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== Gripes ==
The PeopleSoft system, which students access and operate by their web-browsers, is widely complained about, and many students refer to the system, or the perennial practice of registering for classes through it, as the "PeopleSoft Hell". The program is huge and very powerful, but it admins have disabled student access to most of its features. Of what's left, Williams students only use a few, albeit important functions. The upshot is that the services that students most wish to use are hidden high at the tips of a huge menu tree, whose forks often contain only one option.
Students also complain of the program's speed. Because of the need to click through many menus and buttons to perform even the simplest functions, and because the display of these menus depends on the efficiency of your browser and the network's speed, using PeopleSoft can feel painfully slow. SELFREG, the [[Unix]] system for registering for classes that preceded PeopleSoft, was much faster (though arcane in its own ways), and students who remember the old ways may be more likely to complain of PeopleSoft's speed.
[http://wso.williams.edu/~emiller/peoplesoft/ Evan Miller's PeopleSoft Navigator] is an interface for PeopleSoft where frames in your web browser give you quicker access to highly used parts of the system. You may find it useful.
re-ordered; Evan's web site link is broken
''PeopleSoft Enterpise Campus Solutions'' is Oracle's multi-million dollar program designed to "manage the entire student lifecycle--from recruiting and admissions to student services and alumni relations--in a secure and stable environment." [http://www.oracle.com/applications/peoplesoft/campus_solutions/ent/index.html] Williams' installation, which set back [[Uncle Eph]] $5.5 million dollars, went online by parts in 2003 and 2004, replacing the financial and class registration systems (including [[SELFREG]]) that preceded it [http://www.williamsrecord.com/wr/?view=article§ion=news&id=6218].
==Navigating PeopleSoft==
Below is a map of the PeopleSoft navigation tree from hell. I would add comments, but I have no idea what most of these labels are supposed to mean. It's like driving in a foreign country that has traffic lights in places where there aren't actually intersections.
***** Change Password
***** Change or set up forgotten password help
== Gripes ==
The PeopleSoft system, which students access and operate by their web-browsers, is widely complained about, and many students refer to the system, or the perennial practice of registering for classes through it, as the "PeopleSoft Hell". The program is huge and very powerful, but it admins have disabled student access to most of its features. Of what's left, Williams students only use a few, albeit important functions. The upshot is that the services that students most wish to use are hidden high at the tips of a huge menu tree, whose forks often contain only one option.
Students also complain of the program's speed. Because of the need to click through many menus and buttons to perform even the simplest functions, and because the display of these menus depends on the efficiency of your browser and the network's speed, using PeopleSoft can feel painfully slow. SELFREG, the [[Unix]] system for registering for classes that preceded PeopleSoft, was much faster (though arcane in its own ways), and students who remember the old ways may be more likely to complain of PeopleSoft's speed.
[http://wso.williams.edu/~emiller/peoplesoft/ Evan Miller's PeopleSoft Navigator] was an interface for PeopleSoft where frames in your web browser gave you quicker access to highly used parts of the system. Unfortunately, it seems to be defunct.
