Las Vegas -- The days of filling out forms and coloring in circles with a #2 pencil are going the way of the horse and buggy when it comes to registering for courses at any of Nevada's six public community colleges and universities. As more than 80,000 students flock to their classrooms over the next few weeks, approximately 20,000 of them will have registered for their courses through the Internet.

"Web registration is quickly on the way to becoming the number one method of registration," said Davan Weddle, executive director of System Computing Services, the division of University and Community College System of Nevada responsible for managing technology issues.

"Fortunately, the Board of Regents was able to preserve funding in their budget during the '99 legislative session that allowed us to significantly upgrade our existing computer system in Reno and add a second server which is housed on the UNLV campus," he added.

Currently, all three UCCSN core applications (student information services, finance and human resources) compete for resources on the Reno server. This problem was compounded in the fall and spring when students would begin using the Internet to register for their classes.

Thanks in part to a new IBM Enterprise Server located in System Computing Services' Data Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, which is scheduled to come on-line at the beginning of next year, dependable web registration will become a reality. The additional capacity of both the new server and from upgrades to the existing server assures that the UCCSN system will be able to accommodate growing student numbers as well as the number of students using web-based services.

"As our enrollment grows, so does the need for technology," said Weddle. "Our new Enterprise Server will give us the edge we need to continue growing our on- line registration capabilities to meet student needs for friendlier and more efficient services."

Comprised of two doctoral-granting universities, four comprehensive community colleges and one environmental research institution, the University and Community College System of Nevada serves the educational and job training needs of the nation’s fastest growing state. As Nevada’s only system of higher education, the UCCSN provides educational opportunities to more than 82,000 students.