At 3 a.m. on Nov. 3, time changed, and Microsoft hit snooze, but Whitworth would not hear the alarm till four days later. 

On the fourth day of registration, Nov. 7, Self-Service was not accessible. The program used by students to view class schedules, final grades, program evaluations, and updated financial aid and student account information was down. 

Advising meetings were halted, registration paused, and the Registrar’s and Finacial Aid Office panicked. That evening, Celeste McCormick, director of enterprise systems and support, gave the community answers. 

“We estimate that Self-Service will be available by 8 p.m. tonight. If you made any changes in Self-Service today (registered for classes, made a payment, updated your phone number, etc.), you will need to log in to Self-Service and check your records. Those changes may not have been saved,” said the email released by McCormick. “We apologize for the disruption and inconvenience this has caused you.” 

Microsoft’s operating system did not fully adapt to daylight savings. The system began putting a future date stamp on things saved after the time change. Files had to be rolled back causing changes to not be saved.  

“The timing was just about the worst,” said McCormick. “There is no more critical of function on campus than registration.” 

An advisory group made up of representatives from key offices across campus that are users of the system, like the registrar’s office and Student Financial Services, were in communication with Enterprise Systems.  

“They notified us right away,” said Chief Human Resource Officer Ariane Mondragón Oglesbee. “We were in communication as soon as Self-Service was down.” 

Despite the system’s failure, clues to what was wrong took time to show.  

“This is not something that normally happens,” said McCormick. “It’s been years since I’ve seen a system have this issue, and never at Whitworth.” 

Self-service requires constant maintenance, enhancements from the vendor, patches to address vulnerabilities, and constant work being poured into the system. 

“Technology problems happen, and with each one, you have to learn from it,” said McCormick. “We’re keeping the internet running, Blackboard, logging, the cloud, all that is provided by this team, and no one notices when things are running; you only know when things are down.”