Thumbs up for new e-Berkeley services
Giving, grading, parking and timekeeping — it’s all online

By Diane Ainsworth, Public Affairs

27 February 2002 | Since their debut as part of the campus’s e-Berkeley initiative, several new online services are making it easier to do business on, and with, the campus.

“The e-Berkeley office has been very pleased with the success of the e-Grades, e-Giving, e-Parking and Kronos Time Keeping projects,” said Jon Conhaim, director of e-Berkeley, the campus initiative to upgrade and expand web-based services. “Electronic transactions in these areas of university life have reduced the amount of paperwork and time that is involved in filling out applications, applying for parking permits, filing grades and other administrative tasks. High usage suggests that many of our customers, such as alumni and the public, find these services far more convenient.”

Paperless payment
Since its introduction, “Paperless Payment” — a new centrally supported, secure system for processing credit card payments — has made many Berkeley online transactions safer and simpler, Conhaim said.

“Paperless payment processing is one of several new online services that reduces paperwork by putting more information and transactions online,” said Conhaim. “It makes it much easier for campus departments to conduct secure, online credit card transactions on approved university web sites. Our plans are to develop additional applications to streamline other campus transactions like this.”

e-Giving
Berkeley’s e-Giving gateway — at givetocal.berkeley.edu — helped pave the way for paperless payment. Since its launch in May 2000, the “Give to Cal” gateway has brought in $335,000 in gifts from alumni and friends.

The success of the site in its first year “put Berkeley in second place behind Prince-ton in online giving,” said Rosemary Kim, executive director of development operations in University Relations, a partner in the venture. Information Systems and Technology was also was also a key player in the project.

The “Give to Cal” gateway allows anyone in the world with a web browser to give directly to more than 100 units and nearly 300 funds on campus. These range from the AIDS Memorial Fund to the Young Musicians Program. All online donations via credit card are processed instantaneously by the campus using CyberSource, a secure site.

During the fall semester, the Graduate Admissions office added paperless payment to its web site, giving applicants the option of paying their application fees online. Other units, including the Career Center and Parking and Transportation Services, also plan to introduce paperless payment. Information on how to use this centrally supported service is available from the Paperless Payment Project team at cptheelp@uclink.berkeley.edu.

e-Grades
Each semester Berkeley students receive more than 130,000 grades for their academic work. To expedite that process, faculty and designated graduate student instructors are now able to submit grades electronically over the web, and students are able to find their grades online within 24 hours. The new service has caught on like wildfire. According to the Office of the Registrar, grades were posted electronically for nearly 75 percent of undergradaute classes during the fall 2001 semester.

Using “Bear Facts for Faculty” and the kerberos authentication system, in-structors are able to view a roster of their classes, enter final grades, and submit those grades securely to the registrar. E-Grades are posted overnight and available to students the following day through “Bear Facts for Students.” For students, this is a big advance over the three-week wait for grades submitted on paper.

E-Grades was first introduced in spring 2001. Over the summer and fall — based on faculty and department staff feedback — developers tweaked the application. The new and improved version offers a better user interface; clearer help screens; expanded query capabilities; im-proved response time; and the ability to upload grade sheets directly from Excel grade books.

e-Timekeeping
The Library and Law-rence Hall of Science are now using the “Kronos Time Keeping System,” which allows employees to fill out their time sheets electronically.

Eight departments helped test the new system beginning in the spring of 2001. In addition to the Library and LHS, participating departments in-cluded Recreational Sports, Information Systems and Technology’s Workstation Support Services, the Career Center, the UC Police Department, Parking and Transportation, and the School of Public Health. Six more departments now testing Kronos expect to go live with it by the end of March.

e-Parking
UC Berkeley’s e-Parking project is expanding its parking services as well.

The system allows faculty and staff paying via payroll deductions to renew their permits online. In mid-May, 11 types of parking permits will be renewable online. Seven of those permit types will be renewable for those paying by payroll deduction. Two types of permits for emeritus faculty will also be renewable with online payment via credit card.

Students can also purchase parking permits online and pay with a credit card or via the Campus Accounts Receivable system. Payment of citations online is scheduled for implementation in April, said John Holroyd,
e-Parking project manager.

Currently, computer users are also able to appeal parking tickets and obtain special transit passes using e-Parking.