LUO upgrades admissions software
New software launched this summer allows residential students to register themselves for online classes using an automated add/drop form, eliminating wait time experienced during processing by the Liberty University Registrar’s Office.
The new Apex software automatically checks for necessary prerequisites and a required 2.0 GPA or 2.5 transfer GPA in order to confirm registration, Pembrooke Thompson, data analyst for the registrar’s office, said.
If requirements are not met, the program will explain why the student was unable to register, she said.
“We’re just really excited that before the start of the semester students have that ability now to add themselves to these classes,” Thompson said. “They’re not really sitting and waiting for us to register them.”
Under the old SharePoint system, admissions staff had to manually check and approve each request, Thompson said.
“We were hitting a point, though, where students were coming in submitting a SharePoint request three weeks ago, and they still hadn’t heard back because we were still trying to sift through them,” Thompson said.
At one point during registration for the fall 2016 semester, Thompson said the office had between 3,000 and 4,000 SharePoint forms waiting to be approved, and it took between seven and eight weeks to catch up on them.
“It was not working very well,” Thompson said. “We would think we got through them and more would just pile in.”
The office staff expects the new system will give them more time to focus on answering email questions and spending time with students at the office window.
OFFICE — Liberty Online is located on North Campus. Photo credit: Elizabeth Dean
The Apex add/drop form is currently closed for C and D term online class registration as of Aug. 29 but will reopen for the spring 2017 registration period, according to the registrar’s website.
During the interval, students may email the office at registrar@liberty.edu.
While previous online class registration had the same start date as residential registration, online registration under the new Apex system will have its own start date, Thompson said.
Jeanne Davies, Liberty Online admissions counselor, also helps students plan their class schedules. She says that online classes are beneficial for students who have busier lives.
“The main pro is you don’t have to go to a residential class, so students that work full time don’t have to uproot their lives to attend school to better their education,” Davies said.
Also, residential students taking 18 credits, for example, can break up the course load with online classes.
“It was nice sophomore year because I took one B term and one D term class so that I only had 15 credit hours at a time,” Liberty junior Abigail Chennells said.
Thompson said cons include less one-on-one time with professors and material condensed into an eight-week term.
Many students prefer the online format for some of the most commonly taken online courses, Thompson said.
According to Davies, Liberty Online has added new courses including music 209, available this fall semester, and biology 102, available fall 2017.
Pors is a news reporter.