TRAX program improves online
student services
By Steven Poland
Staff
Writer
This April students will be seeing new features
on SSINFO as part of the TRAX initiative.
TRAX is the ambitious program to redesign student
service processes and put them online.
"We’re making very good progress. We
have at least 15 projects that will be finished in two pieces by April
and July," said Lee Gordon, director of Student Services Computing.
There are three main features that will be seen
by students this April. One will be enhanced search capability of jobs
on campus, another will alert students if their schedule has been changed,
and another will make the student loan process paperless.
If a student is eligible for a loan, he or she
will be able to fill out the paperwork online and send it to the Financial
Aid Office. The Financial Aid Office will then verify it and send it
to the bank. The bank then sends money to the student’s account
if they approve the loan.
"Every 6 months, we’re going to have
very specific goals for outcomes (of TRAX)," said Gordon.
In July, students will have the ability to pay
tuition through an electronic check. Additionally, they will also be
able to request a change of degree objective.
"These are the most visible projects that
students will see. There are also tons of other stuff related to the
system’s infrastructure," said Gordon.
Gordon says that the oldest system is 37 years
old and the system that holds student information and records is 13
years old.
"TRAX is giving us the ability to develop
blueprints to do our processes and carry out systems replacement,"
said Gordon.
TRAX has roughly 30 fulltime people staffed along
with 10 to 20 part-time people in operational expertise.
More information about TRAX is available through
its Web site at http://www.purdue.edu/VPSS/Trax/
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