Seven years ago, Connerly had led a successful campaign for Proposition 209, a similar initiative that ended affirmative action in California. University students from both the pro- and anti-affirmative sides vowed to address Connerly ' s plan. We are working hard with Connerly to put the initiative on the ballot to show that no matter what Mary Sue Coleman and the University elites say, the people of the state of Michigan oppose the policy, said Raham. Stenvig, who was helping to organize a conference on strategies to defeat Connerly, disagreed. We will continue to build the movement for integration by building the campaign to defeat Connerly ' s initiative. This year marks the 50 th anniversary of the Brown vs. Board of Education decision. It is especially appropriate to pose the question of why education is still so segregated and try to change that. We snatched victory from the hands of defeat and proved that if we organize we can win. The same thing needs to happen with the counter attacks that are now happening. HIM; JlIC the aftermath of the affirmative action trials Affirmative Action 69

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he Crisp lady, that voice on the other end of the phone that took students registration requests in years past, seemed to be a distant memory. Registering for classes by phone disappeared with the creation of Wolverine Access, the University ' s online registration system, just four years ago. Class schedules were altered with a few simple clicks of a button. The registration system was generated for all students, including graduate students. Classes from every school were accessible from a course search. LSA students were able to look up class availability if they were interested in a business class, and music school students could find an engineering class if it was something they were considering. Many of the courses though were reserved for certain eligible students only. To bypass the prerequisites, students went to the professors to be issued an override. Some students thought that Wolverine Access could have even more functions than simply a registration tool. There should be a mark where I can read about the class while I ' m looking it up on the site, said LSA junior Lei Lei Sun. It would be like combining the LSA course guide along with Wolverine Access. Other students also felt that combining more of the student programs all into one site might make it more efficient. They said adding coursetools or e-mail to the registration site could eliminate the constant signing in and out of programs with one ' s UMich ID and password. I think the main problem was that it was really slow, commented Business School senior Sandra DelColle. You couldn ' t get into it sometimes because there were so many people using it at once. Although one might have wanted to simply drop a course off of his or her schedule, it could occasionally take minutes of staring at a computer before the transaction was complete. There were also days when the online system was down, fully halting the entire process and causing headaches for students. Despite some kinks in the system, most people appreciated the new system and the switch did not pose a problem. For new students, Wolverine Access was all they knew. I thought that once you knew what you wanted to fit into your schedule, the system was pretty easy to figure out, said first year LSA student Erica Wilczynski. The peer advisors [at orientation] were a ton of help too. I know I ' d have been completely lost had it not been for mine. It took longer for some than others, but all in all, I think registration went pretty smoothly. The registration process seemed to get easier with the installment ofWolverine Access. The time that was spent on the phone punching in numbers and waiting for speeches was simply a blur. For the sanity of the student population, the University continued to find multiple ways to make the procedure easier. Fi how convenient is wolverine access? Registration 71