Schedule Planner: An easier way to register

On Monday, October 3 the USI Registrar's Office will launch Student Schedule Planner, a tool that will streamline the class registration process for all students and will integrate with the DegreeWorks program already in place. Students not in DegreeWorks also can take advantage of the new tool.

Student Schedule Planner will be accessible from both PC and mobile devices, and allows students to easily select preferred classes, block out breaks or personal conflicts, and view the best possible schedules which can then be easily linked to registration.

"We tested it ourselves and with our peer advisors," said Kristina Walker, director of advising for the Romain College of Business. "We'll also be including it in our UNIV101 courses. It's really going to decrease frustration for our students, especially freshmen and sophomores who have more course sections to choose from."

Schedule Planner will be accessible from students' myUSI account. It's located under the "Student" tab on the top of the page. Select "Registration" and then select "Schedule Planner" from the list.

The easy-to-navigate software allows students to select the classes they'd like to take and then add in "breaks" or segments of time they are unavailable, such as athletic or work schedules. They also can lock in classes. Schedule Planner will then generate all possible schedule variations to choose from. Once a student has selected a schedule, they can "Send to Shopping Cart" to complete registration.

"It's extremely user friendly, and it works hand-in-hand with myUSI, making it easy to coordinate when it comes to actually registering for classes," said Chloe Byars, a senior management major and early tester of the planner in the advising center. "I've seen many freshmen, during both orientation and the regular semester, become overwhelmed trying to select classes and create a schedule that works best for them. I see the Schedule Planner tool taking away much of that confusion. Once they meet with an advisor and decide what classes they need to take, the planner generates all possible schedules. For returning students, it will simply make the registration process go quicker."

"This new tool not only will make it easier for students to register, we think it will optimize their schedules, increase credit hours taken, and assist with retention and graduation rates," said Sandy Frank, USI registrar.

Visit the Schedule Planner page on the Registrar site for a video tutorial on launching and using the new scheduling assistant.