Registration

Before World War I, incoming students had to pay a registration fee of nine dollars to enroll. According to the 1915 Course of Study Bulletin, “students who register for the fall term after 4:15 on September twenty-fourth will be charged an extra fee of one dollar. In case of unavoidable delay this fee may be remitted upon recommendation of the Dean.”

Things have changed a bit since then. Before Trinity started computerizing the registration process in the 1960s, students had to stand in line to register for classes in person…at 8am. With the completion of the Ewing Halsell Administrative Studies Center in 1968, Trinity bought a top-of-the-line computer: an IBM model 3 60-44, the first series to employ integrated circuits rather than transistors. Trinity conducted its first partially automated registration process in May 1968 utilizing computer punch cards. President James Laurie reported that the new technology "had its problems" but on the whole promised to be a more efficient method of operation. The initial registration closed on Wednesday evening at 8 p.m., and faculty members received a printout of their class rolls early the next morning.

By 2001 degree audits were online, and the registrar's office successfully completed Trinity's first completely online course registration with the web-based interactive software system locally known as TigerPAWS (PAWS=Personal Assistant Web Services). Students registered from their desktops, from advisers' offices, and in some cases from study abroad locations as far away as Australia and eastern Europe. As many students might wryly note, TigerPAWS appears to have changed little since its birth in 2001. Navigating the outdated site has become something of a rite of passage for incoming Tigers accustomed to more current technology.

Trinity’s small size and friendly atmosphere make the hunt for classes much easier. While incoming students in the old days had to fly solo, today new Tigers get faculty advisers and student mentors to help them through registration for their first semester. While there’s no guarantee of availability, waitlisted students can often email the professors of their desired courses and see about bringing in an extra chair.