During the online enrollment held earlier this month, several students were blocked from enrolling due to their failure to complete the Annual Physical Exam (APE) or the Undergraduate Periodic Health Examination (PHEx). Additionally, some students complained of Animo.sys and MyLaSalle (MLS) allegedly crashing during the enrollment period. Most students took to social media on the evening of the first day of online enrollment to express their disapproval of the system.
According to University Registrar Dr. Voltaire Mistades, out of the expected 9,763 undergraduate students scheduled for enrollment, 7,665 students were recorded with successful enrollment data after the first day of enrollment, and 3,437 students out of 4,209 on the second day. The University’s Information Technology Services also relayed that 47 students officially reported enrollment concerns on August 1, and 10 on August 2.
Improvements in the system
Despite announcements via the help desk and the University Student Government (USG)’s Facebook page as early as the last week of May, a lot of students were initially not aware of the APE, which is one of the clearance requirements for term 1, academic year 2016-2017.
The failure to complete the APE resulting to a clearance hold on enrollment via Animo.sys has been in effect since last academic year, says USG President Pram Menghrajani. “The same guidelines were given to the USG for dissemination,” she notes.
Menghrajani adds, “I do believe that there was no lack in reminding the students about the [APE]. Several notices via e-mail, Facebook, as well as physical notifications like signs [along] SJ Walk and in the gates were placed to inform students about the exam.”
Moreover, for this year, the APE was improved by extending hours until 7 pm and making the services available on Saturdays, explains Menghrajani, who shares that these improvements were specifically requested during a meeting with the Health Services Offices in February. “This is something we lobbied for because of the concerns we’ve received from students about APE being in conflict with their academic schedule,” she describes.
On the system crashing
“Contrary to what a few students claimed via unconfirmed social media posts, Animo.sys did not crash today,” said an online post made by Dr. Mistades on August 1. The peak number of simultaneous log-ins was also recorded at 7:30 pm of that day, when more than 4,500 connections logged in to the system. On the second day of enrollment, the number increased to more than 6,800 connections recorded at 5:00 pm.
However, MLS did reportedly crash on August 1 and August 2, due to the massive number of students attempting to verify their clearance hold status on the system. The said clearance status was made available to students via the website beginning July 16, a little over two weeks before the enrollment period. “Again, we remind students to confirm in advance their clearance status,” the post added.
Post-enrollment concerns
“On the part of the USG, we’re trying to figure out why there was a sudden shift of behavior when it comes to APE even if the schedules have been altered to accommodate students’ schedules,” Menghrajani notes.
“Based on the profile of students with concerns on APE being a hindrance to enrollment, most of them are freshmen while some [are] on their third year. Their experience of not being able to enroll can [be] attributed to the fact that they missed their APE for the first time,” explains Menghrajani. “Thus, they’re only experiencing the consequences now.”
The USG is currently conducting a post-enrollment survey to look into the problems experienced by students and other concerns they had about the three-day enrollment. The results of the survey will be forwarded to the Enrollment Council so that the enrollment scheme can be further improved.
