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THE TUFTS DAILY
New SIS update improves registration by Roy Yang
Assistant News Editor
Tufts’ Student Information System (SIS) was recently updated for the Fall 2015 semester registration period, which is currently underway, in order to improve how students search for classes. “We do an annual survey with satisfaction with SIS, and class search was hands down the most confusing and least user-friendly function that both faculty doing advising and students registering for classes identified,” Snell said. Students can now search for key words, filter classes based on preferred days of the week and time of day and find classes according to the distribution requirements, Snell said. According to Snell, the update also includes lists of course subjects and course numbers relevant to particular career paths, in addition to visual improvements. “Our goal is always to make products seamless, [so] that you don’t have to understand how we design something to be able to use it,” Snell said. “We tried to design something that is simple enough to use, but provides enough information without the need to go through some sort of training to really utilize it all.” The class search function update comes after Tufts’ implementation of the SIS Project from 2011 to 2014, according to Senior Communications Specialist at Tufts Technology Services (TTS) Christine Fitzgerald. In an email to the Daily, Fitzgerald said that the SIS Project was an initiative that replaced the old SIS with a new system — initially called iSIS — that allowed for continued change. “Portions of [the original] SIS were 25 to 30 years old,” Fitzgerald said. “It was cumbersome and inefficient to use, did not interface well with related, modern applications and challenged us to provide needed cyber-security. In addition, it was difficult and risky to make changes to SIS, including modification needed to support changes in academic pol-
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icy. Now that the project [has] ended, we continue to support and improve the system.” Benjamin Thai, a biology and community health major, said he is supportive of the changes. He said the updated search function provides a “bird’s eye view of the various course requirements.” “I think this new system is very intuitive and comprehensive, as you can actually visually compare classes with the new course descriptions and sections’ layout,” Thai, a junior, explained. “It’s very easy for me to see how certain classes are fulfilled, and the interface itself is user-friendly; … it’s so much easier to scroll through and read all the classes I may want to take. This [new update] definitely changes the selectability of the classes I want to take as, now, I don’t have to constantly go back and check everything.” Tufts is currently developing another SIS update for next semester, Snell said. According to Snell, the next update, Phase 2, will provide further improvements to the class search function by integrating a new calendar view with the shopping cart. “In observing the incoming freshmen, the first thing I noticed every person do was to make a visual calendar, because people like the visual of a calendar when trying to register,” Snell said. Snell said she is also attempting to visually connect information from the shopping cart and the enrolled classes tab with color-coding, for example, making the shopping cart blue and the enrolled courses purple so that students know when they have enrolled successfully. Phase 2 will lay out instruction steps for registration, Snell said. The last round of feedback showed that many students found the enrollment process confusing. Though these new functions are under development, Snell hopes for further feedback from students. “We are hoping that the survey that is going out right now is providing some more feedback so we know how to further improve the system,” Snell said.
nichaolas pfosi / the tufts daily
SIS underwent several changes to make searching for classes more user-friendly.
Where You Read It First Est. 1980
After months of delay, Jumbo statue installed on campus
nicholas pfosi / the tufts daily
The new Jumbo statue arrived on campus on Wednesday, and was installed yesterday morning. An unveiling ceremony will take place on April 17.
Kids' Day to provide activities, performances for local children by Meagan Adler Assistant News Editor
The Leonard Carmichael Society (LCS) will be hosting Kids’ Day for children in the Medford, Somerville and Chinatown communities tomorrow, April 11. The event will be for kindergartners through third graders. Kids’ Day has been an annual event for 52 years, according to Co-Coordinator Adam Kronish, a senior. This year’s theme is “Jumbo Makin’ Waves,” senior Tara Mount, a fellow co-coordinator, added. Kids’ Day is an all-day event that lasts from 8:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., Co-Coordinator Jason Rathman, a sophomore, said. Approximately 350 children will be dropped off at Tufts’ Medford/Somerville campus on Saturday for Kids’
Day, according to Kronish. The kids are organized into groups of 10 and led by two student volunteers from Tufts, he added. Kronish also said that they are expecting more kids this year than last year, when fewer than 250 attended. Many different groups on campus come together for this event, Kronish said. The Department of Chemistry will put on a show in Barnum Hall, and the student children’s theater troupe Traveling Treasure Trunk will perform in the Paige Hall Terrace Room. In addition, many campus Greek organizations will help out with the activities planned for the day, he said. Activities will take place all around the Academic Quad. “I think it’s important for the outside communities to come in and for us to have a day for
Nicholas Pfosi for Tufts University
Tufts student leaders and their groups enjoy a ride during Kid’s Day outside Gantcher Gym on April 19, 2014.
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them to show our appreciation,” Rathman said. “It really brings our campus together.” During the event, the groups of kids will have four different rotations, he explained. At the end of the day, all of the groups will go to the Gantcher Center, where there will be a performance and a carnival for the kids. The three co-coordinators worked with LCS to plan this year’s Kids’ Day “It’s been something that I have been invested in since I came to Tufts,” Kronish said. Mount explained that in organizing the event, the coordinators visited various elementary schools and handed out flyers to students who are eligible to participate. They also promoted the event to the Tufts faculty. Kronish added that the coordinators also worked with the Office of Community Relations to publicize the event. Kronish said that the planning committee for Kids’ Day consists of 11 people. They organized the entire event, which included tasks such as setting up volunteers, recruiting groups for booth activities, organizing Greek life, publicizing the event and reaching out to organizations for performances. Two buses are provided for the 50 kids coming from Chinatown on Saturday, Rathman explained. Mount and Kronish added that they have made a lot of changes this year to improve the event’s organization. They started planning for this year’s Kids’ Day soon after last year’s Kids’ Day ended. “I am looking forward to it running smoothly,” Mount said.
Today’s sections
On its latest studio album release, All Time Low return to the limelight with deeper, nuanced lyrics.
The men’s lacrosse team fell to conference foe Bates on Wednesday night.
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