Every semester starts with enlistment. For Atenean students, this procedure is done through the Ateneo Integrated Student Information System (AISIS). Since 2005, AISIS version two has allowed students to enlist by logging on to the website, enlisting in their classes, and printing out their assessment forms, all in the comfort of their homes.
But for some students, the perceived ease of online enlistment is just that–perception. According to a study conducted by the Ateneo Statistics Circle (A-Stat), slow speed and the ability to log into the system are the usual complaints regarding the system. What might have been a 10-minute enlistment stretches on to an hour and even more for 13% of the study’s respondents.
With such a vital role to play, can AISIS efficiently address the needs of the Loyola Schools (LS) students?
Tracing its roots
AISIS is an online portal developed in 1998 for students and faculty to access grades, programs of study, class schedules, and other school information. It is also used during the registration process for the enlistment of classes and assessment of fees.
The Management Information Systems (MIS) Office developed the system after consulting with the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (ADAA), the Registrar’s office, and the academic departments. The office also provides technical support to these offices, as well as the Central Accounting Office, and cashiering during enrollment and enlistment.
Before AISIS was in use, students had to line up and enlist in the department of their preferred class. They would go from department to department until they finish enlisting for all of their classes.
“You can [just] imagine that students had to queue up, then [run] to the next [department] for the next course,” says MIS Office Director Maria Rosario Banzon.
In The GUIDON’s September 2001 article, “Registrar proposes early regform distribution,” LS Registrar Joaquin Agtarap raised proposals that aimed to shorten registration time. These proposals included early advisement, early distribution of registration forms, and early generation of class schedules.
“AISIS has a wealth of information,” says Banzon in the 2001 article. “Unfortunately, these [pieces of] information are not being used for decision making.”
“It’s underutilized.”
June 2002 saw the implementation of online enlistment through the use of AISIS’s first version. However, this was limited only to the Intranet or a private computer network that operates only within campus grounds. The following year, the random number system was added to the online enlistment process.
With the help of AISIS, registration then became a “one-stop-shop” where students can enlist for all their subjects in the designated venue for their school. Currently, the second version of AISIS is used for registration.
System malfunction
In the said A-Stat study, 92.2% of the respondents enlist through AISIS, while the rest manually register in campus because of class schedule conflicts, requests for buffers, or special classes for the Junior Term Abroad program, among others.
More than half of the 170 respondents reported problems with enlistment (see sidebar “AISIS by the numbers” for details), the biggest of which are related to upload speed and browser compatibility. Other problems include the inability to change classes, disconnection issues, server resets, and crashing.
For Marvin Reyes (III AB IS), one of the problems with AISIS is how the system tends to lag.
“The system itself still can’t accommodate the number of students simultaneously connecting for [registration],” he says. Because of this, he says subjects suddenly close even before students are able to verify their slots.
Vibson Que (IV BS Mgt) recounts that it took five of his friends an hour to complete their enlistment as one of the last batches serviced during the enlistment of this school year’s first semester. He says, however, that he could not tell whether the problem was with the internet connection or with AISIS.
According to Banzon, the MIS Office has addressed this problem after carefully monitoring the network, the servers, and the peak time and volume of transactions. She adds that the concerns raised by students now have more to do with information that they can get for themselves.
“Now, students would complain about not knowing their batch [schedules], pre-requisites that they do not know about, and details about their IPS (Individual Program of Study),” she says. She adds that these problems could be avoided had the students prepared for the registration procedures.
A better and brighter system
Currently, the MIS Office conducts regular routine system checks, preventive maintenance of servers, and data back-ups. They are also starting to add new features to the system.
“Right now, we are incorporating a direct link for online payments using ATM accounts,” Banzon says.
A recent addition to AISIS was the online faculty and course evaluation. Banzon says that they have received a lot of positive feedback during its pilot run. However, according to the focus group discussion conducted by A-Stat, some students say that the evaluation takes too long to answer, has redundant questions, and a layout that could be improved.
Even with the faster registration results brought about by AISIS, Agtarap says that the regular registration in school will not be removed. He says that there will always be specific circumstances that will necessitate some students to physically come to campus.
He adds that “it [registration process] will never be perfect.” Since the needs of the clients or students are a moving target, the best thing to do is to try and improve what is already there, says Agtarap.
And despite some concerns raised with regard to AISIS, he believes that there are no glitches. “I think the system is working, I think it [just] goes back to preparation,” he says.
Agtarap adds that departments have to make sure that they provide enough classes for the students advised to take them. At the same time, the Registrar’s office has to make sure that those classes are assigned classrooms and that they are up on AISIS so the students can enlist.
After all, “the registration is actually…a shared effort between all academic departments, [the] MIS office, ADAA, Central Accounting Office, Cashier, and my office,” says Agtarap.
Though the study respondents are generally satisfied with the current system, they suggest that the system be improved to become faster and less faulty. They also recommend longer enlistment periods and server bandwidth capacity to handle the volume of traffic.
Que believes that despite the system’s flaws, AISIS is still more efficient than manual registration.
“[Efficiency is] doing the same job you came to do with the least time and effort,” he says.
AISIS by the Numbers
170 Ateneans evaluate the AISIS online enlistment process through a survey conducted by the Ateneo Statistics Circle.
Did you use AISIS to enlist?
92.2% – Yes
7.8% – No
Was the three-hour time allotment for enlistment sufficient?
89.6% – Yes
10.4% – No
Were the time slots reasonable?
61.6% – Agree
26.6% – Indifferent
11.6% – Disagree
How long did enlistment take (in minutes)?
7.1% – less than 10
20.1 % – 11-20
24.0% – 21-30
13.6% – 31-40
13.0% – 41-50
9.1% – 51-60
13% – more than an hour
Were announcements and information dissemination clear?
76.0%- Agree
14.9% – Indifferent
9.1% – Disagree
Were the enlistment instructions user-friendly?
77.3% – Agree
18.2% – Indifferent
4.5% – Disagree
Were you able to enlist with ease?
53.9% – Agree
24% – Disagree
22.1% – Indifferent
Did any problem come up during enlistment while using the system?
59.1% – Yes
40.9% – No
Of the 59.1% that reported problems: Did you have problems in accessing your account?
67.0% – Yes
33.0% – No
Were there browser incompatibility issues?
15.4% – Yes
84.6% – No
Was slow upload speed a problem?
74.7% – Yes
25.3% – No
