Welcome to the 21st century, NIU.

With the implementation of phone registration, long lines can be avoided almost anywhere at NIU.

It was wise to try the process with only off-campus courses first. That way, the administration can figure what is going to go wrong with the smaller class loads before upgrading the system to handle everybody’s registration.

Also, it’s positive that registration and records encouraged students to call in at one time to see if the system could handle volume.

It’s too bad students didn’t call to try the NIU Touchtone Registration Add/Drop Class Schedule (TRACS).

The next step is the summer registration. By having a test day, problems should be ironed out by the time fall comes around, and everyone will be a little happier they don’t have to wait in line.

Other universities have had telephone registration around for awhile. The system seems to work, and it’s about time it’s come to NIU.

Although the system only received about 100 calls, NIU is taking the right step by encouraging students to come up with an alternative testing method, so they can see if TRACS can handle the problems.

With a little luck and help from the students, TRACS could be in place by the fall and long lines would cease to exist.