Education Notebook

Articles: Back to school shoppers not in the diamond market, two local school districts unmoved by dates of 'great Minnesota get together'

Today brought two stories:

1 - 'Thrifty is the hottest school brand'

Here's the part of the blog in which I tear apart my own articles. Anyway, maybe it's just me, but I felt like parents were always fairy thrifty when buying school supplies. Again, maybe it was just my upbringing, but I can recall having a budget for school clothes, getting one pair of new shoes at the start of each school year (and ending up duct taping them together by summer) and generally not splurging insane amounts. (Even still, I should say we never went without and had decent stuff (name brand shoes, notebooks with paper, pens with ink, etc. Regardless, school supply shopping wasn't cheap.)

Anyways, there's a quote in the story that felt like a punch to the kidneys. One of the sources talks about students no longer looking for $300 jeans. I have suits that were less than $300. (Again, maybe that says more about me. Sigh.)

2 - Two local districts skirt post-Labor Day school start

In a story that seems to rile up resort owners and school administrators every year, we have two school districts in southeastern Minnesota who will start school before Labor Day. If a school district has a construction project more than $400,000, they are able to do so.

The bigger districts would be able to do this pretty much every year, if desired. I haven't totalled up all of Rochester's maintenance projects this summer (or next summer), but I'm guessing it would be well over that mark.

Regardless, I want to thank all of the new readers we have checking in to the blog. Next week we'll have some more original content (other than just reposting articles). Feel free to e-mail comments, questions or concerns here. Don't be afraid to leave comments on here, either.

Enjoy a safe weekend.

Article: Irony of reading a story in the newspaper about 'Area colleges going paperless' is not lost

 Here's a swipe from today's paper about local colleges that are choosing to no longer print course guides and other materials. Instead, they are moving everything online. 

Yes, I can see the 20,000 pound elephant in the room.

While I think the parallel to the newspaper industry is worth noting, that angle really doesn't fit into the story. Anyways though, that discussion is for a different day...

(Will update with link when story goes live. And yes, I used this as an excuse to show a picture someone forwarded me of the new TCF Bank Stadium.)

Area colleges going paperless
By Elliot Mann / emann[at]postbulletin.com

Want to check out the courses offered at Rochester Community and Technical College? Better go online.

The local two-year college is one of many across the state and country that are scaling back efforts to print hard copies of school information, instead directing students to the Web, in saving printing and postage costs.

Other colleges — like Winona State University for one — are getting rid of athletic media guides, while many others are scaling back printed promotional materials.

At Rochester Community and Technical College, savings across the entire campus are hard to pinpoint. But the college’s Chief of Strategic Operations Dave Weber said the move has saved thousands from the yearly budget in his department alone.

“Even eight years ago, we were probably spending $100,000 more on printing,” Weber said. “Today, it’s less than $15,000.”

The department was also able to heavily reduce its annual postage budget, which at one point was near $20,000.

The change has been clear at the emerging University of Minnesota-Rochester campus, which this fall will enroll its inaugural undergraduate class.

University of Minnesota-Rochester Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Kendra Weber said the school isn’t printing a course catalog or “view book” for students.

“We’re really trying to drive students to our Web site,” Kendra Weber said.

Class schedules and information often change within six months, she said, leaving the unyielding books out of date within weeks. Keeping it online allows staff to seamlessly update the information with a couple mouse clicks, rather than thousands of dollars in new books.

Meanwhile, University of Minnesota News Service Director Daniel Wolter said the entire system has scaled back print operations. For about a decade, the official means of communication has been e-mail.

Budgetary issues have also contributed to a paperless system systemwide. The University last fall suspended publication of one alumni magazine that was sent to each of the more than 400,000 living graduates. In its absence, representatives stepped up the alumni Internet presence.

Doing away with the print version saved $400,000 annually, Wolter said. “We have for quite some time been moving slowly toward a paperless process."

College representatives said that students overwhelmingly support a text message or e-mail much more than a traditional stamped letter. Around 2000, Rochester Community and Technical College commissioned a study by SNG Research to see how students preferred to have information delivered to them.

The results came back that about half desired an electronic format, Weber said.

That was nearly a decade ago.

“When you think of our institution, when seven out of 10 students are ages 18 to 24, they’re web savvy,” Dave Weber said. “You’re not running into problem where people don’t have access to the Internet. The presence of the Internet is well into the 90 percent saturation point in this marketplace.”
If someone doesn’t open an e-mail in three days, he said software notifies the college, which allows staff to send traditional hard copy to the students.

Taking the move even another step, RCTC representatives are rolling out a new program in the coming weeks that uses the Internet rather than print materials in attracting new students. Similar to a personalized Google.com home page, prospective students will e-mail the university about their different interests, and then RCTC staff will e-mail back a personalized Web page.

“Now we’re moving toward mass customization,” Dave Weber said.

For more information, go to Postbulletin.com/weblinks.
Rochester Community and Technical College
http://www.rctc.edu
University of Minnesota-Rochester
http://www.r.umn.edu/