Students plan their class schedule before the start of the semester, referring to the course syllabi and their personal schedule. And it is the success of course registration that makes this timetable feasible. Many students invest their time and money to go to a PC room in an attempt to succeed in course registration. However, there are continuous problems related to course registration. In particular, in the case of undergraduate course registration for the spring semester of 2022, there was a server error, and a lecture transfer[1] problem occurred. More importantly, the school did not make accurate notice regarding these issues. Many students expressed their dissatisfaction with this and demanded the school improve the registration system. Let's find out in detail what kind of problem arose with the course registration.

Course Registration Server Error

           February 15^th was the registration day for students with odd student ID numbers at Chung-Ang University (CAU). The scheduled start time was 10 A.M., but students were not able to register for classes at 10 A.M. This was because of an error in the registration server. At that time, numerous articles from students saying that they could not register for courses were rapidly uploaded on the community app Everytime. On the Course Registration Board of CAU course registration site, a notice was posted at 10:01:30 that the course registration open time for odd-numbered students was changed to 11 A.M. due to a server error. In the end, the course registration for odd-numbered students opened at 11 A.M. Students who went to the PC room to register for a course had to pay for an additional hour to extend their use time, and students who had other plans after 10 A.M. had a schedule setback. All students had to wait for an hour. However, this is not the first time such a course registration server error has occurred. On August 19^th, 2020, a problem of registering for courses occurred. At that time, due to an external DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack, there was a problem with the server, so it was not possible to proceed with the course registration at the scheduled time. The course registration opening time was postponed until 2 P.M. that day, but the same problem occurred again at 2 P.M. The course registration date for odd-numbered students was postponed to August 24^th and the course registration date for all students to the 25^th. The course registration server errors that occurred in 2020 and this year had different causes, but the school should have managed to prevent them from occurring in the first place. In the meantime, many efforts have been made to prevent server problems from occurring, but it seems that the fundamental problem has not been resolved as server problems continue. CAU must thoroughly manage their servers so that errors do not cause any disadvantage to the students.

Lecture Transfer Problem and the School's Lack of Response

           February 11^th was the day of disclosure of transfer and sortition results, and remaining course spots. However, the remaining spots of core courses of the Anseong Campus were not disclosed. As the remaining spots were not disclosed, core courses in students' wish list were not transferred to the list of courses registered. Even after a few days, the number of remaining spots was shown as 0, so students sent inquiries to the school, and the Da Vinci College of General Education responded to this was due to a system error. It said to students who called that both odd-numbered and even-numbered students should register for the core courses on February 17^th, the course registration date for all students. In addition, the Da Vinci College of General Education sent messages to students on February 15^th, approximately 10 minutes before course registration began, at 10:50. However, the spots of core courses that were scheduled to open on February 17^th opened on the registration date for even-numbered students, February 16^th. Even-numbered students who found this registered for the core courses on February 16^th. However, the students who thought the spots would open on February 17^th did not know that the spots were open and could not register. Odd-numbered students, of course, were shocked about spots being opened on February 16^th. Many students were outraged by this, and they sent inquiries to the university. The Da Vinci College of General Education said that it seemed like a system error again and said that they would find out exactly what happened and contact the students. Students who made inquiries to the university criticized the sloppy work, saying, “When I called, the university didn't seem to know the problem.” In the end, due to a system error, the Korean History and ACT courses of even-numbered students who successfully registered for the course were automatically canceled and course registration was carried out on February 17^th. In conclusion, there were no transfer or sortition of the ACT and Korean History courses for Anseong campus students this semester. Although there was a problem in the course registration system only in the core courses of the Anseong Campus, it is an important issue for students that the transfer itself was not carried out as the competition for course registration for core courses such as ACT and Korean History is very high. CAU needed to thoroughly check in advance to avoid system problems. Even if problems occur, the school should first recognize and notify the students, rather than finding the problem only when the inquiry is accepted by the students.

Has the Notice Been Made Accurately?

           If so, was the notice accurate? First of all, regarding the course registration server error that occurred on February 15^th, the school posted a separate notice on the Course Registration Board and notified students that the course registration time was delayed. However, the important point was that the text was not delivered to the students properly. February 15^th was the registration day for odd-numbered students. Therefore, the school had to send the text to all odd-numbered students. However, some odd-numbered students did not receive any text messages, so they had to search for the notice on their own. Rather, even-numbered students were sent a text message about the change in course registration time, and some graduates even received text messages. The notice was posted only on the Course Registration Board, so it was difficult for some odd-numbered students who did not receive a text message to know about the change in course registration time.

           Furthermore, there was no prompt notification of errors in the Anseong Campus core courses registration system. On February 11^th, when spots for core courses were not released, the school sent a text message to students that both even and odd-numbered students should register for courses on February 17^th, the day of the course registration for all students. However, some students did not receive the text messages. Even-numbered students, who received the text message, understood this to mean that they were registering for courses on February 17^th, the day of course registration for all students, and were unable to register for courses when the spots for core courses were opened on the 16^th. On the other hand, even-numbered students who did not receive a text message were able to successfully register because the spots for core courses had already opened. Some odd-numbered students did not receive text messages, so they had no choice but to rely on Everytime. Even this notice was also made as a result of continuous inquiries from students, not from the school. CAU should make every effort to provide prompt and accurate notices when problems related to course registration occur so that students do not experience confusion.

CAU has shown many shortcomings, such as a continuous sever error, and lack of accurate notice. In response, students experienced several confusions regarding course registration. In particular, server errors have occurred before, and students are concerned about the possibility that problems may arise again in course registration in the future. CAU should conduct continuous and thorough inspection and management to prevent errors in the server and system itself, and even if errors do occur, it should detect and notify the students as early as possible so that the students do not get confused. If there is an error in the course registration, the damage goes solely to the students. Since course registration is an important matter directly related to students' schedules for the whole semester, improvement should be made by the university.