On Friday Feb. 13, Home Access Center will allow all parents and students to enter in course selections for next year and view first semester transcripts. However, a lot more goes into creating Home Access Center than simply clicking a button.
Home Access Center, or HAC, became available for viewing to parents and students last year. HAC is the website used to enter student’s course selection for the upcoming year.
Sarah Khan, the Winnetka Campus Student Records Specialist, explained that “last year only certain things were available for viewing.” This year, grades, transcripts, and the ability to register for courses are some of the new features that have been added.
“It’s really nice that I can see my transcript online,” shared junior Alex Cook, “it’s extremely helpful.”
Since its release last year, HAC has come a long way. “This time last year we were just getting started, but next Tuesday we will have grades available,” shared Gerald Munley, Assistant Principal for Administrative Services.
New Trier is not the only school that has begun making transcripts and course selection available online. Many schools are choosing to use the internet to display grades so that students can easily access them. “We want the HAC to be a valuable resource,” said Munley.
In previous years, students first had to write out long course codes on a sheet of paper, constantly erasing their mistakes as they formed their future schedules.
After, advisers had to manually enter their students’ course selections. This aspect of class selection could be lengthy because advisers could only enter one student at a time.
This year, HAC is changing its format for submitting class selections. There will be a two week window to enter classes for the upcoming year.
“When going in to enter your classes,” said Khan, “a checkbox will be available. All you are required to do is check the box next to the course you have selected.”
In addition, HAC will only allow students to register for courses matching their previous class level. Therefore, students must still receive a teacher or parent recommendation to move up or down a course level. An adviser must input the changes into the system.
Nevertheless, a verification schedule is distributed during advisories to ensure that all courses entered are correct. If mistakes are still present, the advisers will be able to access HAC and make any final changes.
Once the courses have been approved, the school must calculate what classes will be held in the upcoming year. Munley explained that “the department chairs figure out how many classes are needed and the appropriate amount of staff. They then request to the school the number courses and classes needed. At times a class might need to be cut because not enough students signed up.”
The HAC staff is planning on dispersing 2015-2016 schedules in May, two months earlier than last year. These schedules will be passed out during advisery and can be viewed online.
“It can be hard to use at times and the website can get confusing,” junior Cameron Coughlin explained, “but it is very efficient for the amount of information available.”
Junior Gabby Sirazi also agreed. “I can easily make a mistake when entering my classes but it is more productive than having my adviser submit it.”
HAC is still rather new, and despite numerous test runs it is still a work in progress. “It is hard to make sure everything is entered is correctly. There is a lot of paperwork to keep track of,” said Khan.
But as administrators gain more experience and receive more feedback, HAC will continuing to improve. “We are always trying to improve it and see what will make HAC better,” explained Khan.