MyLongwood Problems Create Registration Headaches

By Nicole Dales
Rotunda ReporterFreshmen have to live on campus, can't bring a car, cannot join a fraternity or sorority until second semester and are the last to register for classes. This are a handful of the many privileges that students do not get until they are an upperclassman. Generally these "issues" are not actually issues, just something everyone has to endure when they first get to college.

Last Wednesday, Nov. 12, however, registering for classes did become an issue. For several weeks freshman have sat by and watched upperclassmen sign up for classes. At 8 a.m. Wednesday the system opened for freshmen to sign up for classes next semester. Some students could not get into the system at all, and those who could were shortly kicked out. "As soon as the Help Desk opened at 7:45 a.m. on Wednesday, we were contacted by students reporting that their passwords were not allowing them to log on to myLongwood. This is not unusual, as we often get this type of call at registration time. Students were at this time successfully logging in to myLongwood and able to register," said Director of User Support Services Kim Redford.

"I signed in about 7:45, and I went to the Student tab and went to the Add/drop classes and put in my PIN and pressed enter at 8. I put in all my CRNs and hit enter, and when the status bar got to the end it logged me off. When I tried to log back in it kept saying error. Then I refreshed the page and it said 'site shut down,'" said freshman Megan Goss.

Other students experienced similar problems. "The first thing I did was enter all of my CRN numbers, but once I pressed submit the Web site got really slow. It went to this error page but it said something like 'someone was trying to hack in.' I pressed back and it took me to the myLongwood screen. .I signed out, and when I tried to get back on, it gave me the same message that my 'username and password were invalid.' So I got the number to the help desk, and they told me that they were but they were trying their hardest to get everything fixed. I continuously tried to sign back on, and right before my 9 a.m. [class] I was finally able to sign back on to myLongwood, but I wasn't able to access the student tab, let alone the add [or] drop classes link," said freshman Kaitlyn Smith.

"We received calls from students who reported that the system was not allowing them to log on with new passwords that had just been assigned to them. We tested the system and found that no one was able to log in to myLongwood at that time, said Redford. "We immediately began evaluating the system and working toward resolution. At that time many successful registrations had taken place and many students were actively registering. Finally, a short time later the system failed completely. We restarted the server that houses myLongwood and the system was back up and running just a few minutes after that."

"I got on with ease and was searching classes when the error page came up. The hall was quaked with F-bombs, swearing and slamming doors. Confusion swept our all and everyone met in the hall with questions. I immediately went to Facebook to see status changes. I saw it was about half of students that were admitted in, that's what sent me into a frenzy. I then called my best friend Paul. He got in, I got desperate, told him my user name and password but no dice. the system had fully halted and no one was admitted from then on," said freshman Matthew Hovey.

"Longwood should have been prepared for something like this to happen. When they knew the site shut down they should have gotten myLongwood up and running in less time than it actually took them to get it back running," said Goss. "I didn't get into my biology class that I wanted or any of my art classes i needed for my photo major."

"I made out easy by only not getting a drama class, I quickly filled it up with an art class and called it a day. It made good conversation.but I wouldn't mind if it never happened again," said Hovey.

"We are actively working with the vendor to pinpoint the problem and will take measures to insure that this does not occur in the future." said Redford.