Hi, Michelle, Margie, and other writing-centre colleagues:

Not to be outdone by WPA-L, Inkshed has also hosted a discussion of 
booking software, responding to a request from Jo-Anne Andre of Calgary 
in November 2004. That was the same month that the Writing Lab 
Newsletter ran articles lamenting the unreliability of the TutorTrac 
software. I wrote from U of T--the summary is that we had our own 
software designed. I have pasted in below my description from that 
exchange, and will repeat my offer to give further contact information 
if desired: 

 > We're big enough at U of T to make our own mistakes and learn from 
them. Several of the 17 or so writing centres here have developed 
booking programs, most of them web-based so that students can make their 
own appointments online and also cancel and re-book if necessary. They 
include controls on who can book and how often. You can get a glimpse of 
some of them by clicking on the "online" links for specific writing 
centres from the page www.utoronto.ca/writing/centres.html. Engineering 
was the first to produce its own system, created in large part by a 
student as the project for her fourth-year thesis. The systems used at 
Health Sciences and New College were commissioned from an outside 
consultant; Woodsworth and Trinity systems were done in-house, but 
benefitted from the early adopters. The system used by U of T at 
Scarborough was designed locally and depends on a campus intranet. These 
and our other systems have made scheduling and bookings (and 
cancellations and re-bookings) much easier, but they haven't entirely 
solved our challenges with record-keeping. For one thing, they don't 
keep waiting lists: they let students check availability and re-book any 
cancellations, but they don't give administrators a sense of how much 
unfilled demand exists. Some allow instructors to keep records and notes 
on individual students; others don't. If people want technical 
information or the names of our main designers, please contact me 
offline and I'll put you in touch. Regards, Margaret Procter University 
of Toronto Coordinator, Writing Support [log in to unmask]; 
www.utoronto.ca/writing/ 416 978-8109

Now it's a year later, so maybe we will hear more from Jo-Anne about the 
Calgary decision. If somebody has found or designed a program that's 
cheap, reliable, flexible, and capable of keeping records, please share 
the news! (What is an online error sheet, apparently provided by 
WCOnline--and do we want one?)

Margaret







Michelle Cox wrote:

>Hello, this question was posted on WPA-L last month.  Here's one of the responses:
> 
>Date:         Fri, 23 Sep 2005 08:40:34 -0400
>Reply-To:     Writing Program Administration <[log in to unmask]>
>Sender:       Writing Program Administration <[log in to unmask]>
>From:         "Jeffrey R. Galin" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject:      Re: Recommended Writing Center Software? (Not Tracking Software)
>In-Reply-To:  <[log in to unmask]>
>Content-type: multipart/alternative;
>
>
>Luisa,
>
>            I can't say enough about WCOnline for managing online scheduling
>and database management for visit reports and other data.  WC Online
>continues to customize as we need changes, adding components that we request
>and regularly upgrading options that they offer.  We have had them create
>online error sheets that are now available to all registered users and
>design interfaces to match the needs we have for our data streams.  They
>charge $600 a year or $60 a month.  Our center has nearly doubled its
>productivity since we started using WCOnline last spring.  The url is
>www.therichco.com/wconline.  
>
>.  Give it a look.
>
>Cheers,
>
>jrg
>
> 
>
>Jeffrey R. Galin
>Director, University Center for Excellence in Writing
>Associate Professor
>Department of English
>
>
>Bohan <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>
>Hello Inkshed Members;
>
>This is my first correspondence with the listserv, and it is of the most mundane nature. I am looking for software that would allow students to book appointments at the Dalhousie Writing Centre electronically. Is anybody using a product with that capability?
>
>Thank you for helping.
>
>Margie Clow Bohan
>
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>
>Hope this helps, Michelle Cox.
>
>
>Michelle Cox
>Doctoral Candidate, Composition Studies
>
>English Department
>Hamilton Smith Hall
>95 Main Street
>University of New Hampshire
>Durham, NH  03824
>
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>

-- 
Margaret Procter, Ph.D.
University of Toronto Coordinator, Writing Support
Room 216, University College
15 King's College Circle
Toronto, ON M5S 3H7

(416) 978-8109; FAX (416) 971-2027
[log in to unmask]
http://www.utoronto.ca/writing


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