As hundreds of sophomores logged into Banner Self-Service to register for spring classes last Thursday, many saw “Gateway 504 bad timeout” pop up on their screens.
“The entire site crashed,” said Madelyn Maina ‘28, who, despite walking to Rockwell Integrated Sciences Center in search of better WiFi before registration, was unable to register for courses after 45 minutes.
The Office of the Provost, in an email sent to the sophomore class later that morning, confirmed that the information technology division resolved a Banner registration disruption around 7:45 a.m. The email, signed by Provost Laura McGrane and Registrar Kara Howe, said that all sophomore students were affected by the error.
“We know that this is deeply frustrating for you in the midst of your registration process,” the email reads. “Know that no students were put at a disadvantage by the disruption, since all users experienced the same issue and were unable to access the system for that period of time.”
Tracy Itterly, the administrative operations coordinator for the division, could not be reached after multiple requests for comment.
“They said that all students were equally affected by an error issue, but I was not,” said Tess Maloof ‘28, who did not encounter any technical error.
Unlike Maloof, Tess Maxwell-Bundy ‘28 ran into the error as soon as she submitted her course plan.
“I hit submit, and then it crashed for about 35 minutes,” she said. After constantly refreshing the registration page, she said she was able to get a seat in most of her desired classes.
Maina said that she was able to register for three of her classes on a friend’s computer, then finish her registration once the error was resolved.
English professor Walter Wadiak wrote in an email that multiple of his student advisees had issues getting into their desired courses due to the error.
“It is maddening for students!” he wrote.
Ava Varholak ‘28 said the website crash caused her to miss enrollment in three out of four of her planned classes.
“I got into two or three psych classes by emailing professors,” she said. “However, the fourth one, my professor, wouldn’t let me enroll because it was obviously over limit.”
Clara Witmer ’27 contributed reporting.