Students prepare to register for classes on the new MyBU Student Portal for the first time after Boston University launched updated website.
The MyBU Student Portal is a “more modern, user-friendly, and intuitive site for all members of our community,” according to a statement from former Provost Jean Morrison last March. This is the first change to Student Link in 30 years.
“It’s a really sophisticated new system,” said Alexandra Bellerose, director of communication to enrolled students at BU. “We’re really excited about it, and we hope that students will use the tools ahead of time for when registration opens in April to make that busy morning a little less chaotic.”
Bellerose said students will have an opportunity to hold the classes they want using the new shopping cart option. The feature will “validate” that a user is eligible to register for the selected classes.
BU collaborated with PeopleSoft Campus Solutions, “a comprehensive software suite designed for higher education institutions,” and worked with other BU resources over the past five years to modify the system, according to Bellerose.
“It’s really a university-wide effort to update everything that lives on that database, which was a custom database that was built for Boston University about 40 years ago,” Bellerose said.
Bellerose said the original database was designed for BU to customize but is now outdated as technology changes.
“As technology has grown, it just really was not as applicable to the changing needs at the pace in which technology changes these days,” Bellerose said. “About a decade ago, we started exploring options.”
Abraham Budson-Mcquilken, a sophomore in the College of General Studies, said he believes the change will help bring BU “up to the standards of the modern age.”
“It is my hope that this new system will be simpler and more accessible for students,” Budson-Mcquilken said. “I know a lot of thought and effort and time has gone into making the new system as convenient and accessible as possible.”
Carter Plantinga, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said he was “embarrassed” that other schools had “high-tech websites” that BU’s could not compare to.
“I felt like before we were in the year 1995, and now we’re in the year 2024,” Plantinga said.
Some students said the website’s training and troubleshooting resources do not provide enough assistance.
Eleanor Schiener, a sophomore in the College of Communication, said she is “not a huge fan” of the new system due to its limited scheduling functions.
“I feel like the descriptions they give you when you start aren’t helpful enough,” Schiener said. “I don’t really understand the shopping cart.”
Elaina Fuzi, a sophomore in COM, said learning how to navigate a new system is “inconvenient” before spring registration.
“I feel like if they introduced it a little bit sooner, we’d be able to figure it out before registration,” Fuzi said.
To address students’ concerns and questions, Bellerose and her team will be in the George Sherman Union this week.
Bellerose said they host webinars and weekly meetings for faculty and staff so they understand the changes to the new system.
“We really tried to do as much outreach and be on the ground as much as possible to communicate these changes,” Bellerose said.
Posters and advertisements were displayed throughout campus and an email from Dean of Students Jason Campbell-Foster and Assistant Vice President and University Registrar Daniel Parks were sent to students regarding the student portal.
The new Student Link and MyBU Student Portal will be used for next semester’s registration cycle and pre-planning tools will be available until the day of registration. Bellerose said they plan to continue updating the system with user feedback.
“We hope that the new system helps guide students, so it’s a little bit easier to move forward during those times of the year when they are high stress, high pressure, especially around something like class registration,” Bellerose said.
