How the university handled registration before the dawn of computers

Today, class registration is as simple as logging in and checking a few boxes, but it wasn’t always that easy. After over a century of paper registration, USD first implemented computers for class registration in 1963.

The first computers used for registration were IBM computers and processing punch cards filed in alphabetical order. Students were given packets of cards and instructions on the new system in Slagle Auditorium and were then filed into the old armory building, where the new computers were located.

Freshmen and upperclassmen were split across two days and each group took over three hours to process, which was considered rapid compared to the previous manual punch card processing system.

This year, there was another shift for the USD registration process, as the university switched from Web Advisor to Self-Service registration in an effort to reduce required advising hours. While students in the fall of 1963 were notified by mail and in The Volante, students in 2019 received notice of the change in registration service via e-mail.

Information technology advances were adopted on campus in the early 1960s and have accelerated rapidly since then. Computers for registration no longer take up an entire armory, but can fit into a student’s backpack, or even into a pocket. What took hours to process now takes only minutes, and doesn’t require the students to be on campus at the time of registration. Punch cards have been archaic for so long that the typical student wouldn’t even associate them with computers.

USD registration remains an intensive and stressful process for all involved. While the computerized registration system requires minimal advising hours, just under 10,000 students registered for classes this semester.