Problems with Saint Louis University's WebSTAR program over the weekend prevented students from accessing their schedules online as the spring semester began on Monday.

While WebSTAR can be difficult to access during registration due to the sheer volume of users and the limited capacity of the server, the recent outage is not related to the server's hardware nor the operating system.

"There is an issue with the software, from the vendor's point of view," said Barb Coleman, administrator for the Information Technology Services customer service center.

SunGard SCT, the software company that designed WebSTAR, is scouring the log files that rest on SLU's server to find the cause of the program's recent failures, Coleman said. These data files are created each time the server initiates, recording information about any errors that occur while the software is running.

When SunGard SCT isolates the problem, they will provide the necessary fix, and students should be able to access WebSTAR without difficulty.

Because software codes are dated, these fixes must be installed on time to avoid problems, and "we don't have [the patch] from the vendor," Coleman said, which is likely the reason for the outage.

As of Monday, the system's availability is intermittent: Students who cannot log in will find that they can access WebSTAR simply by waiting a few minutes and trying again.

The current status of the system is always indicated on the ITS website, http://www.slu.edu/its/, by a stoplight. When a problem is encountered and the server is rebooted, the stoplight will be red, indicating that the system cannot be accessed at the current time. It takes about an hour for the system to recycle and become available again.

Problems with the WebSTAR software have been increasing "since before Thanksgiving," Coleman said. "They get worse and worse."

A fix from the vendor will not drastically improve the system, but it will keep it running until it is replaced by Banner, another program produced by SunGard SCT. This transition will take place over the next few months, and should be completed before students register for the fall 2005 semester.

"As we move to the new system, we're keeping the old running," said Ellen Watson, vice president of Information Technology Services. The switch to Banner is "where our time and energy are going," she said.

"The new programs are getting attention," but as a result, "WebSTAR is suffering," said senior Greg Ott, student manager of the ITS call center. Ott and the other students in the call center directed students to the Office of the Registrar to access their schedules the old-fashioned way.

When WebSTAR is down, students can access all of the information available through the program by calling or visiting the registrar's office-or by contacting the office via e-mail using the information on the office's Web site, http://www.slu.edu/services/registrar/.

"Many students e-mailed us to request their schedule," said University Registrar John-Herbert Jaffry.

Chronic problems with WebSTAR are due to the fact that the system was not designed to be web-based. "We had to retro-fit the program," Watson said, to provide this functionality.

The new Banner program, however, was designed to be web-based.

"It should function seamlessly," Watson said