Ongoing Budget Cuts to Education Continue to Impact Colleges and Universities; Appointment-Plus Educational Software Shares 4 Tips on How to Do More with Less
Scottsdale, AZ (PRWEB) July 29, 2013 -- When states look for ways to balance their budgets, higher education is oftentimes the unfortunate recipient of reduced spending.
Take, for instance, the state of Louisiana, which recently announced plans to strip $46 million in funds from its 2014. Of that, a significant portion will come from education and health services.
The effects of these budget cuts trickle down to university academic advising offices. Already faced with limited numbers of staffers and tight spending restrictions, they must now complete more work with less time.
“Academic advisors play a key role in the career path of today’s students, yet these professionals often lack the resources to adequately manage their offices,” said Bob La Loggia, CEO of Appointment-Plus college scheduling software. “The task of administering student information and scheduling advising appointments can be daunting to an understaffed office.
“That’s why more academic advisors are implementing online software to assist them.”
A growing number of academic advising offices, however, are turning to online educational software to help them manage their processes more efficiently. Here are four ways the technology allows them to do this:
1. Task automation.
Many office tasks are tedious and time-consuming. This makes them staff-production killers. Online software programs can automate these tasks, thereby freeing up valuable staff time that can be utilized more productively.
For example, academic scheduling software lets students book their sessions online instead of having to call. This can save advising offices over 20 hours a week.
2. Instant accessibility.
Online programs are cloud-based, just like e-mail and social media pages. They're not installed on an individual computer or campus-wide network. This means they’re accessible from laptops, smartphone, tablets and other devices with an Internet connection. Staff can access them from anywhere inside and outside the office.
3. System integration.
Many online educational software programs have the ability to sync with existing programs utilized at an academic advising office. For example, an online scheduler may have the capacity to instantly sync with a Microsoft Outlook calendar.
Additionally, some applications can integrate with existing campus systems. The result is a much smoother process for accessing and managing student information.
4. Ease-of-use.
How user-friendly an application typically determines its acceptance among faculty and staff. Fortunately, most online software programs are designed with the user in mind. Even staff with limited computer skills can easily learn most cloud-based applications quickly with only a minimal amount of training.
Learn how Appointment-Plus can improve your academic advising office. Click here to schedule a free guided tour. Call 800-988-0061.
About Appointment-Plus: Over 16 million people use Appointment-Plus online scheduling software. It’s the leading scheduler for academic advising offices that provides student self-scheduling and reminder notifications that reduce no-shows by 70 percent. The software syncs with Outlook Calendar and offers an open API for developers.
For media and bloggers: If you’re interested in interviewing an executive to learn more about Appointment-Plus, please e-mail us at erichard(at)appointment-plus(dot)com. If you’re a blogger interested in sharing stories and guest articles, please contact us at the above e-mail.
E. Richard, Appointment-Plus, http://www.appointment-plus.com, 480-483-1199, [email protected]
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