As Ithaca College makes the shift to online course override forms, it joins schools such as Michigan State University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst in digitizing higher education’s registration process.

Few other institutions have taken the initiative to eliminate their paper process, a decision that will be immensely beneficial to students and faculty. This technological switch is paving the way for the college to begin moving all its forms to an online system.

The new online course override forms will save a significant amount of time, as it will no longer require students to rush from building to building to collect signatures. Additionally, professors will now not need to spend time setting up appointments to sign the forms for students. There is less room for error, lost forms and missed deadlines, and they fit in with the college’s efforts to become more sustainable by reducing costs and wasted paper.

Despite the apparent ease of these online systems, the college still needs to ensure that all of its information is backed-up in case the online system was to fail or shut down. If the college is not cautious about archiving all of this information, it could quickly turn a seemingly wonderful initiative into a disaster.

The college is taking the right step by being proactive versus reactive with this technological move. It will serve students and faculty well in the future by eliminating hassle and frustration, and establishing a more efficient system.