The Registrar's Office is going on line in a big way.

Beginning this week, class directories are available on the World Wide Web, as are on-line diploma registrations and a listing of key dates for registration. And students are now able to access transcripts dating back to 1973, along with current semester schedules and unofficial transcripts.

"We wanted to make improvements for the students and for the faculty to benefit as well," said Jeffrey von Munkwitz-Smith, who served as associate registrar at the University of Minnesota before he was named UConn's registrar in December. One of his goals is to improve his department's Internet services.

With the improvements, "The staff will no longer have to consistently access this information for students," he said. "There will be less paper to deal with."

Best of all, students can access information at any time.

At Minnesota, von Munkwitz-Smith worked to improve student services on line, including the ability to register for classes through the Web.

"We are a little behind. Minnesota and other schools already have the convenience of registering on line," he said.

On-line registration at UConn is a long-term goal, he said. For the time being, he looks forward to students being able to access their financial status from the Web.

All personal information will only be accessible with a student identification number and/or a separate Personal Identification Number, just as touchtone registration uses now.

BG