University officials have launched a new web registration system, the only one of its kind in the country, that can tailor a student's schedule to their work and personal needs with the touch of a button.

"What we have put together is a program that allows students to give us a list of the courses they want to take, not the specific class, and whatever time restrictions they want to put on this thing - say they work in the morning and don't want to take a class before noon - and the program will come up with as many alternative class schedules it can find that meets the student's needs," said Bob Stark, director of application development in CSUN's Information Technology Resources division.

"The students can review all the alternatives, find the one they like, hit a button, and they are registered for those classes with a guaranteed seat," Stark said. The new system is getting its first test this semester as students begin using it to sign up for spring classes.

Northridge students have the option of registering for classes on the web or by using a touch-tone telephone. Those choosing to register on the web now have the additional option of using the new Class Schedule Planning System to meet their specific scheduling needs.

"With almost no publicity, we had more than 1,200 individual students use the program during the month of December alone," Stark said.

Student Tracy Talaid, a senior majoring in communications studies, said she was "wowed" as the new system was being demonstrated.

"It's an excellent program that caters to students' needs, especially if they need to schedule classes around their work schedules," Talaid said.

Stark said the idea grew out of suggestions made by students in a CSUN computer engineering class last year.

"They had a good idea but what they proposed was too complicated and didn't go far enough," he said.

University web developers created a program that tapped into the university's schedule of classes and at the same time is able to monitor when a class is full and no longer available for enrollment.

"It was inevitable that somebody would eventually come up with something like this," said the program's designer, Michael Lazar. "Computer geeks at colleges across the country have been dreaming of creating something that would make getting your classes easier. I know I did. The problem was in school I didn't have access to all the university information, and I didn't have time to do it."

Stark and Lazar said they ran the system by a couple of student focus groups before it was launched to get student feedback, and will continue to monitor how it is used so they can continue to refine it as student use grows. They are also in the process of copyrighting the system.

Stark pointed out that students can use the program at almost anytime. For example, it's the end of the spring semester and they are already looking ahead to the fall.

"They can enter their criteria and save all the class schedule suggestions the program gives them," he said. "Then, when it's time for them to register, they call up what they saved, run it one more time to make sure none of the classes they selected are filled, and then with a touch of a button they are registered."

California State University, Northridge has more than 30,000 full- and part-time students and offers 59 bachelor's and 41 master's degrees. Founded in 1958, it is the only four-year university in the San Fernando Valley and the third largest in the 23-campus CSU system. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges recently said CSUN "stands as a model to other public urban institutions of higher education."