We will be moving forward with registration on Thursday, December 1, although we have experienced some difficulties with the delivery of print catalogs.  We will print copies of the catalog that is available online here and have them available for people who wish to come to the Reuter Center to consult them between 8 am and 5 pm beginning on Monday, November 28.  We will maintain the registration process as we have for the past several semesters, opening our doors around 7:30 on December 1 and beginning registration at around 8 am. We will have a group of "registrars," and members will line up as one does in a bank line, waiting for the next available "teller." We have found that we have been able to clear our lines within a couple of hours, even in the Fall Term, using this system. 

We know that this system of standing in line or having to arrive early frustrates some of our members, but for now this is the best system we can devise. We urge you, if you have problems standing or if you don't feel well, to send your registration with a friend (anyone registering may submit two registration forms) or to ask someone standing in line to take your form for you if you feel that the event is too taxing. Also, if you know someone who has challenges standing in line, it would be nice to offer to deliver his or her registration form.

In our recent Annual Member Survey, many of you questioned why we don't have an online registration. Some of you want to institute a "lottery" system or a random registration system instead of first-come, first served. We have been for some time assessing our options, but there are many problems to solve in making this kind of change and many people who must work with us to make a registration change happen.

Our biggest obstacle to online or randomized registration lies in our use of the university's database as the Center's registration database. Currently the database is not designed to allow the Center an online interface and does not allow a system of payment that we can easily manage with the staff we have.  We are working with IT staff to assess our options within the university's system, but there are many issues to address and many people who must weigh in before we have a clear sense of how we could use the university's online capabilities to meet our business model. We continue to make progress and are working to find a system that works for both staff and members.  The system is moving more slowly than we would like, but we want to make sure that we understand all of the complexities of the issue before we implement a change.

If we were to seek to purchase a registration database separate from the university's, we would add to our costs. Directors for other lifelong learning programs tell us that online databases cost tens of thousands of dollars and require several thousand dollars in annual fees. We would have to plan carefully to add this additional expense to our program. 

No one likes to hear or talk about or contend with obstacles when we know that solutions are available. When we understand our options more fully, we will work with our members to figure out which elements of our current system you want to preserve and which elements we can change, what costs we are willing to incur as an organization and what benefits we hope to gain. We also know that no one system will meet everyone's needs or expectations.  Until we have a system that requires less waiting, we appreciate your patience with us and with one another and particularly appreciate the many volunteers who make registration, data entry and drop add possible. We have a great line-up of classes for Winter 2012 and a stimulating community of teachers and learners at the Center and will continue to work to minimize registration difficulties so that we can all focus on the many strengths of our program.