Paperless
Do you think more institutions should adopt paperless enrollment verifications after initial paperwork?
Jeff,
Good question. Define paperless and explain your concept.
Jeff,
I like when the enrollment agreement is done on paper. Having a piece of paper that the student signs, we sign, etc.. makes the committment that they are making all the more realistic.
Having a paper copy allows for the student to have a copy as well.. and we all know we can't rely on computers for everything! :)
I DO, however, enjoy that the catalog is on a CD. It's a nice take-away for the student.
-Krista
I believe institutions should make the transition to paperless enrollment. Besides the environmental benefits, the opportunity to create a centralized database would allow us the ability to input data quickly and efficiently. Often times enrollment verifications are lost, misplaced, or amended, the opportunity to have an easily accessible network would allow admissions representatives, financial aid officers, and other staff the opportunity to access to this information thus alleviating a growing concern.
Paperless is the way to go! Paper files require the need for a physical filing venue, which in turn requires the need for frequent reorganization and refilling. There is additional time spent maintaining an organized filing process, as well as that for retrieving files without the ability of a digital search method. I’ve never heard of anyone getting a keyboard cut (as opposed to a paper cut). Then, there’s the question of space for all these paper files. With modern day battery and computer data backup options, paper files are yester-decade.
Krista,
Both paperless and paper have their pros and cons. Many schools scan all the student documents after completion for easy access. We just need to remind ourselves that not all students have computers or easy access.
John,
Paperless certainly has its benefits. However, for some, having the paper between their fingers is a reassuring place to be.
William,
You certainly have a positive outlook. I have learned new terms today...keyboard cut :-)
Ah, but what happens when the computer crashes or the file becomes corrupted. We then have back-ups to the back-ups. More storage...
Paperless is the wave of the future and for many schools is present reality. Having paper documents requires the use of resources that could more efficiently be put to use helping students to change their lives. Computers are tools that help to make businesses run more smoothly and to not use them when possible just seems silly. Do we eat spaghetti with our hands? No we have thumbs so we use tools. Some colleges use more than 50,000 sheets of paper per month in the admissions department alone. Imagine the time spent making those copies, the toner, the electricity to generate the copies. I would think that a college considering changing to paperless docs would be a little aprehensive to do so initially because it would mean change. Change scares people that get comfortable. The longterm payoff to this change would far exceed the momentary discomfort involved. Departments would have immediate accessability to documents when needed and things would only need to be printed as necessary..No backup copies needed as they are stored electronically, less up and down stairs, more time spent with prospective students, more money for marketing... It is my personal opinion that use of paper documents is a viscious cycle that depletes natural resources and just hasn't made any sense at all since about 1990. Can anyone give me any benefit at all to the use of paper document madness as compared to electronic document sensibility?
Joshua,
Many people resist change and going paperless takes away a comfort level. Can you imagine a world without computers today? This is a cultural change and we have made tremendous progress. The reassurance from the schools that paperless systems are secure will continue to change the culture. Keep up the good work!
Great point Patty! I was thinking the same thing, if the computer crashes or the file corruptes where do we turn to? Loads of information lost! With paper no matter how tedious or ancient it may seem, its there physically readily available for a long time to come and cant be electronically erased. There's something to be said for the "old" way of doing things. It makes sense!
I can understand the concern and feeling the need to have a paper backup. As a solution to cataclysmic failure there are many data system backups that can be purchased as a service and the data stays in storage off site. Out of site out of mind until there is some kind of data corruption that would require such backups. As we all saw in Hurricane Katrina there were millions of paper documents lost in institutions that used the paper plan. The good thing about electronic data is that it could be stored in New York City and Accessed in Tampa Florida without so much as paying postage. Many institutions do it with active students as high as 300,000 in number. If these institutions spent their resources on juggling paper they wouldn't have grown to nearly these numbers.
yes and no. yes because it is easier to find the documents. also say no cause if you cant get into or use your computer you cant see anything.
Although I agree with the concept of having a paperless system, I know that there is much to be said for having an actual document in front of you. I'm not that old...yet but I know when I was going through the college admissions process, even though much of it was acessible by computer my parents weren't as computer savvy as others may be. I think having the option to still be able to print something and hand it over to someone is going to be your best bet. The last thing any of us would want to do is alientate any people involved in the admissions process.
I completely agree that paperless is the way to go! It saves vast amounts of money,time,energy and trees. If paper was the way to go then computers would not be where they are today. Technology is always changing and it is important that institutions stay on top of it. How can we offer programs instructing people on the the latest computer, design, business, etc technology practices if we as institutions are not willing to utilize technology?
We are providing computers to all our students by having a library with about 30 PCs and 2 iMacs. We also have computers in a lot of our class rooms. This should allow a student to get their paperwork - if everything would be online.
I think we should be able to fill out paperwork online and then print it out and let the student sign it. I like to have something in my hand, but to be able to fill it out online would be sweet and a time saver.
In addition the printouts would look neat and would all have the same layout. It would look even more professional if all the paperwork would have the same style.
If we think about the waste of paper just because all the involved deparments 'need' a printout of a form that could be available online... Trees produce oxygen, humans need oxigen to breath. In that sense it does not make any sense to make seven hundred copies of each and every paper.
We also could have more information on the same paper, instead having 2 forms with the same information.
In addition, why does a student have to file out form after form with his name and address. why not just once.
Again, we would look much professional.
A terra byte (TB) of storage fits into my cell phone and hold a million or more sheets of paper filled with information.
How much space does a stack of a million sheets of paper take?...
If a computer crashes there have to be a back up for all the date, just as you do it at home (I hope you do it!!! How would you get your pictures and letters back when your computer crashes?)
Do we all know where all the paper files go after a few years? If we are looking for a specific student paper, how long will it take to find this paper somewhere in the building compared to just look it up in a student program that holds all information about every student ever attended?
What happens if we store the paperfiles in the basement and we got a hurricane who floods everything?
Digital copies will survive everything (and we are not talking about the Earth itself dissintegrating...), as long as they are held on different computers and servers on different locations.
You're right Meghan... - We offer programs like 'digital design' where everything is done digitally on a Computer, but we fill out all the needed paperwork to enroll the same student in the 'old-school-style'.
In addition all the papers look different, are copied a thousand times and are not uniformed at all.
That does not make any sense to me at all!
