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Despite the consistently cloudy and grey skylines and the major monsoons from March, students should be pleasantly surprised to know that spring has finally arrived. With it comes warmer weather, the friendly reminder of an upcoming vacation, cookouts, and the usually consistent, yet subtle and almost anonymous, swearing that pierces dorm room walls. We’re speaking, of course, about registration frustration, mostly the result of MyBentley, Bentley’s portal website, and it’s numerous failures.
In fact, the foul words started making an appearance weeks ago, beginning with the housing registration process, as MyBentley froze, stopped responding, or just wouldn’t open for students, stranding them in unwanted rooms, or forcing them to directly contact Bentley’s Residential Center. The foul words are about to start for round two: Course selectio- or so you thought.
According to a new move by the Registrar’s Office, as gloriously announced by yet another series of inbox-clogging e-mails, this go-around might prove to be different. Rather than using MyBentley, which only leaves students disappointed and empty-handed, the school is temporarily ditching the clunky and aging middleman by granting students direct access to the Bentley BannerWeb system.
“So how does it work?” those of you who don’t read your mail may be asking. Basically, according to the plan, students will go directly to bentley.edu and find a new link labeled: “Undergraduate Course Registration.” From there, they will be directed to a login page, requiring their student ID number (the @XXXXXXXX number), and their newly created pin. Everything after that should be done exactly as it was in previous years, minus the MyBentley masthead at the top of the page and the previous problems. At least this is what the plan hopes to accomplish, and we all know how well plans usually pan out.
This, of course, is only temporary, until a new MyBentley gets assembled and dropped into active duty sometime this summer. This new system, both designed by and for students, has been gathering input from focus groups, faculty and staff, and e-mails for the last couple of weeks. As far as we’re concerned, this new MyBentley will justify the system’s overuse, from class elections to orientation ticket purchases and beyond.
Until then, however, The Vanguard’s Editorial Board is thrilled by both the registration changes and the unspoken change of approach one school office is taking. This change is going from the age-old “do-what’s-easiest-for-us” mentality, to a “do-what’s-best for-the-students’” way of thinking.
In fact, as one student told The Vanguard, “It’s nice to see someone’s looking out for Little Timmy.” We couldn’t agree more, especially when it means Little Timmy doesn’t get stuck with Friday night classes.
Another student, however, reminded us that despite the new system, it isn’t guaranteed to work, especially since it hasn’t been tested. “If the change works, then I’m all for it, but it really comes down to how they implement it,” the student said.
Whether the move turns out for the best, or for the worst, we feel this decision was the right one.
Oh, and in case you didn’t notice, this is only the second truly positive Vanguard editorial written this semester. While we’ve complained about e-mail signatures, the absurdly large number of reminder e-mails, the relaxed dorm security campus-wide, and general problems with technology, courses, and cable options, we, as The Vanguard’s Editorial Board, aren’t only looking at the glass half empty. If that’s not saying a lot, then we don’t know what is.
Here’s to you, Registrar’s Office. Keep up the good work.
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