Technology has left its newest casualty: a dead duck.
As of Feb. 14, the Office of the Registrar is disconnecting the Duck Call system because of a decline in use during the past three years and because of increased maintenance costs.
Since 1991, Duck Call allowed students to register for classes over the phone. University Registrar Herb Chereck said Web-based registration, which started three years ago, quickly replaced Duck Call as the most convenient and efficient way to register for classes.
“We’re down to the point of less than 3 percent of a quarter of a million registration transactions taking place through Duck Call,” Chereck said. “We’re in a position where if we wanted to update Duck Call, we would have to make expenditures that we don’t want to make.”
Chereck said students the most affected by the change will be seniors who began using Duck Call as freshmen.
Senior Brynn Searles said she feels more comfortable registering for classes over the phone.
“It seems like a bad idea for people like me, who don’t have a computer at home to use.” Searles said. “And having two options is more convenient than just having the Internet option.”
Chereck said that the Office of the Registrar believes Web-based registration provides better service than Duck Call. He also said the office will work with students in any way possible to provide quality registration services. Students without home computers have plenty of access to Web-based registration on campus computers, he added.
“We want to be sensitive to any issues that come up,” Chereck said. “We want to be available to hear student concerns.”
For some though, the end of an era may go unnoticed.
“What’s Duck Call?” freshman Annie Bachman asked.
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