At the end of its 14-year lifespan, staff and students are wishing the University's automated phone registration system "goodbye and good luck."
William Livingston has been the voice of TEX since its creation, and his clear, enunciating voice has recorded enough messages of instructions, precautions and options to fill a 200-300 page book.
"It was fun while it lasted, and served the students well, but it is time to move on," Livingston said. "Registration used to take four hours, with TEX it took four minutes, and now online may take four seconds."
Registration begins Monday at the University, and the decision to phase out TEX came with a realization of the changing times. ROSE, the University's online registration system, has adapted to students' preferences and familiarity with the Internet, said Mike Allen, an associate registrar. TEX does not have all of the capabilities of the online system, and students are more adapted to Web technology, he said.
The percentage of students using ROSE has risen to nearly 90 percent since its introduction in 1997, while TEX users have steadily declined, Allen said. Using an electronic ID, students can use the online service to register for classes, enter a wait-list or search for a new class, if the class is full and submit a prerequisite check.
During registration, students would call TEX from a touch-tone phone and listen through a list of options. After entering all of the unique numbers for desired courses, the student completed registration, and TEX would wish the student "goodbye and good luck," said Ted Pfeifer, registrar.
Even though TEX is no longer used for registration, it will still function for some services. Through TEX, students can access tuition and fee bill information, request an emergency tuition or cash loan and access the final exam schedule.
"I would never use TEX to register," said Christine Beach, a communication studies freshman. "Registering online is so easy and efficient, and everything happens right away - adding classes and searching for them."
Allen and a team of experts spent 18 months developing TEX, and it was first used at the University in fall 1990. Before students could register by phone, they registered at the Frank Erwin Center or Gregory Gymnasium at what Pfeifer called a "train station operation." Students stood in multiple lines for hours in order to secure classes, Allen said.
Delia Tovar, who graduated from the University in 1995, said that after registering at the Frank Erwin Center her freshman year in 1989, she always used TEX, even though it was not foolproof.
"It was nice because you didn't have to stand in line," Tovar said, "but strange because the phone service would cut you off before you knew if you had your classes."
Be the first to comment on this article!