Serving Students in a Paperless Environment

Arab ACRAO 29th Conference 2009 Beirut – Lebanon Serving Students in a Paperless Environment Diana Bazzi Senior Business Consultant Logos s.a.r.l.

Plan • Objective • Synonyms • Paper vs. Paperless • Advantages • Admissions Office • Registrar’s Office • Student Survey • Challenges • Conclusion • Recommendation

Objective Show the attitude of students and administration in universities in the middle east towards paperless environment

Synonyms Virtual Campus Paperless Campus Document-Free Campus Go Green Campus Virtual Campus Paperless Campus Document-Free Go Green Campus

Paper traffic

Paper vs. Paperless

Environmental Impact • World consumption of paper has grown four hundred percent in the last 40 years. Now nearly 4 billion trees or 35% of the total trees cut around the world are used in paper industries on every continent . • The paper making process is not a clean one. According to the U.S. Toxic Release Inventory report published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), pulp and paper mills are among the worst polluters to air, water and land of any industry in the country.. (http://ecology.com/features)

Advantages • Cost Savings • Faster Delivery • Increased Accuracy • Improved Efficiency • High Productivity • Eco-friendly

Paperless Admissions Office Having on-line application, on-line follow up, automatic decision & letters generator will: • Minimize sorting and filing of documents • Minimize data entry • Minimize printing and distribution • Have up to date data • Fast movement within process of decision making

Interviews interpretations • Studying hardcopies of applicants’ files is more handy and practical • Original documents and/or sealed letters are required • No trust in scanned documents • Storage space is a real problem • Optical solution for managing documents is a must • Being electronically connected with ministry of higher education makes paperless admissions feasible

Paperless Registrar’s Office Having on-line: • Course catalogue, • Course offering, • Advising &Registration, • Plan of studies, • Final exam schedule • Grade entry by instructor

Interviews interpretations • Eliminate printing of many reports and minimize others • On-line statistics • Replace the mailbox with the email • The course catalogue should remain in print, yet its distribution should be controlled • Announcements are published on-line • Fast publishing of grade

Instructors • On-line grade entry • No more posting of grades on bulletin boards • Communication via email and on the web • On-line course syllabus, regulations, assignments and notes • On-line exams and on-line correction • Student-Instructor evaluation (Students are forced to evaluate their instructors on-line)

Paperless Students’ Services Change of Major; Under load/overload registration; Late payment; Clearance; Transfer of courses; Reactivation; Late registration; Incomplete grade, Postpone of graduation, Thesis proposal, Exemption, Equivalence,… A flow example: Student ► Advisor ►Instructor ► Chairperson ► Committee ► Dean ► Registrar

Queues;office hours; chaos; missing classes;entry errors; meetings,…

Petition Engine • On-line submission of petition from a terminal • On-line validation • Automatic flow within approvers: Parallel & Sequential • Approvers take on-line decision, make recommendation in light of other approvers’ decisions and student academic information • Attaching document • Authentication and digital signature • Send notification to student • On-line voting of committee members • To-do tasks management :snooze, transfer of tasks & replacement

On-line petition from administration perspective • Accepted as long as the student can be interviewed • Minimize paper collection and paper distribution • No need for the student to move from an office to another • Student can apply from anywhere at any time • Shorten the agenda of committee meetings • Enforce the proper cycle flow among approvers • Students should abide by petition dates/periods

Student survey interpretation • Unfamiliar with the term paperless(48%no idea,41% little) • Feel more at ease with reading form hardcopy text book • Prefer on-paper tests (78%) • Online request for a transcript vs. fill in paper request(50-50) • The mailbox is still being opened but not as before • Check the email at least 1-2 times a day • View on-line reports • Prefer in hand petition submission(66%) • Do not use the on-line renewal and reservation of a library book • Throw the unwanted paper in the Garbage(62%)

Do You Prefer Paperless Services? • Students tend towards paper-based services when there is a place for human interaction and security doubts, while they are towards paperless-based services when there is no need for personal contact • Influenced by: computerized services in the country; automation systems available at campus; student majors and classes; prevailing manners and habits; student awareness

Challenges • Employees advanced in age are reluctant to embrace the new technology • Preconditioned human behavior works against a truly paperless office. • Papers are much easier for manipulation and transportation to meetings and classes • Computers should be readily available. • Hacking and privacy issues. • Internet services are sometimes slow

Conclusion • Automated systems available • Positive attitude of the administration towards the paperless • Students are still not familiar with the idea of paperless services; however they are ready for it. • Certain processes should remain paper-based for legislation

Conclusion(Cont’d) • Registrar operations show the best results where paperless processes can be applied using advanced automated system. • Youth awareness towards saving environmental resources is disappointing. • The “go green” approach brings revenue to the whole society

Recommendation for a go green campus • Having state-of-the-art web-enabled software • Holding awareness and training campaigns for both administration and students • Imposing fees on students for paper request when an online alternative is available • Putting limits on using paper for printing • Encourage more online textbooks or book sharing • Offer more on line courses • Adopt sms services

And finally • Install containers for recycling everywhere in the campus; recycling companies will then purchase the used papers

Thank You

Serving Students in a Paperless Environment