While it may be impossible to run an institution without using paper, University officials want to come as close as they can. In the effort to save money through efficiency, new technologies are leading the way.

“I’m not saying we’re going to have a paperless campus, but we can move in that direction,” Linda Dobb, University executive vice president, said. “If there’s a way to eliminate some paper, then we need to try to do it.”

Dobb, who has been heavily involved with the creation and continuous improvements of the MyBGSU portal, cites the site as a starting place for savings. A pilot is currently in action sending Bursar bills to employees through e-mail rather than a mailed paper statement.

“What we’re trying to do is create more services there versus sending paper,” Dobb said. “All of the special services that have been centralized are wonderful.”

According to Dobb, a conference will occur over the summer with administrators from other universities in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan, all of whom also use a Blackboard system, in an attempt to continue to add more services to MyBGSU.

“The real deal here is we’re going to try to stop using paper as much as possible,” Dobb said. “We’re trying to maximize the use of that service, and we’ll be bringing people from all over to swap ideas.”

One idea that has been on the table for over a decade will finally begin a test phase at the end of May. The eTime system, which will automate the calculation of student employment hours, will eliminate the need for paper time sheets and other time-keeping methods currently used on campus.

According to Jeff Nelson, a co-chairman on the committee to bring eTime to campus, funding for the system is what has kept it away for so long. “The problem was always because it was so decentralized that no one was willing to pay for it,” Nelson said.

The project, now headed by the University’s Chief Information Officer Bruce Petryshak, includes the cost of electronic readers designed so student employees can use their ID cards to clock in and out. Each reader costs $750.

Nelson, the director of the University Bookstore, can foresee the benefits that the eTime system will bring within his own department. “I have someone who sits there adding up the time cards every Monday morning,” Nelson said. “In this day and age, that’s crazy. Once the time that we spend adding up hours goes away, it’ll allow staff to spend more time in other areas.”

The test period will start with the libraries, Facilities Services and the Office of Student Employment. Evaluating the system mainly by the reaction of users, eTime could become campus-wide as early as fall semester if the trial proves successful.

According to Jim Stainbrook, Nelson’s co-chairman, the effects of switching to the system should be minimal for students. The real change, however, will involve student supervisors.

“I think as far as students go, it’s going to be pretty transparent,” Stainbrook said. “The difference is really going to be held through the student employer, where they’re now going to be looking at a PC approving time instead of with a paper document.”

According to Petryshak, more projects utilizing technology to reduce paper use on campus are in the works. Among these, a new application system is being installed to place departmental phone bills online and stop the need for printing them for review. Also, typical office documents will soon be available online and will reduce the need to print, according to Toby Singer, executive director of Information Technology Services.

“That will save time, money, storage costs, paper, paper dust and the labor power required for carrying the forms because sometimes these documents can fill boxes,” Singer said. “There’s lots of things that are happening as we move forward with this stuff, and you’ll start to see more and more as technology gets in line.”

Officials are also reviewing a project that will allow for easier retrieval and storage of documents on the Web for offices on campus. “Part of that project will probably include some document imaging and data warehousing,” Petryshak said. “In the data warehouse, there’s better access to information, so that could help save in reducing some printing of reports and will automate the work flow process.”

All projects to increase efficiency are made possible by the University’s strong technological foundation, Petryshak said. This foundation is assisted by the University’s membership in Internet 2, a research consortium of more than 200 universities across the nation looking at next generation Internet.

“The foundation is there, so if you find an opportunity you can more easily take advantage of it,” he said. “The investments that we have in our current technology including the Supernet, made it possible to be a member of that, and without those things we wouldn’t be able to do that.”

The introduction of such technologies at the University has been well received by most, according to officials. “Technology is second nature to many people now,” Dobb said. “It’s grab it and go.