Computer error causes Charter to accept too many

After the first round of sign-ins, a number of students who were admitted to Charter Club either were moved to the waitlist or signed in to their second-choice clubs after a technical glitch caused Charter to enroll too many students.

During the first round, a number of students received confirmation of a place in Charter even after the club had exceeded its enrollment capacity, Interclub Council (ICC) adviser Tim Prugar ’06 said.

An error in the selection algorithm on the website used by sophomores to indicate their eating-club preferences caused the problem, Prugar said, adding that the enrollment cap for Charter was set too high and that the program enrolled too many students in the club. He also noted that the glitch only impacted those who listed Charter as their first choice.

“[The cap] was set significantly higher. It was an oversight by the person who wrote the code,” he explained.

Though he declined to provide the specific number of students affected by the error, Prugar said he dealt with each case personally.

“I personally saw to it that all their needs were met. It was my top priority,” he said.

Prugar said that he contacted those students who enrolled in Charter after the club reached capacity and gave them the opportunity either to be added to the waitlist or to join their second-choice sign-in club.

While several of the sign-in clubs did not fill in the first round, most reached capacity after the second round.

Last week, Terrace Club did not turn away any students after first-round sign-in for the first time in several years.

“After second round, Terrace has reached capacity, set by the [Graduate] Board this year at 115 students,” Terrace president Alex Brady ’10 said in an e-mail. Brady told The Daily Princetonian on Feb. 2 that he expected the club to “fill up in second round.”

Colonial Club president Alex Man ’10 said that after the second-round sign-in period, this club has reached its cap for incoming sophomores.

“We have around 20 to 25 second-rounds,” he said. Colonial is still waiting to finalize its sophomore class, though, as it continues to sort out its waitlist of potential new members.

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Man expressed confidence in the club’s newest members. “We have a very solid core,” he said.

Cloister Inn president Aran Clair ’10 said in an e-mail that 39 students joined the club during the second round of sign-ins. As Cloister enrolled 45 students in the first round, Cloister’s sophomore membership now stands at 84.

“This puts us just about in the ballpark of past years,” Clair said, adding that the number of sophomore members is “right in between our current senior membership and junior membership [numbers].”

Clair noted that even though Cloister has not yet reached capacity, sophomores continue to express interest in signing in.

“This period for [Cloister] is a little odd because the sophomore membership is pretty fluid for a few days,” Clair said. “It’s a very exciting time for Cloister Inn, and I’m very pumped to have all our new members be a part of it.”