Implementing a Kiosk-based Campus Information System at Community Colleges: Three Case Studies Copyright CAUSE 1994. This paper was presented at the 1994 CAUSE Annual Conference held in Orlando, FL, November 29- December 2, and is part of the conference proceedings published by CAUSE. Permission to copy or disseminate all or part of this material is granted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for commercial advantage, that the CAUSE copyright notice and the title and authors of the publication and its date appear, and that notice is given that copying is by permission of CAUSE, the association for managing and using information resources in higher education. To copy or disseminate otherwise, or to republish in any form, requires written permission from CAUSE. For further information: CAUSE, 4840 Pearl East Circle, Suite 302E, Boulder, CO 80301; 303-449-4430; e-mail info@cause.colorado.edu IMPLEMENTING A KIOSK-BASED CAMPUS INFORMATION SYSTEM AT COMMUNITY COLLEGES: THREE CASE STUDIES Dr. Stephen Jonas Vice President for Administration Sinclair Community College Dayton, Ohio Mr. Stephen Megregian Vice President Brevard Community College Cocoa, Florida Mr. Gary Wenger Executive Director, Computing and Information Systems College of DuPage Glen Ellyn, Illinois Dr. Judith W. Leslie Senior Vice President TRG, Inc. Phoenix, Arizona Ms. Darlene Burnett Senior Consultant IBM Corporation Durham, North Carolina ABSTRACT This paper presents case studies of three community colleges that implemented a campus wide information systems (CWIS) using touchscreen kiosks. The three colleges cumulatively offer students approximately 20 kiosk encasements on campus for access to the CWIS. Although the three college executives who participated in the development of this paper have differing responsibilities, each assumed an important role in the CWIS's implementation. Because each institution had a distinct rationale for implementing the system, each college's CIS has unique features. This paper will describe the complete implementation project, from involving various administrative departments to define the CIS's functionality, to reporting on its effectiveness. The paper also includes the featured institutions future plans for the system. INTRODUCTION I. Purpose We experience changes in our environment on a daily basis. As the warm sunlight fades each day, we adapt to the coolness of dusk. As the seasons evolve throughout the year, we find pleasure in each period's renewal. We welcome the brisk days of Fall, the serenity of a light snowfall, and the renewal of a colorful Spring. Because we have experienced these environmental transformations, we are able to prepare for and adjust to them. Our preparation enables us to experience the changes without feeling disrupted by them. However, when we sense impending changes in our professional lives, our anticipation is sometimes embedded with anxiety. Is our anxiety the result of not having yet experienced what the change will bring? Could it be that because we are not certain how the change will affect our lives, we are reluctant and sometimes resistant to the change? Is it because we do not know how to prepare for what we have not yet experienced? All of us can acknowledge that, just as the time of day and the seasons change, the institutions at which we work change. Because our work environments change, our professional lives change. To decrease the stress related to the changing seasons in the workplace, we need to gather information and knowledge regarding what the change will be. By preparing for our professional changes, we may even welcome the evolving season. The colleges and universities that have emulated many of the characteristics of the industrial model of organization are beginning to adapt to a different season. Some of the more important change catalysts are as follows: (1) the emergence of 'consumer diversity and sovereignty,' (2) the dwindling and shifting portfolio of financial resources, (3) the exponential expansion of information, (4) the imperative to achieve a higher quality quotient, and (5) the insatiable appetite for more and better technology. It is not the purpose of this paper to determine which of these change catalysts was first and/or is more significant. What is relevant is that these factors interactively result in a barometric change that signals a new season for colleges and universities. The purpose of this paper is to share information that illustrates how three institutions -- College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois; Brevard Community College, in Cocoa Florida; and Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio -- are anticipating and adapting to this changing season. In particular, the paper will describe how the community colleges have employed the strategy of optimizing the use of information and technology-based tools as one of the ways in which to prepare for the new environment. II. Rationale The authors prepared this paper based on the premise that the more information that is shared among higher education institutions, the better we can envision the new environment and anticipate the next season. The featured institutions share many common characteristics with other institutions that have implemented similar systems. However, their efforts and results differ because of the unique combination of a set of characteristics that are described as follows: A. Common Mission: The mission of higher education institutions is focused upon instruction, community service, and research. Within higher education, community colleges' focus their mission on instruction and community service, and are particularly concerned about student development and retention. Accordingly, the featured institutions employed technology to focus primarily upon service to students. In some cases, the institutions also involved students in the design and testing of the system. B. Collaboration: The featured institutions employed a collaborative methodology both internally and externally. The institutions planned and executed the projects internally through a collaborative effort that joined employees from multiple departments who had not previously worked together, and at some institutions, students. They also planned and executed the projects with two external business partners: TRG, Inc. and IBM. They acquired TRG-Intouch, TRG's campus-wide information system, and services. Some also implemented IBM's kiosks and RS/6000s. C. Technology Integration: The featured colleges based the project on the integration of technology with many different capabilities. These include communication between PCs, servers, and hosts over the network; access to student information systems on a variety of hosts; and the ability to access Gopher servers. The technology also varied in the presentation of information with formats such as textual, graphic, animated, and multimedia. The integration of technology also featured the inclusion of capabilities such as printers and touch screens. Some of the featured institutions also plan to integrate card readers to increase the number of business transactions that students and other users can conduct. D. New Uses of Information: The taxonomy of capabilities resulting from the information contained in the system is broad, encompassing for example: the passive viewing of information regarding programs, personnel, facilities and services; interactive searching and matching of personal characteristics to resources such as scholarships; and iterative answering to adaptive questioning to provide a customized recommendation regarding a course of action. One of the featured institutions pioneered the design and integration of an expert system for advising. Representatives of this institution collaboratively worked with counselors, advisors, and students for a two-year period to identify the numerous factors that they needed to consider when advising students. They focused on areas in which students frequently request assistance such as how many credit hours to take and which major to select. E. New Information: The featured institutions are utilizing a component of the Intouch software that records utilization statistics and generates reports. Using this information, the institutions can collect information about their students. For example, the institutions can better understand the types of information that students most want to access, and the frequency, dates, and locations at which they access the information. One institution also has done a demographic analysis of the students who access information using the kiosk. Thus, while providing a service to students, the institutions are able to collect information about their students. Institutions can use the reports to continuously plan what information should be available to students and in which locations. The information also has assisted one of the institutions to develop a cost justification for the system. For example, they can compare the number of hours that the kiosk provides information compared to the number of hours that staff can provide services and information. They also can then equate the cost of staff providing information versus a kiosk providing information. F. Enhanced Professional Roles: The featured institutions also were concerned with limiting the number of routine tasks required of their staffs to serve the institutions' increasing student bodies. Their intent was to 'free-up' staff from providing access to routine information so that they can focus upon the specialized needs of students in a 'consultant' role rather than an 'information intermediary' role. Some counselors suggest to students that they first visit the kiosk and use the counseling module before scheduling a formal meeting. Because the system provides preliminary information, it frees counselors and other staff to meet with students who really need or want human interaction. G. Student-Enabling: The final characteristic shared by all three colleges was their interest to provide a solution that enhanced service to students. The institutions also found that the kiosks enabled students to become as pro-active as they needed and/or wanted when accessing information about themselves, their courses, and other institutional categories. The colleges recognize that many of their students may enroll in classes at their institutions and have very little interaction with counselors and other staff. The reasons may be that the students have busy schedules with work and home responsibilities; that the students might have had an unpleasant prior experience; or that they are uncomfortable meeting with 'strangers.' The institutions wanted to use technology to provide students with another option for accessing information. III. Featured Case Studies Although the community colleges featured in this paper vary in size and location, all share the mission to effectively employ technology to address issues affecting higher education. Each institution has uniquely introduced a campus wide information system (CWIS) using touchscreen kiosks. They represent three different stages along a continuum from planning to fully implementing and evaluating. The College of DuPage acquired the Intouch software in February, 1994. Since that time, they have used a committee approach to plan and implement the project. The authors will describe DuPage's current status to illustrate to other institutions how one methodology is working to begin the continuum. Brevard Community College (BCC) purchased Intouch in June, 1992 and is in the piloting phase of implementation. BCC will share their results to this point in time as well as how they plan to move to full implementation. Sinclair Community College (SCC) began a unique project in 1990 which resulted in acquiring Intouch in December, 1992. SCC has implemented the software, expanded the number of kiosks, and has robust plans for additional enhancements. The authors will concentrate on SCC's success with the project which has provided new insights to other institutions into the changes that may occur when implementing a CWIS. CASE STUDIES: COLLEGE OF DU PAGE I. Rationale Located in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, the College of DuPage (DuPage) acquired TRG-Intouch software and IBM hardware in 1994. There were a number of factors that contributed to DuPage's interest in implementing a campus wide information system (CWIS). First, with five regional centers, DuPage needed to provide convenient access to information from multiple locations. Second, recognizing the capabilities of a CWIS, DuPage determined that they could integrate information from a variety of sources and make it accessible through kiosks. Third, with a relatively small staff to serve DuPage's large student body of approximately 36,000 students, DuPage wanted to find other ways for students to directly access routine information. To address these identified factors, DuPage organized an Information Distribution Task Force (the task force) with the following mission: 'To develop a plan for information distribution on and off campus to provide easy access to information for faculty, staff, and students.' The task force reviewed all forms of information distribution, both on and off campus. To help determine the information needs of faculty, staff, and students when arriving on campus, the task force distributed a campus survey. The results of the survey defined a lack the following information tools: an appropriate campus maps and signage, a campus directory of staff and departments, and a single point of information for campus events and activities. These results provided a focal point for the task force to address the needs of DuPage's student and community residents with the following recommendations: signage on all campus buildings; campus maps at high traffic entrances; information kiosks at all entrances; and computer-based kiosk in high traffic areas. In addition, the task force recommended a five level kiosk design for the various entrances at the college. The levels range from level one that features a floor plan of building to level five that features a floor plan, a wall directory with campus brochures, a computer-based kiosk, and a staffed information booth. Through the recommendations of the task force the college included the computer-based kiosks in the Information Technology Plan. DuPage budgeted for four kiosks in the high traffic areas of the campus in the first year and plans to evaluate the kiosks' effectiveness to determine future needs. To initiate the task force recommendation of implementing a computer-based kiosk, the MIS department evaluated commercially available CWIS based on design, architecture, functionality, vendor support, and costs. The department also investigated the option of internally developing a system. When they evaluated TRG, Inc.'s solution, they found that they were able to combine the strengths of commercially maintained and enhanced software with the internal creativity and expertise of DuPage's Information Systems staff. DuPage purchased a single license of Intouch in February 1994 as a model to prepare various application examples to determine the campus 'fit' for the system. DuPage's intent was that their staff would continue to develop the applications using the same development environment and architecture as Intouch. Two information systems staff were selected to receive training in ToolBook, the base language for Intouch. After training they assembled a team to work with TRG to install and develop the model applications which included access to the IBM mainframe student system, human resource system staff directory on a LAN, and campus maps with graphics. This provided the information systems staff a base to develop additional applications. In June 1994, the system was demonstrated to the Information Distribution Task Force. II. Implementation Following the successful demonstration to the initial Information Distribution Task Force, DuPage employed the implementation model of collaboration by establishing another task force to focus on the implementation of Intouch. This committee is composed of thirteen members that include all the key institutional support areas. They first met in July 1994 to receive a demonstration of Intouch and to determine the project activities and time frame. The activities included the definition of a menu structure and the type of information to offer students. In addition the group determined the kiosk locations and the design of the kiosk enclosure. They also prioritized the tasks and assigned responsibilities for each of the major activities. The committee reached a consensus built at each critical milestone. Over the next several months, the committee then engaged in the process of identifying the type of information to make available to a maximum of four levels on the kiosk. The first level included the following: Academic Information; Admissions, Registration, and Records; Advising, Counseling, and Testing; Calendar and Events; Campus Maps and Directories; Community Services; Employment; Financial Aid; Health and Special Services; and Student Activities. The committee currently is prioritizing these ten menu items to determine the order and time frames to implement this information. The committee next defined the next three levels of each menu of the CWIS. They currently are defining the type of application information to include behind each menu selection. III. Future Plans DuPage plans to make Intouch available to students and community residents by Summer, 1995. Later this Fall, students will have the opportunity to enter a contest to name the new system. DuPage will install four kiosks, located in the following settings: the entrance of a new addition to the Student Resource Center that is currently under construction; the existing Student Resource Center; and the Open Campus Center which is used for community and business events. The committee is confirming the location for the fourth kiosk and is considering either the Instructional or Art Center. DuPage also has planned for completion of an enterprise network by the Summer of 1995. This network will tie together DuPage's five regional sites and central facility. DuPage is building the infrastructure to provide easy access by high schools and public organizations within the district. DuPage selected this type of design to permit the placement of kiosks at the various locations. Since the college has upgraded its initial purchase of one Intouch license to a full site license, DuPage will be able to provide campus wide access from all faculty and staff offices, and student labs. DuPage also plans to take advantage of the system's capabilities to provide generalized access to many different types of information to improve campus communications. DuPage plans to install four kiosks per year. Ultimately, DuPage will make Intouch available at locations throughout the whole county that it serves. DuPage plans to provide information on these kiosks that expand beyond their current CWIS to include all relevant student-related information that the committee determines is appropriate. CASE STUDY: BREVARD COMMUNITY COLLEGE I. Rationale Brevard Community College (BCC), serves more than 14,000 students at four campuses located in Cocoa, Melbourne, Titusville, and Palm Bay, Florida. The driving imperative to acquire a campus-wide information system (CWIS) was to support the recruiting process. To do so, BCC will make the software available at numerous convenient locations, including employer sites, shopping malls, and surrounding high school guidance counselor offices. By providing comprehensive information about BCC in an appealing and convenient manner, BCC anticipates that they will be able to attract many additional students. II. Implementation BCC used a prototype model for initial test implementation. Using TRG's Intouch software as a base, a talented programmer developed a prototype customized to BCC. Various college departments reviewed the prototype. BCC incorporated the suggestions from the college, as well as new ideas gleaned from other external sources into the software. BCC completed the initial phase of the project and installed the prototype kiosk at the Student Center of the Cocoa Campus in the Spring of 1994. III. Results Once the prototype was in place, BCC asked kiosk users for input and reviewed screen utilization statistics. BCC's executive staff found the feedback to be very valuable because it provided specific suggestions for enhancing the way students and other users accessed information from the kiosk. For example, the college learned that a bigger touch screen was needed, that the processor needed to be faster, and that the kiosk itself needed to be more attractive. Subsequently, the college upgraded to more powerful PCs with a larger touchscreen and purchased attractive kiosk cabinets. Shortly after the start of the Fall 1994 semester, the college installed the enhanced personal computers in the new kiosk cabinets at the Student Center of all four college campuses. IV. Future Plans BCC's next milestone for its project is to install kiosks at the local public school system. BCC's executive staff are currently in discussion with a local high school and anticipate that the first BCC kiosk will be in place at this local high school within the next 60 to 90 days. When this installation is complete, BCC will have realized its initial goal of providing convenient access to comprehensive information in an appealing manner to attract additional students to the institution. BCC's plans expand beyond its initial goals. BCC is confident that the Intouch system has the potential to open up a new era of information dissemination at the college. For example, BCC has stored over 8,000 lines of information in the system that students are able to access. BCC will add five to ten kiosks per year to increase the number of locations where students can access Intouch. Another dynamic new capability that BCC plans to add to its CWIS is to incorporate video disk capability and feature short clips of the various performers appearing at BCC's performing arts center. BCC's next release will build upon the presentation of video clips by interacting with card reader technology. This will enable students and others to use their credit cards to buy tickets for the performances that they had just previewed. Since Intouch can interact with printers, the kiosk will then instantly print the purchased tickets. CASE STUDY: SINCLAIR COMMUNITY COLLEGE I. Rationale and Implementation Of the three featured institutions, Sinclair Community College (SCC) is at the most advanced stage of the continuum. SCC's initial goal for its campus-wide information system was to augment the college's ability to advise its diverse and growing body of 20,000 students. Its student-to-counselor ratio of 1000 to 1 motivated one counselor to investigate other options. His investigations resulted in a project referred to as CWEST (Counseling with Expert System Technology) that eventually became integrated within TRG's Intouch. During the first few years of the CWEST project, a group of volunteers led by artificial intelligence specialist, Dr. Kathryn Neff, and counselor, Mr. Gordon Robinson, developed a prototype of the system. Taking the information that counselors consider when advising students and how counselors weigh the different factors during the session the team progressed, they recognized that other modules could enhance the services offered by the advising modules. Since SCC's policy is to not write its own software, the team decided to find an external partner that marketed a system that would complement their counseling modules. In December, 1992, SCC formed a partnership with TRG, Inc. TRG's team worked with SCC to integrate the functionality of Intouch. SCC launched the new system during the late Summer of 1993. An imperative of SCC's executive staff was to have a sufficient number of kiosks so that students would be able to find them anywhere on campus. SCC initially acquired six IBM kiosks and now has 13 kiosks located throughout the campus. In summarizing the project, SCC notes that it was driven by users, not information systems staff, to ensure that 'need,' not technology, was the focus. II. Results Quantitative data show that SCC averages over 1,500 users per month per kiosk. According to the observations of SCC staff, it appears that most people will select two or three main menu items in one session. SCC's utilization statistics and transactions counts measured from April 1994 through October 1994 are featured in the Appendix. (Appendix not available in the ASCII Text Version) SCC conducted a demographic analysis of SCC's kiosk users during the Spring 1994 term. The study concluded that Intouch kiosk system is reaching a broad spectrum of students: men and women of all ages, ethnic backgrounds, majors, and academic disciplines. The report titled, 'Who's Using the Kiosks?' notes that 6,480 different students, representing 35 percent of the institution's total Spring enrollment, accessed their personal records (from SCC's student information system) at least once during the term. The utilization statistics revealed that the kiosk users were slightly younger (age 28.4 compared to 32.8 for all SCC) and more likely to be male than the average student, although the system has been accessed by students ranging from age 13 to 83 with 36 percent of the kiosk users over age 30. The report demonstrated that all ethnic groups are well represented and, in particular, SCC's African-American population. Additionally, the statistics showed that kiosks seem to attract students who are somewhat more dedicated and academically successful than the overall student population, as indicated by kiosk users having slightly higher grade point averages and higher credit hours loads than the general student population. An actual kiosk user distribution breakdown by major closely parallels that of SCC's overall breakdown by major. To provide a basis for judging the cost effectiveness of Intouch, SCC has attempted to compare kiosk costs with human academic advisors and with printed items such as catalogs and brochures. SCC determined that a kiosk costs approximately $600 per month: about one third the cost for people to do the same tasks. Also, each kiosk is available for use about 390 hours per month (15 hours per day, 26 days per month).The annual cost of the kiosk system can be broken down to $2.16 per student or just $.30 per interactive session. Compared with the costs of delivering information and advisement through more traditional channels, for example, catalogs ($1.58 each); brochures ($1.00 each) or 30 minute sessions with an academic counselor ($11.75 each), kiosks are proving to be very cost effective. During the nearly one and a half years that the kiosks have been used on campus, student usage has increased dramatically More than 6,400 students requested information via Intouch in the spring quarter, 1994. SCC is observing other positive results that that are not directly cost-related. These include the convenience for students since no appointment is needed to use the kiosks and they are available at all hours and at multiple locations. SCC also had found that there is a consistency in the information provided that is more up to date than printed materials. Also, the information is provided in a manner that is unbiased with respect to race and gender. Additionally, SCC officials believe that the frustration students can feel when they are caught in administrative red tape is reduced when they get assistance immediately from a kiosk. By SCC's being more responsive to student needs, the College feels that it has made the campus a better learning environment. III. FUTURE PLANS SCC recently has expanded the applications available from Intouch to include textbook listings and an interactive quiz regarding distance education/independent learning. SCC's plans to add the following additional functionality to the system: online registration, credit card fee payment, course recommendations, degree audit program requirements, transfer information, course planning guide, financial aid status, textbook ordering system, and campus ID card applications. SCC also plans to incorporate the State of Ohio Bureau of Employment Services job opportunity database, JobNet. To increase feedback from students, SCC plans to incorporate functionality for students to complete mini surveys, 'opinionnaires,' and log complaints. SCC also wants to serve students and other users by adding the ability to access employee applications and personnel-related documents. Longer term, SCC plans to incorporate access to a Gopher server, voice recognition, desktop conferencing, and the presentation of information in multimedia formats. SCC plans to reach new students and community members with its enhanced Intouch system at off campus sites including malls, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, high schools, and neighborhood centers. SUMMARY The three institutions featured in this paper represent how colleges can collaboratively use information technology to anticipate and prepare for change. Equally important, the College of DuPage, Brevard Community College, and Sinclair Community College are helping to create the new season. Although representatives from the institutions experienced challenges throughout the processes, they are making important advances in creating a student-centered environment. The following is a sample of benefits that they have noted to date and anticipate experiencing in the future. I. Student Success By installing a CWIS on their campuses, the featured colleges have provided students with access to a large volume of information in a convenient manner that adapts to the students' schedules. By reducing students' frustration over standing in long lines to conduct transactions and overall administrative 'red tape', the colleges are using CWIS's to help create an environment for their students to succeed. By using kiosks, the colleges are able to expand the 'points of service' for their students. Because the colleges want to decrease the potential of drop-out due to financial reasons, the colleges are providing students with access to information regarding college costs, financial aid, and scholarships. The featured colleges also are interested in assisting students to navigate effectively through institutional processes, such as registration, add/drop, and graduation. To accomplish this goal, the colleges are providing information regarding campus events and institutional policies and procedures. To help new students better assimilate to the college experience, the colleges are providing them with easy access to locations of classes, faculty offices, and services. This information is being made accessible in a manner that is both consistent and unbiased with respect to ethnicity and gender. II. Employee Professional Development The featured colleges also are striving to create a work environment that enhances their employees' professional development. For example, representatives from their technical staffs became trained in new tools and the latest technology to creatively design and develop unique applications and additional Intouch applications. They also are gaining experience in the RISC technology with IBM's RS/6000 servers, in card readers, in multimedia, and in ToolBook. In addition, staff who are not directly related to the implementation project are also experiencing a positive change in their work environment. Since the kiosks are able to address many of the routine requests that staff who provide student-related services formerly answered, these staff members are able to reallocate more of their time from information access and dissemination to student consultation activities. III. Institutional Competitiveness Another benefit that the featured institutions are realizing is in the area of institutional competitiveness. Because the colleges are striving to quickly and conveniently serve all of its student body, they hope to use their CWIS to enhance their ability to attract and retain students. When new students visit their campuses, the colleges are able to reflect a progressive image with touchscreen kiosks. The featured colleges also are investigating additional off campus sites to install kiosks for access to Intouch. Shopping malls, local high schools, major employers, military bases, and city libraries are just some of the locations that the featured colleges are investigating to attract students and increase awareness about their offerings. Since the colleges are generating utilization reports, they can use the reports to tailor the CWIS features to best serve the various target audiences. The colleges also are using these reports to provide more informative documentation to the administration regarding how the institutions are expending their funds to serve their students and communities. Although the College of DuPage, Brevard Community College, and Sinclair Community College are pleased with the outcomes to date, they recognize that the continuum is infinite and that there are many significant steps ahead. The colleges plan to create further changes when they use the technology for additional purposes. They plan to conduct even more business transactions through Intouch such as registering students; paying for tuition and fees; ordering and paying for textbooks; selecting, paying, and obtaining tickets; inputting applications; and initiating transcript transfers. When the colleges use voice and multimedia technology more extensively and interactively, institutions also will gain additional new insights. As the featured colleges join with some of TRGÕs other Intouch partners who are providing their users with access to information from Gopher servers and in the future from World Wide Web servers, the students at the featured colleges will have universal access to the Internet and their available information resources will exponentially change. In conclusion, the environment serves as a catalyst; information is the resource; technology is the tool; new processes are facilitators, and people are the creators.