I’ll Make You Cry

“I’ll make you cry” sabi ng aespa at ganito rin ang sabi ng SAIS ayon sa mga nababasa kong posts ng mga isko’t iska . Paluluhain ka nito dahil sa paulit-ulit na system error at sa medyo pahirapang pagna-navigate.

Bago pa man mag-umpisa ang klase ay iba ang pagkasabik at kaba na aking nadama habang bawat oras na tinitignan ang inbox ng aking email. Gustong-gusto ko nang makuha ang aking SAIS account upang makita ang aking schedule at mga subject.

Nawala ang pinta ng kasabikan sa aking mukha nang akin nang mapuntahan ang SAIS website. Ilang beses ko nang sinubukang buksan ito gamit ang UP mail na ibinigay sa akin ngunit paulit-ulit lang din ang nararanasan kong aberya kaya’t ipinagpabukas ko na lamang.

Nang sa wakas akin na itong mabuksan, ako nama’y naguluhan at nagtaka kung paano hahanapin ang aking schedule at iba pang mga impormasyon. Mabuti na lamang ay mayroon mga hulog ng langit na tumulong sa aming freshies. Nagsagawa ng isang orientation patungkol sa pag-navigate ng SAIS ang grupo ng CDC students sa aming discord channel na pinangunahan ng aming seniors.

Sinubukan ko ring i-explore ang website na mayroon pa ring kaunting kaba at pagkalito. Maswerte kaming freshies dahil hindi pa namin naranasan sa unang sem ang nakakakilabot, pahirapan at ubusan sa pagkuha ng subjects.

Ngayong kami’y patapos na sa unang semester, nawa’y sa nalalapit na ikalawang semestre ay makisama ang SAIS at makuha ang aming mga subject na nais kunin sa kalahati ng taon na pag-aaral sa UP. Nawa’y paiyakin kami nito sa sobrang saya.

Into the unknown (SAIS)

Student Academic Information System also known as SAIS manages the records, schedule, classes, plans, and other relevant data of the University of the Philippines students. This system is new to my ears during my first few days before the beginning of the first semester and let me share to you my journey into the unknown.

GIF Edited on canva

UP mail

Graphics for UP mail presentation

This is the gate towards the unknown. I am really lost on what to do by that time because I am newly added to the program and in a span of some days, the semester will begin. Waiting for the UP mail could really trigger your anxiety but gratefully, I received it the night before the beginning of the classes.

The unknown

Screenshot of SAIS

I am not familiar with SAIS but luckily, way before these struggles… I was added on a GC for Batch 2021 of Devcom students. In the GC, the uppers were so helpful and they even provide instructional videos, a write ups of step-by-step, and is accommodating the questions of my co-freshmen.

Class schedule on the day of classes

Screenshot of Class schedule

I can’t imagine my first day if ever all of those happened in a face-to-face mode of learning. I am still adjusting to the technologies and such because I am from a Modular class and having nothing but a phone with mobile data is beyond challenging. despite all of these, I was able to adjust gradually but it was far from easy.

Gentle Tip:

If you have the luxury of time or you have a free time, learn all the what ifs before entering UP. Because you are never ready enough here.

SAISang sulyap mo, pinahirap ako!

https://ibb.co/X8tcgyv

Labo diba, parang SAIS lang

SAIS, one thing that every UP student hates. When I got in to UP, I do not know anything about its system or the like. I got confused and somehow got worried because people from my previous schools who also passed UPCAT keep on ranting about how hard and how problematic SAIS is. My brother who is also a former student of UPLB told me that, UP uses a system called SAIS and it is where you enroll for the subjects that you want to take for the next semester.

After knowing the basic information about SAIS, I was amazed since I was used to the traditional or manual way of enrolling which is with the help of the teachers themselves. I am amazed that UP has its own system to cater every students queries when it comes to subjects, so I had my hopes high about this SAIS thing. There come the time I got notified that we will have our SAIS account, I was worried since I cannot access it, I thought I did not receive any turns out that it is really a slow process to access our own SAIS account.

After accessing the SAIS, I remember I was excited to browse it but to be honest I was disappointed how plain and confusing the design of the dashboard or the overall look of the system. I felt lost, up until now I am still exploring it. My first impression of it is that, why is it so weird looking. I asked my brother if this is the actual look of the SAIS and he said yes, this is THE SAIS.

I did not know what to do with it, the first thing I learned was to get and know my class schedule for the semester. I am grateful that I have my brother and some kuya from UP who helped me navigate the basics of SAIS, some even helped me to have my own copy of class schedule color-coded. I get to know SAIS even more the help of the orientation given to us.

Now that the end of semester is drawing near, we are now in the phase where we can select the subjects we want to take and put them in the cart, I am hoping that my first experience of enrolling will be peaceful and organize even though I doubt it. Given the feedbacks mostly negative feedbacks from other UP students make me think that there is a high chance that the process of enrollment won’t go smoothly and easily.

SAIS Stages of Grief

SAIS? What is it? Six?
Indeed, in SAIS or the Student Academic Information System I experienced six stages of grief. This is my denial, anger, bargaining, sadness, acceptance, and moving forward with SAIS.

Ano ang pipiliin mo: SINGKO O SAIS?

Dati-rati ang lakas ng loob kong hilingin na magkaroon ng pagkakataon na kuhanin ang mga asignaturang gusto kong kuhanin. Matutupad na naman nga pero ‘di ko inakalang ganire ang proseso at tila Hunger Games na “May the SAIS gods be in your favor” talaga ang hihilingin mo sa sarili mo at mga kaibigan mo.

Di pa man ako pumapasok sa UP ay nakikita ko na sa Twitter ang mga patutsada tungkol d’yan sa SAIS. Akala ko nama’y kung ano laang na programa o activity hanggang sa nakita ko rin ang parehong patutsada ng mga kaibigan kong pumapasok na sa Ateneo.

At iyon nga, naka-enroll na ako sa UP at nalaman ko rin ang katotohanan tungkol sa SAIS.

Wala pa talaga akong karanasan sa mala-Hunger Games na pilian ng kurso at propesor. Pero ang tanging masasabi ko lamang ay alam kong may maigaganda pa ang kabuoang ayos at sistema ng SAIS.

Unang-una, hindi makatarungan na may mga estudyanteng makararanas ng hindi maayos na takbo ng SAIS at mabagal na internet connection. Naalala ko noong simulang nakuha ko ang aking UP mail, sinusubukan kong makapasok sa website ng SAIS para malaman ang aking mga kurso at mga propesor pero palagi na lamang error ang lumalabas.

Aking sinubukan pa ng ilang ulit sa isang araw dahil naisip ko’y baka naman are ay dahil lamang sa mabagal na internet. Aba’y hindi, eh! Kaya’t kinabukasan ay nag-email ako sa SAIS helpdesk at UP ITC para humingi ng tulong. Sumasagot naman sila, kaso ay hindi agaran, kaya’t maiinip ka’t maiinip.

Bukod pa sa inip sa paghihintay ay nakaramdam din ako ng mumunting anxiety dahil simula na ng mga synchronous meetings ng ilang kurso. Ayaw na ayaw ko ang mahuhuli sa mga ganoon kaya’t pang-abot ang aking mga dasal na sana nama’y sumagot na sila at mabuksan ko na ang SAIS.

‘Di nagtagal ay sumagot na sila ngunit ‘di pa rin ako agad makapasok sa SAIS. Mabuti na lamang at napakiusapan ko na makikitingin ng aking class schedule para masabihan ko rin ang aking mga propesor tungkol sa aking UP Mail, na mali ang unang naibigay sa akin, at makahanap ako ng aking mga blocmates.

Ngayon, ‘di naman ganoong kakomplikado ang SAIS. Nakakalito lamang talaga ang interface nito. Sa aking nalaman mula sa mga ibang estudyanteng nakaranas na sa paggamit ng SAIS, malaki raw ang inilaang budget para rito at ang hindi ko mahinuha naman ay kung bakit hindi ayusin ang interface ng SAIS para mas maging student-freindly ito at hindi maligaw ang mga gumagamit.

Maigi naman at nagkaroon ng tila isang tutorial para sa aming unang beses na gagamit ng SAIS sa pag-enlist, pero kahit na ganoon, malamang sa malamang ay marami pa rin ang maliligaw at mauubusan ng units.

Kung pag-iisipang mabuti, magandang hakbang tungo sa pagtuturo ng pagsasarili ang hayaan ang mga estudyante sa pagpili ng mga kursong nais nilang kuhanin. Ngunit ang nakapagpapasama rito ay ang hindi maayos na sistema ng kagamitan sa pagpili ng mga kurso. Kaya’t ako’y sang-ayon sa panawagang #JunkSAIS lalo na kung hindi magiging maayos ang paggamit asa budget na inilaan para rito.

Low Pressure Area

It is another task, an obstacle to finish: SAIS.

Last day before the actual start of class, September 12, 2021. It was chaotic as most of us freshies still don’t have our UP mail. It was getting late, the sun set and it was night. Our aspirations of entering our classes the next day are slowly turning into bubbles popping in the thin air.

Then the streak happened. The emails are starting to be distributed together with our UP mail and SAIS credentials for our schedules for the semester to start.

Welcome to UP, says SAIS.

Hard to access, full of confusion and frustrations are the freshmen as they open the site. Though the SAIS site has been good to me, until now, the others experienced a hard time accessing it for the first time.

The night of September 12 is one of the longest as it shifts to the 13th of the month, the start of the class. Not all of us are able to enter our respective classes given that the site still has its issues. Full of mishaps, the first week of class became a maze of where one belongs and who is not enrolled in the class as some students, wanting to attend the sessions, randomly enter different zoom classes to check if they are enrolled in that class.

Nevertheless, after that experience, the semester has been good to us. By now, we are to face another SAIS adventure, and it is our first time adding to cart our chosen courses for the next semester. We wish for the best and we are expecting the worst.

Link to the blog with pictures: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VyB7qKBJA6Pu_DgVF4fxanimGxZt8sMSIR_Qj2lZiSU/edit?usp=sharing

SAIS, PLEASE BE GOOD TO ME

Made with Canva

Junk it, Jonathan, Junk it!

r/badwebdesign

What you need to know for now…

If you’re an aspiring Isko/Iska, you’ve likely heard about SAIS. It stands for Student Academic Information System and its function is to process enrollment, grades, evaluation, and other data. Primarily, it’s where you enroll your subjects for a semester in UPLB.

I’d be lying if I say I was surprised to hear the issues surrounding SAIS. Initially, I thought it was just about the web design, but it turns out that’s just the tip of the iceberg because there’s a lot more. These were basically everywhere when I was researching UPLB. Ask anyone on the campus and they probably still have the same sentiments. Even this week’s prompt, I’d assume, alludes to these concerns. While I’ve not personally experienced them yet (uh oh), I did have some notable first impressions when I first got an account.

It was the night before the start of classes when they sent my credentials through e-mail. Thankfully I didn’t have problems accessing it, unlike the others that were not so fortunate. What I did notice was how it looked strangely like a BIOS setup or those old forum websites. It felt clunky, it loads slowly, and it’s hard to navigate.

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE
Source: Lab4Sys

I’m pretty ashamed to say that it took me 10 minutes just to find my weekly schedule. I had to join a Discord call from our upperclassmen helping us freshies how to find it. It’s not very user-friendly whatsoever, I couldn’t even imagine how it would look like on my phone.

I do hope the administration could find better solutions regarding SAIS. I doubt they’d junk it given the cost. It might do the job, but it does so poorly. The only advantage it has really is that it’s online.

Exploring SAIS for the first time will be difficult. It might be harder to explore it on your own, but don’t worry. Later on, there will be a seminar on how to navigate through SAIS during registration, but for now, the picture above shows the bare essentials that you would need for the first semester. There are also a lot of guides and manuals on YouTube and the different departmental websites, and you could always ask an upperclassman for help especially when it comes to enlisting subjects.

Here are some other tips:

• You can access SAIS quickly here:

• SAIS is connected to your UP mail account. You won’t need to sign-in for a separate SAIS account.
• Note down the schedules for the
  Pre-registration – basically, the first round of enrollment.
  General registration – the second round for missed courses
• Form 26 means teacher’s prerogative.
• Remember the maximum and minimum amount of units to take (the minimum load for this semester was 12 units).
• You could add browser extensions for SAIS such as the SAIS Timetable, which are useful when enrolling your classes.

SAIS Timetable. Chrome Web Store

SAIStema: A fiasco

We’ve been warned.

404 Not Found, 504 Gateway Time-out, An error has occurred. Please try again.

UPLB’s Information Technology Center gave us our UP Mail to log in to the Student Academic Information System (SAIS), three days before the first day of class begins. The day before the official opening of classes, we should access the SAIS for us to know our schedule, courses, bloc, and professors in every course.

But, our first-time experience is not the one I expected. Accessing the site is chaotic.

I checked if there’s a typo in the link. There’s none. I checked the CDC group chat, and I’m not the only one who’s experiencing it.

#SAISDown

We keep refreshing the website. Yet, it’s midnight, and it’s still down. Being a night-owl is a must to access SAIS. After long hours of waiting, I finally get to have a sight of the infamous SAIS. I didn’t expect anything as we’ve heard from the seniors that the site isn’t that attractive. And boom! Indeed, the site is not that much user-friendly. It’s like your accessing a site from a first Macintosh computer.

SAIS will test your patience. Some of our batchmates had serious issues accessing the site. Some still don’t have their UP Mails on our first week.

The first semester is coming to an end. Meaning that the most wonderful time of the year begins again. For the next semester, we will be doing our first shopping spree at the SAIS boutique. Again, I will not expect anything that my next SAIS experience is going to be smooth. But who knows? If people change, SAIS can too. I hope that I’d get my desired courses and units in a hassle-free way.

Repeat after me, SAIS, kaawaan mo kami.

*fingers crossed*