Integrated Tertiary Software (ITS) has recently successfully implemented its ITS Student iEnabler System at tertiary education institutions in Namibia, Ireland and South Africa.
This follows previous successful implementations of the self-service functionality for students at a number of institutions.
The system provides online real-time access to the ITS system, enabling prospective and registered students of the institution to gain access through secure logons to their own personal biographic, academic and student account data.
Online registration provides an effective solution to the familiar problems associated with long lines of students queuing and time-consuming data-capturing processes.
As the world population is growing and systems are getting more complex, the need to find more innovative ways of addressing historic problems gets stronger. Technology, when properly managed, is a perfect tool for making life easier by supporting online business for communicating, banking, ticket reservation, etc. The ITS Student iEnabler system extends this concept to educational administration by making online applications, registrations and related activities possible.
In Namibia, the Polytechnic of Namibia (PNAM) was one of the first tertiary education institutions that successfully launched components of the ITS Student iEnabler system. Each year, the Polytechnic makes great progress in being a truly modern university by enhancing its infrastructure in terms of technology.
By using the ITS Student iEnabler to its full extent, the Polytechnic is once again the first academic institution in Namibia to leverage technology as a tool of business innovation and to improve the lives of many of its constituents.
Dr Tjama Tjivikua, Rector of PNAM, commented: "In 1998, we were the first academic institution (in Namibia) to acquire a super computer and to install a fibre optic network. We have since offered high quality services in information technology. We are also the first institution to offer a range of qualifications in information technology (IT), which are well accepted in the market, and to integrate technology fully into the academic and administrative systems. This online registration process was implemented during the second semester of the 2007 enrolment phase." Online registration ran concurrently with the normal registration process. According to the Polytechnic, a third of its students registered via the online registration functionality.
"Online registration takes approximately one to 10 minutes. It is a wonderful solution to problems relating to long registration queues and frustrations during the registration process," said Mr Laurent Ervrard, Director of Computer Services at the Polytechnic of Namibia.
In Ireland, the number of online registrations is escalating yearly. In 2006, more than 8 000 students registered on the ITS Student iEnabler system and in the current year, 25 000 students used the system.
The University College Cork (UCC), Ireland, adopted the online registration system for students in 2005 and registered more than 8 000 students online. The following year, 14 000 students registered on this functionality and made online fee payments (e-payments). Online registration is an ongoing process for both new registrations and post graduate students.
This year, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, went live with online registrations and fee payments (e-payments) functionality for returning students, and in excess of 3 000 students used the system for self-registration.
The Dublin City University (DCU), Ireland, recently made the online registration and e-payment functionality available to first year, as well as distance education students. Mr Aengus Gordon, a member of the Business System Support team, said online registration for the 2007/2008 academic year was a huge success, as the objective of registering 95% of students online was achieved.
In South Africa, the Durban University of Technology (DUT) went into production, with selected functionality of the ITS Student iEnabler System during October 2007. The initial phase allows students to apply online in real-time for university managed accommodation. The Department of Student Housing will extend the process to online registration from 2008 onwards. Students will be able to self-register online with assistance where needed.
Integrated Tertiary Software specialises in the provision of integrated software to support the administrative functions within the higher education and further education and training sectors. The company also offers a wide range of related training, support and consultation services to facilitate the transfer of knowledge to staff members at client institutions.
The ITS Enterprise Resource Planning software solution can be implemented as a fully integrated solution to support the student, financial, HR, payroll and library business processes of a university, polytechnic or college. The main systems can, however, also be implemented individually to support a "best-of-breed" approach. Open technology allows for ease of integration with other third-party software solutions.
For more information, please contact marketing@its.co.za.
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