More and more students are realizing that the MyUB homepage has a new tab. The HUB Student Center has been a project in the making for quite some time, and it is a new resource for students across campus.
HUB makes it more convenient for students and faculty to review their information. It provides a more condensed version of everything students need, from graduation requirements to financial aid records. An entire department on
campus has devoted its hard work and time to the new online student center.
"Before, the old DARS system wasn't very user-friendly," said Kara Saunders, the interim university registrar and vice provost of undergraduate education. "Students were having a hard time with graduation requirements because it wasn't all in real time. Many students were getting the wrong information for what was required of them."
This made for a lot of confusion and misunderstandings. Currently, all students and administrators see the same screen and all of the information necessary for graduation in real time.
"I think it's better than what we had before," said Angela Caruso, a junior biological sciences major. "I found the shopping cart convenient, but they really need to do something about controlled enrollment courses. I couldn't get some of the classes I wanted."
Many students were also very frustrated with how the MyUB page was only available until midnight. The HUB student center has extended hours of operation until 2 a.m. for students to pay their bills or register for classes.
With registration windows opening daily, there are many innovative
features for students to aid with the registration process. The first student to register with the new system took 17 seconds, according to Saunders.
"The coolest thing is the shopping cart," Saunders said. "Just like Amazon.com, you can take things you want and check for prerequisites,
go in and drop everything into your schedule all at once."
This new system allows you to check for specific courses faster and pick them out even before your registration date. The system no longer requires student
to memorize registration numbers for courses or flip between screens to go back to select a lab or recitation. Instead, everything is done all at once.
"I really love the shopping cart feature," said Jessica DeFedericis, a senior business administration major with a concentration in marketing. "It has made it so much easier for me to make my class schedule for the semester before my enrollment date."
Another feature for registering for courses is the planner. This allows students to pick classes that they need in future semesters ahead of time.
"This tool is also great for administrators to see how many students want that class," Saunders said. "This way we can open up more classes to accommodate for more students to take the course."
Students will soon be able to see their billing information. When students are awarded financial aid, they can go onto the HUB and see their entire financial aid package. Students with loans will be able to accept and decline right on the HUB, as well.
Around June, students will have the option to order their transcripts right on the HUB and see their grades. Other upcoming features this summer will include viewing academic advisement reports, which will replace DARS.
"Students can also apply for graduation now, too, which before was a paper application; one step closer to UB Green," Saunders said.
Some have noticed that the HUB requires more time to load and process; this problem has been recorded and is currently in the process of being alleviated. For the first-time login for each student, the HUB registers which student is logging on and retrieves all of that student's information.
"I hate it, it sucks," said Chelsie Hinkley, a sophomore English and global gender studies major. "I missed my enrollment window because of the stupid error messages and now I can't get into my class."
Students are encouraged to give feedback on the MyUB website.
Additional reporting by Michael Tyson.
Email: features@ubspectrum.com
