This quantitative study utilized secondary data from one large four-year, state university in the southwestern US. The relationship between registration time and academic performance was examined as well as the relationship between registration time and retention of first-time-in-college (FTIC) undergraduate students during their first semester of enrollment at the university. The differences between decided and undecided students were tested regarding students’ academic performance and retention of the same population. The study population for the fall 2011 semester included 6,739 freshmen, and the study population for the fall 2012 semester included 4,454 freshmen. Through multiple and logistic regression models, registration time was shown to statistically have a relationship with academic performance and retention (p < .05). Later registrants showed to have a negative relationship with GPA and were less likely to return the following spring semester. The explained variance (R2) for both measures of academic performance and retention along with descriptive statistics are also presented. A Mann Whitney U test and chi square test indicated that a statistically significant association between decided and undecided students exists for academic performance and retention (p < .05). Decided major students performed better as measured by semester GPA performance and were more likely to return the following spring semester. Recommendations and implications are issued regarding future research, policy, and practice.

Thesis (MTech (Quality))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2008. / When prospective students decide to register at a university, their first encounter with university life will be the Registration Department. Should the process be inefficient without much regard for the personal wellbeing of the prospective student, it will leave a lasting impression on the student, and more often than not serve as an indication of the manner in which he or she would be treated in the future at the university. With the need for the Cape Peninsula University of Technology to attract top grade students, the institution needs to improve their registration process. This study attempts to measure students and staff attitudes and perception of the registration process, explore the different processes involved during registration and application, and investigate the different technologies available to improve these processes. This research attempts furthermore to determine what processes could be put into place to assure that Academics and the Administration Department works together to achieve a mutually beneficial database that could be used to the benefit of the students and the institution alike. This database should be accessed from any computer on the different campuses and be user friendly, to maximise the efficiency and throughput.

Thesis (M. Tech.) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 2010 / The main aim of this research was to automate student attendance registration, thereby reducing human involvement in the whole process. This was made possible using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. The Central University of Technology uses student cards that are compatible for use with RFID technology. As a result, no initial investment (except for the existing personal computer’s and the constructed RFID reader) in infrastructure was required for this project. The basic working of the project was as follows. The students belonging to a specific class had their vital educational data (Student number, Name) entered into a database table at the time of registration. A student card containing a serial number, with reference to the data contained in the database table, was given to the students after registration. The students walk into their respective classes and scan their student cards with the RFID reader. The serial number stored in the student card is transferred to the reader and from there wirelessly to the main server using ZigBee technology. In the main server, using Java programming language, the card serial number is sent to the Integrated Development Environment (IDE). In this project the Netbeans IDE (Java platform) was used. The Netbeans IDE is connected to the Apache Derby database using Java Database Connector (JDBC), so the serial number (which is referenced to the educational data of the students) from the student card is automatically compared with the original database created at the time of registration. Once a match is confirmed between the two entries, the data is entered into a separate database table which serves as the basic attendance sheet for a specific day.

The International Extension Program Online Registration System (IEPORS) allows prospective international students to apply over the Web to the programs offered through the International Extension Program of the College of Extended Learning. The system is comprised of two separate systems: a web application and a desktop application. In this project, Hibernate technique is used to reduce code size and system architecture. Security schema was also modified to be simple and solidly secure. All the private information could be interceped on the Internet are protected by SSL (secure Sockets Layer).