Teri Fowle - Sept. 13, 2010

PASADENA, Texas – In response to enrollment growth, San Jacinto College (SJC) is introducing a number of technology upgrades to meet increased demand for student services and help students achieve their educational goals.

The most noticeable upgrade is the new SJC website. A key upgrade to the website is the course finder. This feature allows students real-time access to their educational plan, course information, and class schedules. Students can store their information using an online personal dock, a type of shopping cart, and then register for classes once they like their created schedule. The College also made the application process smoother by implementing a streamlined online application.

Registered students have access to a free virtual desktop through the “My San Jac” portal located on the website. The virtual desktop can be accessed from any computer and once logged in, students have access to their own desktop, and have college software, such as Microsoft Office, readily available.

“Every student now has access to a desktop, College services, resources, and their course work using any device such as an iPad or a netbook with a freely available opensource browser such as FireFox” said Rob Stanicic, acting chief information officer at San Jacinto College.

Besides many other cool features integrated into the new website, the College also built into the site compliance with new federal and state requirements for course descriptions, faculty vitae’s, and easy access to the bookstore – all within three clicks of the homepage.

“The information presented on the website is directly linked to the College enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and allows flexibility in pushing the required information to the web and allowing compliance with the requirements,” said Teri Fowle, associate vice chancellor for marketing.

The College is also upgrading its call center and telephone systems to meet increased demand for student services.

The call center is now integrated with the College’s website through an online help desk feature where students can get the same information online or by phone.

“We have already seen a 25 percent decrease in calls this Fall since the upgrade to the College’s website” commented Anita Jones, director for customer services. “This means that students are getting answers to their questions without having to wait on hold.”

Behind the scenes, the College’s website and call center access information from a common publications database. This database captures real-time transactional information from the College’s Banner (ERP) system and other databases. The publications database includes course syllabi, catalog, and class schedule information, allowing students access to the most up-to-date information to make informative decisions regarding their educational plan.

“These underlying technology improvements are critical as San Jacinto College continues to focus on how to better serve students” added Stanicic.  “We have upgraded the underlying technology to increase efficiency and improve student services through multi-channel access to information. Whether students are seeking advice on how to apply or inquiring about a payment deadline, information comes from a single authoritative source delivered in multiple mediums.”

As the Fall 2010 semester unfolds, SJC will continue with its telephone system upgrade to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). VoIP will not only improve the efficiency of administrative functions, it will help meet the demands for increased enrollment in distance learning and remote classroom collaboration through telephone, video and web conferencing.

San Jacinto College serves a diverse population of more than 27,000 students in over 140 degrees and certificates in university transfer and technical programs. The College also serves the community through workforce training. Students come with various goals and aspirations and we are committed to their success. San Jacinto College. Your Goals.Your College.

For more information about San Jacinto College, please call 281-998-6150.