JR Schulden, IST–SIS
In 1986, when many of today's Berkeley students were just learning their ABC's, investigation of a new way for students to enroll in classes began. The campus looked into installing an interactive voice response (IVR) enrollment system, which would allow students to enroll in classes by placing a phone call and responding to a series of computer facilitated questions via the phone number pad. Few campuses nationally had them and so information on how well they worked or possible problems was unknown. By the 1990s, IVR systems were more common and the lines of students holding class enrollment cards filled the halls of Sproul. For Chancellor Tien this was not good enough for his Berkeley students. In April 1991, Chancellor Tien gave the go-ahead for $120,000 for Periphonics hardware and software and the creation of what we fondly call Tele-BEARS — the phone enrollment system. L&S Dean Robert Knapp (currently L&S Professor of Classics) and Natural Resource Dean Phil Spieth (emeritus) supported the effort moving forward. Dean Knapp chaired the ACE Steering Committee. This committee with Registrar Bailey and SIS Director Bjorn Solberg spearheaded the project. In July 1991, SIS ordered the IVR equipment. SIS programmers took on the technical task of implementing the system. In three months (September 1991), the system was up and running, available to students to review the classes they were enrolled in. In October 1991, a pilot was set up allowing 5,000 students to enroll by phone for the spring 1992 term. By April 1992, all 30,000 UC Berkeley students enrolled via the IVR. The system and phones were overloaded; for subsequent terms the calls were metered and wait lists were set up.
The benefits of Tele-BEARS were substantial. The long enrollment lines at the beginning of the semester disappeared. Students knew their enrollment very early and could plan their schedule. Staff could see what classes filled up early and which ones were in high demand and then could add sections. The colleges had more control over wait lists. As an added benefit, the Tele-BEARS project became a model for future student system developments. The Tele-BEARS policy committee evolved into the Student Systems Policy Committee, currently chaired by L&S Dean Kwong-loi Shun. This committee represents a partnership and close collaboration of academic, administrative, and technical partners with representation from the Colleges, Undergraduate Affairs (UGA), and Information Systems and Technology (IST). In the past decade, it has guided the efforts of student systems planning and development resulting in systems such as Bear Facts, Degree Audit Reporting (DARS), and e-Grades.
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Nothing at a university as dynamic as Berkeley stands still. And so neither did Tele-BEARS. In 1996, Tele-BEARS on the Web was introduced. Since 1996, the number of students using Tele-BEARS on the Web versus IVR Tele-BEARS has grown. In spring 1996, 10 percent of the students used the Web and 90 percent used the phone. By spring 1999, 50 percent chose the Web and 50 percent chose the phone. For the latest enrollment period, the Web handled more than 90 percent of the enrollment. Now the question that's being asked is, can Tele-BEARS on the Web replace the phone version completely? Currently, the answer is yes and no. Work is being done to prepare for the retirement of the IVR. Code is being added to make it easier to use with software aids for the visually impaired. Robustness and backup are being reevaluated. The IVR may be retired, but for the last 12 years it delivered the service to students that Chancellor Tien was so committed to, and it was the first student system that students used directly.
In closing please allow me to acknowledge the support and work of the following UC Berkeley faculty and staff during the implementation of Tele-BEARS (some of whom have since retired or moved on to other positions):
I would also like to acknowledge the current support of the system by:
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Berkeley Computing & Communications,
Volume 13, Number 1 (Winter 2003)
Copyright 2003, The Regents of the University of California