This morning, I arrived on campus after a long battle with http://howdy.tamu.edu when I attempted to register for classes. Disgruntled and in need of caffeine, I encountered a friend limping through the Psychology building. A glance down revealed his bloody toe.
“What happened?” I asked.
His response: “Howdy.”
Turns out the poor guy had been rushing around to various offices all morning trying to fix problems caused by the oh-so-modern-and-updated program, Howdy, and somehow fell on something sharp in the process. And I thought my registration experience was bad. Those of you who haven’t registered yet, be warned. This new system is filled to the brim with confusing functions and kinks that haven’t quite been worked out yet. Why our wonderful University decided to replace the joys of MyRecord with a program that seems like it’s never been tested is beyond me.
My enmity toward Howdy began weeks ago when I was prompted to enter something called a “Compass PIN.” What is that? Who even has one of those? I dialed up the Computing Help Desk, and was told that the system “has been doing that lately” and that I should just wait a day and try again. Excuse me? I want to plan my schedule!
When I was finally allowed entry into the fabulous new system, I quickly developed Gripe No. 2 against Howdy: Why must we choose College Station from the drop-down menu after every single course search? If I don’t want to take PSYC 306 in Qatar, then I probably don’t want to take EPSY 430 there either! And while I’m ranting, is there no way to search for honors courses? If there is, I can’t find it, which brings up another complaint – why is everything in Howdy so hard to find? All this from the system that was supposed to make our lives easier and save time. Ha!
After many trials and tribulations, I emerged with a list of course and section numbers. Triumph – or so I thought. Turns out, Howdy is too good for those six numbers and instead wants a five-digit CRN number. Back into the depths of Howdy I ventured, eventually retrieving the elusive CRNs. I typed those bad boys in and clicked the button marked, “Submit Changes.” Up popped a list of classes.
I was momentarily uncertain of whether or not I had actually registered. Was “submitting changes” the same as “adding classes?” I set out on a quest to find my schedule and make sure it was correct. Then I discovered Gripe No. 1,398,786. Where’s my graphic schedule? Where are the boxes of yellow and green nicely displayed on the correct hours? The ones that give me the satisfaction of seeing my future brightly displayed in pretty colors?
Gone. Howdy, you have taken away my favorite part of registration. Congrats.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for change. MyRecord needs updates? Fine. You want to add new features? Great! But is it too much trouble to test out the systems before they are implemented? You’d be hard-pressed to find an Aggie who doesn’t wish MyRecord would come back. A few trials would have been enough to know that this system is much too flawed and user-unfriendly to help our campus.
Also, why are MyRecord and Howdy operating simultaneously? Howdy should not have been mandated until it included the features we expect from our online systems – things like Degree Audits and Viewing Blocks. We thought Blackboard Vista was a pain, but Howdy has achieved a whole new level of frustration-inducement.
We’re stuck with Howdy now, so here are some registration pointers. First, look up the CRN numbers ahead of time. Howdy will be much friendlier if you just type them in and click Submit Changes. Second, check for blocks ahead of time. This is confusing because your blocks are still in MyRecord, but do it. Third, buy some ice cream prior to registration. It’ll be useful for cheering yourself up once you’re done.
“Howdy” used to be a friendly Aggie greeting. Now the word “Howdy” brings to mind a whole collection of online annoyances and complaints. At least the word’s back in campus vocabulary.