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The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly

by Ray Glienna, Division Chair, Physical Science Division

 

   The first returns are in on GCC's new electronic drop, census and grade rosters.  I sought out comments and have distilled out the good, the bad, and the ugly of the new system from the first 60 responses.  Sorry if your concerns didn't get addressed.  Here they are in a few sentences.

   We are more efficient working from home, avoiding trips to campus, and importing frequently updated rosters directly into Excel spreadsheets.  We save time and can consult a very patient Help Desk staff while managing classes from anywhere, anytime, thereby using less effort while saving trees.

  On the other hand, being unable to print updated rosters with spaces for record-keeping, having to memorize several passwords and codes and trying to meet late night deadlines while working at several campuses with different systems is a hassle.  Also, getting bombarded with virus-laden spam on a college account, and getting only one shot at submitting an insecure document while using a Mac and Netscape just piles insult upon injury; and forget the impatient folks at the Help Desk.  And who changed the drop dates, anyway, and how about some reminders!?

   There you have it.  Let's all just give it a little time, try it once or twice, and maybe we'll be saying, "What old system?" &