Best Practices in Higher Education Information Resources 1995 Award Winners

Applications category (cowinner) - Indiana University

Automated Course Exchange

Indiana University Bloomington has implemented an enhanced registration and schedule adjustment process that puts students in control of their own schedules and restores instructional integrity to the first week of classes.

Although on-line advance registration was successfully implemented in the early 80s, drop and add has been conducted in a fieldhouse for the past 40 years. When registration left the fieldhouse, it seemed as though drop and add took on greater significance and student participation rates increased. This increased activity threatened instruction during the first week of classes. The faculty requested that we find a way to restore enrollment stability during the first week and assure them they could begin covering important course material on the first day of classes. Because the nature of the fieldhouse process rewarded the enterprising individual, students requested a schedule adjustment process that would be fair and retained registration priority.

Today, the Automated Course Exchange (ACE) is complete. ACE takes advantage of the features of our terminal/workstation based on-line registration system and is comprised of three major subsystems: 1) Automated Waitlists with contingent scheduling, 2) Continuous (touchtone) Schedule Adjustment, and 3) Rainchecks for future semesters. When students encounter closed courses at registration, ACE allows them to record their needs by submitting waitlist requests at the time of registration, matches these requests with "new" seats as they become available, allows students to adjust their schedule as soon as the need is identified, provides enrollment managers with course demand information, and grants priority in a subsequent semester to those whose course needs truly could not be satisfied.

Applications category (cowinner) - Sinclair Community College

InTouch Kiosk System

The InTouch Kiosk System can be described as a one-stop shopping center for Sinclair information and academic advising services. At any of thirteen locations on the Sinclair campus, a student can make a quick stop at a touch-screen kiosk to print his/her class schedule and/or transcript, search a database of scholarships, look for a part-time (off campus) job, find an open section of ENG 113, check out the price of a used text book for BIO 211, and consult with an expert system about Sinclair's degree programs, e.g., Allied Health. Each month, the InTouch system handles about 22,000 transactions.

When Sinclair first initiated this project in the summer of 1990, touch-screen kiosks were unknown in higher education. However, the idea of a touch-screen kiosk for delivery of campus information is not what makes this project unique. The truly innovative aspect of this application is the integration of expert systems for academic advising into a comprehensive information delivery system that includes database access and multimedia components.

The kiosk project, in fact, began as an Artificial Intelligence (AI) initiative funded in part by the State of Ohio for the purpose of transferring AI technology from military to civilian use. Sinclair elected to use part of the AI grant to develop an actual expert system, primarily to give faculty some hands-on experience that would broaden their understanding of artificial intelligence technology. As the advising expert systems evolved, the project team began to explore touchscreen kiosks as a means of fielding the expert systems. Working closely with the College's partner, TRG, Inc., Sinclair has integrated its AI components into the TRG "InTouch" kiosk software. Although AI is now a relatively small component of the InTouch kiosk system, it is one of the most useful parts and certainly the most unique.

Service category - University of Delaware

Making Delaware Students Internet-worthy: A Responsible Computing Awareness Program

The University of Delaware confronted the problem in 1994 of thousands of students eager to get on and explore the Internet but unaware of the responsible computing practices expected of them. We first made electronic mail accounts available to all students in 1992 in support of the University's goal to make all students competent in computing. Anticipating questions and problems about the appropriate use of computing resources, the University established a Policy for Responsible Computing, approved by both the administration and the Faculty Senate, that same year. Several hundred students took advantage of this e-mail access in the first year, a few thousand the next year, and 12,000 last year. Nearly all students currently use these e-mail accounts to access the Internet. But in spite of our well-intentioned plan and policy statement, students seemed oblivious to the notion that responsibility, or any kind of standards, pertained to using computing resources. This was especially frustrating because of our efforts to include the policy in the student handbook and to publicize its importance. They were not aware of their responsibilities in a variety of ways. Many students simply enjoyed telling their friends what they picked for their "secret" passwords or letting "little brothers" use their computer accounts. One model student/citizen who crashed the computer confessed, "I've never done anything wrong!" He was dismayed. A handful of crackers, stopped in their tracks, were dumfounded that anyone would interfere with their antics or cramp their style. When confronted by the terms of the Policy for Responsible Computing, they returned not looks of embarrassment, annoyance or penitence, but blank stares.

We needed to put the policy into operation. We needed each student's undivided attention, even if just for a few minutes. Inspired by the image of the Information Superhighway, we set out to make our students "fit for the road" by adapting the driver's license model. They would read a manual and pass a test. New students this fall were required to pass the Electronic Community Citizenship Examination, before gaining access to University computing resources. (The acronym, ECCE, is also the Latin word for "Behold!", "Pay Attention", or "Yo!".) The students studied a manual, Responsible Computing," and took ECCE which posed questions in several categories about responsible computing practices and standards. The responded to multiple-choice questions about good password construction, exclusive use of their access codes, software license regulations, policy and disciplinary proceedings for violations, privacy, chain mail and rights vs. privileges as they pertain to the University's computers and network. They had to answer 10 questions, all correctly. Students were able to log in to the central computing systems over the network to take the test, so it was readily available for the taking around the clock. The test was designed to report the correct answer when a wrong one is entered and to be taken over again as often as necessary, in the manner of a tutorial. Approximately 3,800 of the 4,000 new students this fall passed ECCE. More than 4,000 students have passed ECCE to date. As certified citizens of the electronic community, they now know why the University makes access to the Internet available and how its intent defines acceptable use. They know that, in addition to its concern for the integrity of its own computing resources, the University is determined to do its part to contribute good citizens to the Internet community.