Instead of having to plan out their future schedules manually, Binghamton University students will be offered a digital approach to laying out their classes for next fall.

Starting Friday, when the schedule of classes opens, all undergraduate students can use College Scheduler for the first time.

When students log into BU Brain and click “Schedule Planner New,” they will be redirected to the Scheduler to choose a semester, subject and course. Once they select courses, the Scheduler will list all possible combinations that can be made.

When students design a final schedule, they head to the registration page. Then, those users can sign up for all their classes at once during their registration slot.

Amber Stallman, associate director for Student Records, said that students should keep an eye on their new schedules as they get closer to their time of registration to ensure seats are still available.

“Just because it’s in your cart, doesn’t mean you have that seat saved for you; it just means [the schedule] is available at the time you generate it,” Stallman said.

Sean Finnigan, a junior majoring in geology, said that it should speed along the process by saving students time spent searching for classes.

“Registering now is a real inconvenience,” Finnigan said. “If I could do it at a time that suits me best and then already have it set up by the time I register, it would make registering a lot easier for everybody.”

The software was created by a sophomore at Stanford University. While speaking to other universities, Student Records faculty heard good things about the program and told BU’s Orientation Vision Team, a select group of orientation advisers, that they were looking for a way to revamp and relieve the stress of orientation.

Stallman said that Information Technology Services (ITS) tested the program with orientation advisers, discovery assistants, graduate students and students in the advising offices to ensure it could handle registration traffic. She also said that the old system on BU Brain would remain an option.

Stephanie Gil, a discovery adviser and a senior majoring in accounting, said that Scheduler would especially help when registering for a lecture, discussion and activity at once.

“I know a lot of students have problems entering in both lecture and discussion sections and if they have a lab they have to enter in three different CRNs sometimes,” Gil said. “So if they could register by clicking one button, I think that will help a lot of students.”

Stallman warned that College Scheduler does not enforce course restrictions, so students still need to check BU Brain first for restrictions, descriptions and class sizes.

Matthew Duffy, a discovery adviser and a senior majoring in accounting, said the new system would be more reliable and beneficial for students.

“The new scheduler will stop registration from being like the Hunger Games, hopefully, which will be beneficial for students and advisers,” Duffy said. “Harpur Advising gets really hectic around scheduling even though they hire additional people. And for people having to wait for walk-in appointments, this will be easier for them to do it from their dorms.”

According to Sean Sherwood, student services coordinator, the students who tested the program had consistently positive feedback.

“It streamlines a lot of the paper process for students,” Sherwood said. “This makes a process that could seem stressful and tedious more interactive, more fun and hopefully it will create a lot less stress in a stressful time of registration.”

Student Records sent out an email on Wednesday with the link to an eight-minute step-by-step video compiled by the CLT, which is also available on the Registrar page.