Eastern State University (ESU) Background

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The ESU course registration problem will be used as an example throughout this book.

The process of assigning professors to courses and the registration of students is a frustrating and time-consuming experience.

After the professors of ESU have decided which courses they are going to teach for the semester, the Registrar's office enters the information into the computer system. A batch report is printed for the professors indicating which courses they will teach. A course catalog is printed and distributed to the students.

The students currently fill out (mulitpart, multicolor) registration forms that indicate their choice in courses, and return the completed forms to the Registrar's office. The typical student load is four courses. The staff of the Registrar's office then enters the students' forms into the mainframe computer system. Once the students' curriculum for the semester has been entered, a batch job is run overnight to assign students to courses. Most of the time the students get their first choice; however, in those cases where there is a conflict, the Registrar's office talks with each student to get additional choices. Once all the students have been successfully assigned to courses, a hard copy of the students' schedule is sent to the students for their verification. Most student registrations are processed within a week, but some exceptional cases take up to two weeks to solve.

Once the initial registration period is completed, professors receive a student roster for each course they are scheduled to teach.

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