Understanding our tutorial registration system
We are using a tutorial registration system that was developed for use by all groups offering tutorials in the Office of Information Technology. Some aspects of this system may be confusing, so the following is an explanation of our registration policy.
We allow you to register for the class you want to take usually one week before the class is to be held. Any course marked "NOW" is a course you can register for immediately. Any course marked with a registration date (instead of "NOW") is not yet open for registration. When you submit your name in this context, you are simply expressing an interest in the class and asking to be on a mailing list for when it does open for registration. We call this the "reminder list." If you are on the reminder list, you have signed up for a "reminder" e-mail that will be sent automatically, letting you know that a course you are interested in is "NOW" open for registration. When the reminder e-mail arrives, it will also provide you with a direct Web link with which to process that registration.
So, just to summarize again, the fact
that you are on a list to receive a reminder does not guarantee
that you have a seat in the class. This e-mail is simply a
courtesy, meant to refresh your memory. You will still be competing
for a seat with anyone else who has requested an e-mail reminder
for that class, so you are encouraged to act on that e-mail as
soon as you get it.
If we had a more open system of registration it would result in
an unfortunate number of no-shows, with empty seats that could
have been filled by other people. Please keep in mind that these
tutorials are a free resource and we make every effort to accomodate
as many people as possible. Given that the BU community is large
and we have a training room that seats only 12 people, the only
way for us to do this successfully is with this controlled registration
system.
We hope this perspective addresses any concerns you have when registering; or if you have received a reminder e-mail and felt confused because you thought you were already registered. If you were not able to register for the class of your choice, we offer the following:
- Please feel free to stop by at class time. We almost always have no-shows and make every effort to fill those empty seats with walk-ins. We cannot make a guarantee, but we can tell you that we have no-shows almost every time we teach.
- We do keep an eye on our reminder lists. If we see that interest in a class may require us to add an extra, unpublished, session, we will do that by contacting you personally to see if you can attend.
- You can always download the handouts for our tutorial classes from www.bu.edu/pcsc/tutorials and/or take a self-paced tutorial as described at www.bu.edu/pcsc/tutorials/selfpaced/elementk.html.
- You can sign up for external training at a discount. Information on this is available at www.bu.edu/pcsc/tutorials/instructor/bostonconsortium.html
