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Web site will take time to get used to

Class registration for the spring semester is coming up, and one major component will be missing when students go to enroll: FrogNet.

Information Services recently unveiled a new web portal at my.tcu.edu. Although the site had been open since January, the functions of FrogNet and many links on the TCU home page were recently integrated into the existing portal.

Mike Ten Eyck of Information Services said his department made the changes so that all functions necessary for students would run on programs by the same company.

This new system seems a lot more complicated and difficult to use than the old FrogNet system. Searching for classes, viewing academic bulletins and enrolling in classes has become confusing.

Students must now log on to the site and click on the appropriate category, which brings up a separate list of items that can be clicked on. Under the FrogNet system, things were much easier to find — usually one click on the home page would grant access to what students needed.

Ten Eyck said that although Information Services has not received any negative feedback about the portal, the department has not received positive feedback either. As the old saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, particularly if fixing it requires spending extra time and money to plan and advertise the change.

This doesn’t mean there aren’t any good qualities about the new portal. It’s nice that so many features are available for students in one place. You can set up your personal my.tcu.edu page to tell you news, find movie times and much more.

Students didn’t ask for this change, and it seems unnecessary to change a system that worked just fine the way it was.