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Volume CXXXIII, Number 2 |
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New online Student Records site well-received by campus
ADAM BABER
ORIENT STAFF
With the launching of its "Bearings" website, Student Records has inaugurated a new era of convenient access to information online, a move some say was long overdue.
The site, which offers students and faculty a means of reviewing a wealth of student-specific course-related information, has been in development for several years.
"This is where Student Records operations has been going," said Christine Brooks Cote, Director of Institutional Research and Registrar. "Students should be able to do their business online now."
Cote sees Bearings as part of a two-step project aimed at moving almost all of Student Records' interactions with students and faculty online. The first step is the current website, which features access to a student's transcript, most recent grade report, status on campus, progress toward a degree, and current course schedule. Faculty can also access class lists and use a link to email a given class alias. Academic advisors can track their advisees' information more easily with the new online service as well.
The second phase of the project will involve moving course registration, add/drop forms, and other related procedures online. Cote said that this is still in development.
In answering criticism that the move online has come much later than similar transitions at other elite colleges, Cote said that the Office of Information Technology has been very busy over the past few years, especially concerning the Bowdoin website which has been a work in progress over the past few years for IT.
Despite the delay, Associate Registrar Joanne Levesque said that the Office of Student Records has received positive feedback from students and faculty alike. "We're elated," she said.
Cote, too, is very happy with the system, which in the near future will allow studetns to access information about Advanced Placement credits.
Cote also said that Bearings will help move Students Records in a more environmetally aware direction as it will significanly diminsh the need for paper.
Students have been overwhelmingly appreciative of the new site. "It's really convenient," said Noah Gardiner '05, though he questions why the website cannot be accessed between 11:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m, a convenient time for many students.
Gardiner's classmate Jocelyn Foulke is also pleased with Bearings. "You can access information that previously you always had to calculate yourself," she said.
Bearings is just a click away from the main Student Records website, which can be accessed from the main Bowdoin webpage.
Cote said that now Bearings is online, paper mailings will no longer go out. Students will need to check the site following course registration and the add/drop period.
Bearings can also be reached directly at www.bowdoin.edu/studentrecords/bearings.
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