Applying to university can be a stressful process sometimes, but Dal is doing its part to help make that process easier for Nova Scotian students.
On Friday, Minister Kelly Regan of the Department of Labour and Advanced Education announced funding to four new projects and renewed funding for four others from the .
The fund, first established in 2012, is designed to help universities explore ways to encourage innovation and collaboration while reducing operating costs.
The total funding for this year ($5 million) also includes $1 million for the .
While none of the new projects are Dal-focused, the university is playing a key role, together with the province鈥檚 other universities, in each of the four projects that received continued funding this year. The initaitives are examples of how the province's universities are finding new ways to coopearte to better serve Nova Scotians.
Improvements for students
Three of the projects deal with the university application process: finding new efficiencies to make applying to university in Nova Scotia quicker and easier for everyone involved.
Perhaps the most exciting of these, according to Dal Registrar Asa Kachan, is the electronic transcript project. This will allow Nova Scotia鈥檚 high school students to submit their grades electronically.
鈥淐urrently, we receive thousands of paper printed transcripts, along with subsequent grade changes,鈥� explains Kachan. 鈥淢oving to e-transcripts will mean we can process applications faster, reduce the need for follow-up communication about missing grades and reduce strain on guidance offices at schools across the province.鈥�
The system is expected to be fully functioning by September 2015 to support applications for the fall of 2016.
Another project Dal is supporting is the Nova Scotia transfer credit guide: an online tool that will allow students to review potential credit equivalencies for programs and courses at Nova Scotia post-secondary institutions. It will include both program-to-program equivalencies and course-to-course equivalencies, as well as articulation agreements between the province鈥檚 universities and NSCC. Phase one of this project is expected to be ready by summer 2015. 聽
The third admissions-centred project is a shared post-secondary website for students looking to study in Nova Scotia. This will serve as both a source of information for students and a single point of access for applying to any of the province鈥檚 universities and colleges. The website is expected to launch this fall. 聽
AV俱乐部 is also playing a crucial role, together with Saint Mary鈥檚 University, on an Innovation & Excellence Fund project focused on sharing certain IT serves among the province鈥檚 universities, including email, calendar and online collaboration tools.