MyUAlbany is Here

      

As technology has advanced, student enrollments have increased and the demand for more sophisticated record-keeping systems and procedures has grown, the University at Albany began making preparations for the largest technology-based undertaking the campus has seen since the implementation of the outgoing student records system. After seven years of planning and testing, MyUAlbany, powered by PeopleSoft, became a reality on June 16, 2003, when the University’s first web-based system was activated, giving University at Albany students, faculty and staff access to student records and course information via the internet. MyUAlbany has given students the same capabilities as the outgoing, touch-tone Voice Response Registration system (VRR) and much more, allowing them access to their UAlbany records from anywhere in the world that has access to the World Wide Web. In addition to being able to register for classes and make program adjustments with the new self-service system students can also view their academic records, check for administrative holds and update their personal information, all with the ease of a few clicks of a mouse. UAlbany faculty and staff are also enjoying the benefits of this new system that has streamlined their day-to-day administrative procedures. Faculty are able to view and print updated class rosters and input their end of semester final grades using MyUAlbany. In addition to having access to student and course information University faculty and staff also have access to their employment records and history and can report time and attendance usage. These amenities are just the beginning of what students and staff can expect from MyUAlbany. This spring, the University has plans to convert the student financial and financial aid records to PeopleSoft, allowing for paperless financial aid management, making available to students comprehensive student financial status and account histories, and giving students the ability to accept financial aid awards via the web. The University also hopes to provide students with an online payment processing option, which would allow them to pay their UAlbany invoices via the web using payment methods such as credit cards. In addition to saving time, these upcoming features will likely ease the long lines that plague the Financial Aid and Bursar office service counters at the beginning of each semester. As the University wraps up its first full semester of using MyUAlbany, it has recorded several milestones. At the end of final examinations, it was reported that approximately 900 teaching faculty successfully submitted their final grades entirely on the web. Additionally, in preparation for the spring semester, PeopleSoft was used by the Registrar’s Office’s scheduling unit to assist with the creation of the spring schedule of classes and by the Degree Clearance unit to process degree applications for December 2003 degree candidates. It is hoped that also in the near future students will have the ability to submit their degree applications online. As the implementation process continues and new user-friendly features are added regularly, the future with MyUAlbany looks bright for students, faculty and staff at the University at Albany.