Fall Registration Moved From Russell Gym to Robinson Tower
The infamous "Baylor Line" sprawling out of Russell Gym during registration and financial settlement is no more.
Because of rapidly improving technology, fall registration scheduled for Aug. 23-24 has been moved to Robinson Tower, according to Anna Kay Hollon-Harris, associate registrar and director of registration.
"We're moving fall registration from Russell Gym to Robinson Tower, for one thing, to bring all student services together and eventually make registration and financial settlement more convenient for everyone," Hollon-Harris said. "It will take a little patience as we all adjust to this, but it really will be a better system in the long run."
Many universities--including such Big 12 institutions as the University of Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and the University of Colorado--have replaced arena registration because of burgeoning technology, she said.
"As far as the technical set-up at Russell Gym, we just couldn't do it anymore. We've used every outlet and run every cable we possibly could," Hollon-Harris said. "This move (to Robinson Tower) propels Baylor into the 21st century."
Another reason for the change is the availability of BearTouch, Baylor's touchtone telephone system that currently allows eligible students to complete registration, make schedule changes, access their account balances and add optional fee items (parking sticker, meal plan, etc.) for a term.
"I would encourage all students who are eligible for BearTouch to use it," Hollon-Harris said. "It's really working well and providing more services for students. Eligible students do not need to stand in line to register, and that's a big plus."
Students eligible to use BearTouch are those who have earned at least 12 hours and are not on academic probation. Those who cannot use the system include Freshman Challenge Program students, student-athletes, and graduate business, psychology and statistics students. "Students who haven't changed their personal identification number (PIN) to a six-digit number from their birthdate, need to go ahead and do so," Hollon-Harris said. "Once that number is changed, it becomes a student's PIN until they graduate."
Changes can be made through "Student Stuff" on the Baylor web page at www.baylor.edu/stustuff/ or in the registrar's office.
BearTouch information is available on the Internet at www.baylor.edu/~ITC/training/BearTouch/.
Hollon-Harris says that Baylor will begin a pilot program in the fall to register a group of students via the World Wide Web. If the test is successful, Baylor will open web registration to all eligible students for the summer and fall of 2000.
Fall classes begin on Wednesday, Aug. 25. Late registration and financial settlement is Aug. 25-26. For details about fall registration, students should check pages 7-9 of the fall 1999 schedule of classes, available Monday, Feb. 15.
For more information, call the registrar's office at 710-1814 or look for an announcement soon on their home page at www.baylor.edu/~Registrar/ .