The University announced last fall that the course numbering system was going to change from the two-letter, three-number system to a new four-letter, four-number Kuali catalog management system beginning with the Fall 2014 semester. Although class registration is still done through the UIS system, the platform for searching for courses-Agora Portal’s “Course Information and Schedule” section-has been updated and is a significant improvement from the old system.
So far, only rising seniors and some juniors have registered for classes, but it is already clear that the changes are positively impacting the student registration experience. The new numbering system has been effective in delineating a clear hierarchy of course levels, with departments having more flexibility to make course numbers correspond with the level of difficulty of each class. The new search platform on Agora Portal allows students to change search criteria while viewing search results without having to start a new search. It is also possible to filter the search results easily by using the tools on the left sidebar of the website. Further, the site has been upgraded visually, making it easier to obtain information from the listings. In every way, the new interface is a vast improvement over the old one.
