Due to anticipated
budget cuts set by the state, the Registrar’s Office will no
longer print hard copies of grades and schedules of classes, said
Registrar Don R. Rankins last Monday.
Students will be expected to use the AppalNET system as the primary
source for updating and changing information such as addresses and
phone numbers.
The Registrar’s Office expects to save $7,000 a year in postage
and $500 in paper forms by not printing the grades, Rankins said.
There is the possibility of students being able to request a hard
copy for their grades, Rankins said.
“I would rather have the [grades] in the mail. I like having
a hard copy of them,” said junior psychology major Katie A.
Betz.
“It’s easier to use the electronic version anyways,”
said sophomore Scott M. Maxwell.
The summer schedule of classes will still be printed, since it is
paid for by the summer school office.
Registration and grades can be accessed through both the AppalNET
and the Telephone Registration Systems.
“The best way [to access grades] is through AppalNET,”
Rankins said.
Of the11,500 students who pre-registered for spring semester classes,
70 percent used the AppalNET exclusively. Twenty one percent used
a combination of the two, with just 8 percent using just the Telephone
Registration System.
Enrollment Services, which encompasses the Registrar’s Office,
General Studies and Office of Admissions, decided to cut these services
after talking with the Academic Affairs Office and realizing the
possible budget cut.
Currently no budget is set for the Registrar’s Office, which
causes the office to work on “bare-bones estimates,” Rankins
said.
All travel has been cut, except for two mandatory one-day meetings
in Raleigh which Rankins attended.
“When it comes to operational budgets, everyone had to clamp
down,” Rankins said.
No new equipment has been purchased in the past two years.
The Registrar’s Office is adding modifications to the AppalNET
site, which will help students and faculty access different areas
of the site, including access to financial aid records.
The Personal Announcement System, or PANS, will be used more in
efforts to increase communication between the Registrar’s Office
and students.
“Some things are must, such as transcripts and graduation costs,”
Rankins said.
The Registrar’s Office expects to spend $10,000 for graduation
ceremonies this year.
“We are looking for those cost-saving measures that keep us
moving forward,” Rankins said. “Appalachian State University
has always been known as being very frugal with what we receive
and what we get done with that,” Rankins said. |
