May/June, 2002
COMMUNITY COLLEGES
The Center for Digital Education is a national research and advisory institute providing education, government and industry leaders with decision support, research and educational services to help them effectively incorporate new technologies in the 21st century.
Converge magazine and the Center for Digital Education are now exploring our nation's community colleges with the Digital Education
Survey. The purpose of the survey is to assess and to promote those community colleges that provide high levels of service through information technologies. Top- scoring community colleges will be prominently featured in Converge magazine.
The Center for Digital Education through its sister organization The Center for Digital Government, conducts the five-year national Digital
State Survey, the Digital Cities Survey and the seven-year Best of the Web contest. The Digital State Survey is the nation ’ s most comprehensive and respected study of information technology applications in state government. This study, which is the “ survey of record ” with governors, has consistently garnered participation by all 50 states. The priority of digital systems in state government has been elevated by the Digital State Survey through media coverage by the Wall Street Journal and many other acclaimed publications.

The Digital Education Survey is an outgrowth of a continuing dialogue with educators, administrators and education technologists. It will elevate awareness of the progress community colleges are making in adopting and utilizing digital technologies. We invite you to claim the credit your college deserves.
SURVEY INSTRUCTIONS
Thank you for taking time to complete the Digital Education Survey. The purpose of the Digital Education Survey is to recognize and promote the good work of community colleges that are using information technologies strategically to advance educational services and knowledge management in the 21 st century.
This premier installment of the survey focuses on admissions and registration, use of technologies for administrative needs of both students and faculty, and the progress of distance learning courses and issues. In addition, community college mission-specific questions are asked regarding transferring to higher education institutions and workforce development.
Winners and community college rankings will be based on survey responses. As part of the criteria, community college Web sites may be evaluated and survey information will be validated.
Thank you for taking time to respond to this survey. In appreciation of your efforts, the Center research team will review, glean and compile information from your responses and publish a report on innovative programs and best practices. The Center
’ s report will provide you with a pool of successful projects in community colleges throughout the nation, from which you can draw for your strategic planning and project management needs.
Please answer the twelve questions. Below each question is unlimited space for you to provide a detailed response.
Each of the 12 questions has a four-point scale. Please answer accordingly and provide URLs where necessary.

Question thirteen has no four-point scale and will not be included with scores; answers will be used for compiling innovations/best practices reports and formulating future survey questions.
Again, we thank you for your assistance in documenting the advancements that community colleges are making in improving services through the use of information technology. We welcome your suggestions and any additional feedback that you might wish to provide.
When you have completed the online survey, simply click the
“ submit
”
button located on the last page. PLEASE
NOTE: At this time a record of your completed survey will appear and you may print a copy for your records. Please return your survey no later than Friday, June 14, 2002.
If you have any questions or comments on the survey, contact Janet Grenslitt, project manager at the Center for
Digital Education, at 916-932-1363 or jgrenslitt@centerdigitaled.com.
College Name____________________________________________________
City and State_____________________________________________________
Primary Contact___________________________________________________
Title___________________________________________________________
E-mail___________________________________________________________
Phone__________________________________________________________

Please list the name, e-mail address and phone number of all individuals who will contribute to this survey:
Contact__________________________________________________________
Title_____________________________________________________________
E-mail___________________________________________________________
Phone__________________________________________________________
Contact__________________________________________________________
Title_____________________________________________________________
E-mail___________________________________________________________
Phone___________________________________________________________
QUESTIONS

NOTE: For the purposes of this survey, the term “ online ” is used here broadly to include Internet, intranet and World Wide
Web technologies and applications. “ Online ” as used here excludes closed, proprietary systems and, applications and/or networks that are not available through Internet Protocol (IP)-based networks.

Can students apply for admission online?
College response:
FOUR-POINT SCALE:
Select one answer that best summarizes your response:
Students can obtain admissions forms only by mail or in person.
Students can obtain admission forms online and download, print, fill in by hand and mail or deliver in person.
Students can access admissions forms online, complete and submit online, and/or complete using some form of electronic processing such as
IVR (Interactive voice response). URL: _______________
Students can complete admissions transactions online (as “ c ” above) and pay admissions fees online. URL: ________________
Is the student course registration process moving from in line to online?
College response:
FOUR-POINT SCALE:
Select one answer that best summarizes your response:
Students can obtain registration forms only by mail or in person.
Students can access registration forms online and download, print, fill in and mail or deliver in person.
Students can access course registration forms online, complete and submit online, and/or complete using some form of electronic processing such as IVR (Interactive voice response).
URL: _______________
Students can complete course registration transactions online (as
“ c
”
above) and pay course registration fees online.
URL: ________________

Can students access an online bookstore for their course books and materials?
College response:
FOUR-POINT SCALE:
Select one answer that best summarizes your response:
Books and materials are not currently accessible online (as online is defined in this survey).
Online services for student books and materials are scheduled for implementation this year.
Students can access a searchable database of courses and required books and materials. URL: _____________
Students can access a searchable database of courses and required books and materials and order books and materials online. URL: _____________
4.What secure online services help students manage their classes?
College response:
FOUR-POINT SCALE:
Select one answer that best summarizes your response:
No secure online services are available to students at this time.
Students can view their current semester/term class schedule online. URL: ________
Students can view their current semester/term class schedule online and view open and cancelled classes online. URL: _________
Students can view their current semester/term class schedule online, view open and cancelled classes online and add or drop classes online.
URL: _____________
5.Do students have secure online access to their college grades?
College response:

FOUR-POINT SCALE:
Select one answer that best summarizes your response:
No secure online access to student grades is available at this time.
Students have secure online access to viewing current semester/term grades. URL: _____________
Students have secure online access to viewing and printing current semester/term grades. URL: ______________
Students have secure online access to viewing and printing all grades, including grades from current and all previous semesters/terms.
URL: ______________
6.Do students have secure online access to their college transcripts?
College response:
FOUR-POINT SCALE:
Select one answer that best summarizes your response:
No secure online access is available yet for students.
Students have secure online access to view transcripts. URL:________
Students have secure online access to view transcripts and to print an unofficial copy. URL: ______________
Students have secure online access to view transcripts, to print an unofficial copy and to order online an official copy of their transcript.
URL: ______________
Can students transfer credits online to higher education colleges and universities?
College response:
FOUR-POINT SCALE:
Select one answer that best summarizes your response:
Students cannot transfer credits online to higher education colleges and universities at this time.
Students can view transfer credits online for their current college.
URL:__________

Students can view transfer credits online for their current college and search other higher education colleges and universities for transfer eligibility.
URL:__________
Students can view transfer credits online for their current college and search other higher education colleges and universities for transfer eligibility and arrange for actual transfer of credits online. URL:_____________
Can faculty manage classes and perform administrative functions online?
College response:
FOUR-POINT SCALE:
Select one answer that best summarizes your response:
Faculty cannot view student rosters online at this time.
10% or less of faculty can view student rosters online, enter grades and add/remove students from classes online.
11% - 19 % of faculty can view student rosters online, enter grades and add/remove students from classes online.
20% or more of faculty can view student rosters online, enter grades and add/remove students from classes online.
9. Does the college provide technology skills development for its faculty?
College response:

FOUR-POINT SCALE:
Select one answer that best summarizes your response: a. Technology skills development is not provided for our faculty at this time. b. The college provides a training lab for its faculty where they can learn technology skills, but no online training is available. c. The college provides online training for technology skills for its faculty. URL: __________ d. The college provides online technology skills training and automated tools for faculty to develop web content for their classroom courses. URL: _____________
10. What percentage of all courses offered at your college are provided as part of the distance-learning program?
College response:
FOUR-POINT SCALE:
Select one answer that best summarizes your response:
5% or less of all courses are provided online as part of the distance learning program.
6%-10% of all courses are provided online as part of the distance learning program.
11%-15% of all courses are provided online as part of the distance learning program. URL:_____________
16% or more of all courses are provided online as part of the distance learning program. URL: ____________
11. Does the college provide library and related information resources online?
College response:
FOUR-POINT SCALE:
Select one answer that best summarizes your response:

Library catalog is not online.
Library catalog is online, together with periodical indexes and similar databases. URL:____________
Above plus electronic reference desk, including access to electronic holdings, are online. URL: ______________
Above plus requests for interlibrary loans of books and/or articles can be processed online. URL: ________________
12. What online services for student workforce development are provided by or through the college?
College response:
FOUR-POINT SCALE:
Select one answer that best summarizes your response:
No online student workforce development services are provided at this time.
Online information and links from the college site are provided. URL:_________
College and/or third party provides online job listings and/or resume listings. URL:_________
Above, plus interactive job search and access to online career counseling and job placement services are provided. URL:_________
The responses/information you provide below will not be considered for ranking in this survey. We will collect the information in order to glean best practices and innovations, which we will share with you in a report.
Innovation/Best Practices Question
Please take this opportunity to let us know about an innovative technological solution that the college is using. What was the 13. challenge? How did the solution evolve? Who was involved at the outset and development stages? What was the funding mechanism? How do you measure the success and effectiveness?
Response (please include URL):

14.
Survey Feedback:
Survey questions are intended to represent benchmarks in technological policies, practices and solutions. If you have any suggestions or comments, please direct them to a specific question on the survey or a specific topic. We appreciate your feedback and will do our best to accommodate your suggestions.
Response:
Thank you for your participation!