Upgrade from LORIS desperatley needed

The Laurier Online Registration Information System, otherwise known as LORIS, is perennially the bane of most Laurier students’ existence. It has become almost a rite of passage as a WLU student, to undergo the annual tortuous experience of registering for courses.

It is a shared experience amongst students when LORIS opens, your palms start sweating, your heart races and you have a sinking, nauseous feeling that you will not get into any of the courses you desperately need to graduate.

After the initial stage of panic and anxiety comes the realization that this is possibly the most backwards way of registering for courses, especially for a school that prides itself on innovation. Nearly all other post-secondary institutions use a system of pre-enrollment.

This way, students can register with “intention” for the courses they want and need, and the university tailors the classes to meet those demands. It seems only logical that a post-secondary institution should meet the requirements of its paying customers.

With every passing year comes another desperate plea from students to make vital changes to the LORIS system. This year seemed promising when an email was sent to all students titled “Tips for using LORIS” but when the primary “tip” was to learn the art of patience, it became clear that Laurier has no intention of making any of our lives easier.

For it becomes difficult to passively stare at your computer screen and wait patiently while watching your academic career fade away with every click of refresh.

Laurier is perhaps, resisting change as it franticly clings to the remnants of its small-school, communal past. The reality is, Laurier is a rapidly growing school and the original LORIS system can no longer accommodate an expanding population with heavy demands.

For a growing school that attempts to be seen as progressive it is quite frankly, at this point, an embarrassment that we should be using a technology that seems older than most professors.
It is about time LORIS is completely made-over or a new system is introduced; after all, it is the students’ academic future that’s at stake.