July 12
This summer, Ball State began the first online licensing programin the state for graduates of the education program.
Ball State is the first public Indiana university to offer itsteaching graduates a chance to apply for or renew their teachinglicenses online.
The first pilot run of the program took place on June 28 with 11teachers
successfully obtaining licenses, Director of Teacher EducationServices Judy Miller said.
"There were only a few minor changes that had to be made,"Miller said.
Teachers College administrators have been working with theIndiana Professional Standards Board for 14 years to create onlinelicensing process.
Graduates of the Teachers College can now benefit from a newonline system that reduces the six-week wait for a license to oneweek. Educators can go online, fill out the license form, payelectronically and receive their license in the mail.
When Ball State came up with the idea of online licensing 14years
ago, the state was interested in the program, but its licensingdatabase could not support an online system. After Indiana updatedits database in 2001, it took the computer systems nearly threeyears to make a full transition, Miller said.
One of the challenges the state initially faced in starting theprogam involved accepting electronic payments rather than the moneyorders the state traditionally uses for registration.
"Now, with the online system, teachers can pay electronicallywith a credit card and are only charged an electronic payment fee,"Miller said. �
"The 11 pilot participants came to the Teachers College for theregistration," Miller said. "Administrators could see what, ifanything needed to be fixed." It took participants approximatelyfive minutes to complete the registration for their license. Thelongest part of the process was entering in their credit cardnumber.
Senior teaching major Amanda Curran said she likes thepossibility of online registration for educators.
"I think it's an excellent idea. With schools in need ofteachers, the
immediacy allows for quicker certification and gets thegraduates into jobs," Curran said.
"Because the pilot program was successful, Ball State hopes tohave full-time online registration by the end of the summer,"Miller said.
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