Brandeis will be using Student Administration Gateway's PeopleSoft system to replace WebReg for the March 2004 registration period. The new system has caused an evaluation of the passfail option. After strong support from several administrative offices, including Student Financial Services and Human Resources, PeopleSoft was chosen because of its integrated options.The new program will allow students to view the current catalogue information, class schedules and class rosters. Student Administration Gateway (SAGE) also has some enhancements that make it possible to perform advanced searches that display course title, instructor, day, time, attribute, subject and number"The search function for classes is much more robust with new functionality to search on titles and instructors," Registrar Mark Hewitt said. "We've also added more detailed information to the classes via attributes which allow targeted searches-similar to the requirement search we have through MAAX but better." With PeopleSoft, it will now easer to locate courses based around the student's concentration."We can now search for courses that are part of a particular elective track, as an example, we can search for electives for the Global Economy track in the International and Global Studies major," Hewitt said. This will make it even easier for students to construct a schedule that best meets their needs." PeopleSoft Coordinator Tom Barad said SAGE is also comparatively user friendly. Unlike WebReg, the user will be able to search within the same window and have more time in each session."It's a lot more functional system and a lot nicer because you are in one system," Barad said."You don't have to flip back and fourth between windows. Also your time-out will not be as quick, you will have ten minutes of inactivity before your session expires. When we tested the system nobody was thrown out," Barad said.Currently, students are allowed to take up to four courses passfail anonymously, and then if a person so desires, he or she can uncover a grade later. Hewitt said a problem with changing to PeopleSoft though is an incompatibility with the University's current passfail system. "There are two main principles that cause problems [with the passfail option] - the anonymity factor and the other one is uncovering the grade," Hewitt said. The Undergraduate Curriculum Committee (UCC) has begun having discussions about the rule and whether it will remain as it currently stands. "Nothing has been done as of yet to make any changes to the passfail system. The UCC is just discussing some possibilities," UCC Student Chair Brett Friedman '05 said. There are options that will allow the school to maintain its current rule. One option that has been conceived is customization. A version can be specifically designed to incorporate the passfail option, but it would present future problems. "Customization is merely one option that is being discussed, but I was led to believe that it was not the best option, not because of cost, but because it will compromise the upgradeability of the program," said Friedman. Another option being discussed is a manual program that would have students physically go to the registrar's office and sign up for a course passfail. "It's a lot more paperwork because the student would have to make two to three trips to the Registrar's office," said Hewitt. "But it would be the most reliable way of doing it because the student would have a record and so would the Registrar's office" Another other option is altering the passfail system to a retroactive system, where the student will be able to go back and change his or her grade after the course is already over. "The students on the UCC favor maintaining the old system over any new system that might compromise the benefits of Brandeis' unique passfail option," Friedman said. The idea of changes to the passfail system haven't received much positive reaction from students."I love the passfail option. I think it is an important part of the curriculum and is something that is talked about in information sessions with prospective students. I would really hate to see it changed," Erica Lemansky '05, the special programming coordinator for orientation 2004 said.