Students may no longer need a No. 2 pencil to schedule their classes if a new procedure goes as planned.

If the summer trial period is successful, a new scheduling procedure could start for the Spring Semester 1993 classes, said Richard Sodergren, director of enrollment services.

The new procedure would forego all pre-registration forms, allowing students to schedule classes from the On-Line phone system or through their academic advisers, said Paulette Papadopoulos, academic counselor in the School of Communications.

"The primary goal is to make it a smoother process, to make it more efficient," Papadopoulos said.

The On-Line computer would continue working in the same manner -- students are assigned a day to start calling according to the number of credits earned. The only difference is that the time periods given to each group of students would be longer, Sodergren said.

The Registrar's Office intitiated the program for several reasons:

-- The new system will help reduce the number of errors made, Sodergren said. There is now a 15 to 20 percent error rate made by students when filling out their scan sheets, and that can be very labor intensive, he added.

-- The new system will give students immediate feedback on courses available and in turn will give departments early information on what their course load will be, Sodergren said.

-- Finally, it should be more convenient for students, Sodergren said. Busy signals will hopefully be minimized because the number of phone lines available should be increased from 32 to 64 by fall. The 32 lines used for the summer trial period haven't been too busy, Sodergren said.

Jerry Graus (junior-mathematics) agreed that the system is not a change for the worse. Being self-advised, this system might be more convenient, Graus said.

But Peter Stone (junior-political science) said he has a pretty good relationship with his adviser and wouldn't stop going in to get scheduled.

Looking at the new system through an academic adviser's eyes, Papadopoulos said she likes the system so far.

"It takes away a lot of stress from the advisers and students," she said.

The only concern she has is that students will stop seeking their advisers' input when scheduling, she said, but added that her students haven't yet stopped asking for summer scheduling advice.

"That's the process we don't want them to skip," Papadopoulos said.