Expos Sections In Chaos After HASCS Foul-Up

Due to difficulties with the Harvard Arts and Sciences Computer Services (HASCS) on-line sectioning program, hundreds of students called the Expository Writing Office this week to request section changes.

"Out of nine hundred students required to take Expos this spring, about three hundred of them needed to be shifted," said Gordon Harvey, assistant director of the Expository Writing Program.

The Expos administration has been working until midnight for the past three days in order to re-section the classes by hand, Harvey said.

The sectioning problem occurred when the program designed to place students into sections assigned many to their seventh or eighth choices, or to sections they did not choose at all, Harvey said.

"The first time I sectioned I wound up getting my eighth choice and after resectioning I wound up with something that I hadn't even asked for," Tobie E. Whitman '00 said.

"Initially we had a lot of phone calls," Harvey said. After a large volume of student complaints Expos administrators said they became aware of the sectioning problems.

The primary cause of the sectioning fiasco was the HASCS sectioning program, Harvey said.

"We're disappointed in the service," he said. "They promised us they would be able to come up with a program to do this and in the end, they couldn't."

HASCS administrators say they had previously informed Expos administrators that the sectioning software was not suited to deal with Expos sectioning.

"There were some misunderstandings of expectations that went on," said Franklin M. Steen, director of HASCS. "We stressed that the program was not designed for Expository Writing and wasn't appropriate for the task."

The computer sectioning worked better last semester but HASCS invested about 30 hours in managing the program, Steen said.

"People say: 'Let's have a computer do it,"' said Steen, "but there is also a lot of human work behind it."

This semester HASCS was unable to devote the same amount of time to the Expos sectioning program, Steen said.

The Expos office had initially expected the additional assistance from HASCS but the staff was not available to work on the program this semester, Steen said.

Regardless of the source of the problem, a number of students are upset about the process.

"I would up getting my eighth choice," said Rachel M. Cheung '00. "Now I've been having trouble getting out of it."

"There are quite a number of students that are in classes that they don't want to be in," said Harvey. "This will have a big impact on the atmosphere of the classes."

With study cards due tomorrow, some students are concerned because they still don't know into which Expos class they will be placed.

"It's ridiculous that on the last day of the scheduling period I'm still rescheduling," Whitman said. "If I ever see the Vanserg building again I'm going to get sick to my stomach."

Because of the problems, some preceptors will have to repeat their first class, Harvey said. "This will throw off the whole semester," he added. "It's not the right foot for the class to get off on."

Despite the problems with the sectioning, some students' outlooks are positive.

"Even with all of the trouble, I'll just have to make the best of it," Cheung said

"It's ridiculous that on the last day of the scheduling period I'm still rescheduling," Whitman said. "If I ever see the Vanserg building again I'm going to get sick to my stomach."

Because of the problems, some preceptors will have to repeat their first class, Harvey said. "This will throw off the whole semester," he added. "It's not the right foot for the class to get off on."

Despite the problems with the sectioning, some students' outlooks are positive.

"Even with all of the trouble, I'll just have to make the best of it," Cheung said