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“Clearly there are situations when technology is not available so paper documents are essential. Why do we feel compelled to make either/or choices? If the answer is frameworked as a matter of economics then the answer is paper documents are less costly! If it's a matter of convenience we'll probably still use paper. If advising only takes place one-on-one in well-equipped office settings then Web documents are ideal. However, until there are ideal conditions for students and advisers, we must continue to produce paper documents as technology evolves and becomes more accessible.” – Barbara K. Wade, Penn State - University Park, Oct 01 “It takes me a few seconds to look for something in the printed catalog or class schedule; it takes me MANY, MANY minutes to access that information on-line. Some other office may save on paper; I have to produce, in hard copy, material to use in advising situations or to give students and faculty advisers for their own perusal, in their own time, in their own space. I don't have that kind of time.” – Amelia Dittman, University of Wisconsin - La Crosse, Oct 01 “Oh, what a tangled Web ...” The Web is great, we'll save more trees Advising electronically But posting info on the 'net' Has not been perfected yet Accessing documents, when in need Can be a problem, yes, indeed 'The computer's down' We have all heard 'URL not available' are other words That do not work to benefit Adviser or student who work with it The Web is tangled, when it is less so, Then advising 'with the Web' will be a 'go'. – Vicki B. Foy, California State University Northridge, Oct 01 “In theory this is a good idea – but in reality we are not there yet. Too many people do not have good access on a regular basis to updated computer equipment, especially low-income students. There are also older returning students who have not grown up with computers. They may learn the skills in school, but how will they get the information they need from the catalog and about orientation before they are students? We can't punish those students who often need our help the most by only providing electronic materials.” – Maureen Chao, The Evergreen State College, Oct 01 “As much as I LOVE my computer and I love being able to look up what classes are open/closed with a touch of my mouse and a few letters, I WOULD NOT WANT TO GIVE UP MY HARD COPY!!! I use it to show new students how the LER's work (Liberal Education Requirements – General Education Requirements – GenEds' whatever you call them). Showing it to them on the computer would be less personal and more confusing to newbies who are already scared! I like being able to give them their catalog with the LER page dogeared so they can go home and find it easily. When I am advising students to help them select their schedules for next semester, being able to flip through the book is easier than waiting for each screen to come up – and besides, if the class that my student wants is given at a time that the student cannot take it, then we can browse the nearby classes and see what DOES fit. But by far the MOST important reason for wanting to retain my hard copy is that when the @#$%#$%@#$ computers go down (as they did during our mass registration last summer) the hard copy is the only thing that will get us through!” – Jackie Rose, Kent State University - Stark branch, Dec 03 The Mentor is published by Penn State's Division of Undergraduate Studies Available online at www.psu.edu/dus/mentor/ Privacy and Legal Statements | Copyright | © The Pennsylvania State University | All rights reserved | |
