Do you know where the office of University Information Services is located? No, not the UIS Help Desk – by now, everyone on campus probably at least knows someone who has brought a malfunctioning computer to the inconvenient St. Mary’s Hall location. To find the office out of which UIS actually operates, one must take a trip up Wisconsin Avenue, past CVS, Reservoir Road and Safeway. The Harris Building on Whitehaven Street houses UIS, the department essential to the operation of Georgetown’s technological services.The remoteness of the UIS office – it’s located about a mile away from the front gates – is emblematic of many of the complaints that students have leveled against the department in the recent past. These problems have been varied in nature, widespread and often consequential in the long term.The most recent example of a university-wide UIS gaffe is an incident that occurred during the last hours of preregistration for the spring semester. Though the registrar informed students that they would be able to preregister until 11:55 p.m. on Nov. 15, those who attempted to log onto Student Access+ after 8 p.m. were in for a surprise: a message politely informed them that Student Access+ was unavailable due to scheduled maintenance, set to continue into the next day.The problem was addressed quickly and preregistration was extended, but this incident demonstrated a lack of communication between the Registrar and UIS, not to mention a lack of consideration for the needs of students.This episode is not unique. There have been multiple instances in which UIS has failed to ensure the smooth functioning of student services and the university’s procedures in general.One of last semester’s biggest scandals involved the theft of a hard drive that included the social security numbers of 38,000 Georgetown students, alumni, faculty and staff. The hard drive, which may not have even been password-protected, was lost, and the personal information of thousands was put at risk.The quick response to the preregistration incident and the continuing efforts to make Georgetown’s information security more robust are signs that UIS and Georgetown can move in the right direction.Whether these difficulties are attributable to miscommunication among UIS and other Georgetown offices or simple inefficiency, however, it is apparent that the standards must be raised for UIS. While we acknowledge the inevitability of glitches and unforeseen events, carelessness must not be excused. UIS is entrusted with the task of making sure that Georgetown is a university for its time – if UIS itself is behind the curve, the entire community is liable to fall behind as well.
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