By Margaret Hawryluk

What Student Accounts defined as a portal system “glitch,” University students called serendipity, as they were able to register for Fall 2006 classes early.

“I was quite pleased and thought I had an advantage over other students,” Ryan Magee, a junior public relations major, said.

This good luck, however, did not last long.

“We didn’t realize it until someone called,” Gloria Daniell, associate director of Student Accounts, said. “The problem was corrected by 9 a.m.”

After she received a call notifying her of the glitch, Daniell said the department ran reports on who registered and found that 44 students signed into classes before they should have been permitted. The registrations were dropped and the students will be reminded via e-mail to re-register at the appropriate time.

“It’s not fair to the other students,” Deborah Weber, director of Student Accounts.

“I’m not really mad that they’re kicking me out of the classes,” Kiriaki Fotiadis, a junior broadcast journalism major, said. “I wasn’t supposed to be able to register and it really isn’t fair to everyone else.”

While all graduate and undergraduates students were able to register for Summer 2006 courses via the University’s Online Information System on March 13, only seniors, those who have earned more that 88 credits, were supposed to be permitted to register for fall courses.

Due to a typographical error that occurred when the system was set up for registration last month, those with fewer than 88 credits were permitted to register, Daniell said. The ending of a PIN number was entered incorrectly, causing the problem.

“We are sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused, however honesty is the best policy,” Weber said.

Fall 2006 registration continues until Sept. 11, with the first day for juniors on March 20, sophomores on March 27 and freshman from April 3 to 7, depending on the student’s last name.