It’s been a year since academics implemented an on-line registration system and Academic Director Bobby Hawthorne says the department has spent the past year working out all the bugs. “Dick Floyd told me the fi rst year of the on-line system would be diffi cult,” he said. “That was a generous understatement.” Hawthorne said all the bugs have been fi xed and he expects this spring’s registration process to be far less stressful.
“For example, we had problems last year with negative numbers,” he said.
“We’ve solved that. We had problems with essay scores in Current Issues and Events and Social Studies. We’ve solved those, too. We failed to automatically advance fi rst place biology, chemistry and physics individuals. Fixed.” The department knew the fi rst year would be a learning process and that they’d never catch all the bugs until the actual competition, Hawthorne said.
Assistant Academic Director Jana Riggins said using the on-line system will probably take some getting used to for most schools. “The biggest issue with the new system was that people had to get used to letting go of paper,” she said. “One of the most challenging things was convincing people to record their access codes so the system remains secure.”
While the bugs have been worked out, Hawthorne and the rest of the academic directors have some advice for coaches and coordinators to make this year go more smoothly.
"First and foremost, read the instructions," he said. "Everything you need to know is posted on-line, but it’s essential that coordinators and meet directors read carefully and follow the instructions. Most pages on the web site have “help” windows. If you need help, click on them and read them."
For example, on the “Update Meet Information” page a link says “Read This First.” Directors should follow this link and read it fi rst.
“It will save everyone a lot of time and grief if you’ll use the help links,” Hawthorne said.
The system also will be more user-friendly for 2005. Last year, meet directors had to add each contest. This year, all contests will be added automatically. Contest directors need only to update information such as time, date and site of the contest.
Hawthorne said one of the major benefi ts of an on-line system is all the information that is available regarding when and where contests will be held. If a school wants to fi nd out when and where the Region II, Conference 2A accounting contest will be held, it just needs to click onto the information page. That information will be posted.
If a coach wants to fi nd out who won the District 16-3A team mathematics championship and its score, the school can access that information through the system. The system was built to crunch numbers and identify wild card qualifi ers. “So long as the data going into the system in correct, the results going out will be correct,” Hawthorne said.
Riggins added that if schools will store their electronic identifi cation code and password in a safe place so it can be referenced, the process will be easier. Don’t wait till the last minute.
“The system will be good for schools in the future,” she said. “Schools should approach the system with a positive attitude. We’re in a technological age.” Though it’s not perfect yet, Hawthorne said the added technology will become a tremendous benefi t to schools.
“In two years," he said, “people will wonder how we ever ran a UIL academic contest without this system.”