Penn InTouch may undergo course registration makeover

When David Bard couldn't get into Political Science 151 this time last year, he didn't just sulk quietly -- he decided to change the system.

Bard, an Engineering and Wharton senior, started looking for a way for Penn students to get the courses they were denied after advance registration on Penn InTouch by exchanging courses they were holding. He and his partner Fu-Zu Jen, also an Engineering and Wharton senior, decided to use their senior applied project, assigned as part of an independent study course, to improve the University's online course registration system.

The two seniors will submit their final proposal to the Penn InTouch/Student Registration Services Committee on Tuesday.

"Really what [Penn InTouch] is, is a market," said Bard, a management and technology major. "And right now there's no mechanism with which to clear the market."

Bard came up with the idea for a "Clearing House," or a computer system by which students could list courses they wanted and the courses they were registered for and willing to drop in their place. The system works through mathematical calculations including an algorithm that creates chains among student course requests and drops.

For example, when Bard wanted to get into International Security, he would have dropped Economics 50 in its place. But Bard held on to International Economics until he got into the political science course. Had he found a student who wanted Economics 50 and was willing to drop Political Science 151, both would have gotten the courses they wanted without checking Penn InTouch every ten minutes for class openings.

But Bard never got into International Security, and since he needed to do a senior applied project anyway, he decided to work toward ensuring that other students wouldn't face similar problems.

After speaking to friends and administrators to make sure he wasn't "completely off [his] rocker" with the idea, Bard recruited his friend Jen, a management and technology major, as his partner. Jen agreed to make the interfaces or computer diagrams necessary for Bard's proposal.

"I had some personal experience [with not getting into courses], and my first reaction was [that] this is such a good idea, and I wonder why Penn InTouch doesn't have this," Jen said.

Jen and Bard have worked this past semester on the project under advisor and Statistics Professor Dean Foster.

Foster was a "valuable resource" to the two, according to Bard. The Clearing House Proposal mimics a system Foster implemented for Wharton MBAs six to eight years ago. MBAs now bid on their courses at Penn with a certain amount of "funny money" they use to place a value on the courses they want when registering.

But Foster denies any credit in the new Penn InTouch project and insists that Bard and Jen did all the work.

The committee that will assess their idea reviews proposals biannually for Penn InTouch, Advisor InTouch and Student Registration Services. It includes representatives from the four undergraduate schools, some of the graduate and professional schools, Student Registration and Financial Services and Information Systems and Computing.

According to SFS Systems Development Director Regina Koch, the committee will be unable to implement any new proposals before May 2003. The committee met in August and will begin its second review process shortly. Members decide which proposals to use based on need and efficiency.

Penn InTouch/SRS Committee member and Wharton Undergraduate Associate Director Angela Corbo, who saw a preliminary proposal last week, said she is confident the committee will make it a priority.

"I think the committee was impressed that the students proposed the idea...," Corbo said. "They love the idea, [and] I think they all agree it's a very good idea."

What makes Corbo so enthusiastic about the proposal is the minimal change that would be needed to update the "antiquated" Penn InTouch system -- an addition of the interfaces and the algorithm into the system.

Foster is also confident about the integration.

"To my mind, there's zero cost and potentially many students who otherwise would not have courses cut into," Foster said.

Jen estimates a summer-long integration process and Bard envisions a couple of days of manpower to run a complete set of course exchanges.

Bard has created an online survey for undergraduate students to support the proposal and hopefully influence the committee's decision after Tuesday.

Students can take the survey at www.my3q.com/home/clearing/1244.phtml.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.