Barton Community College officials plan to improve registration for online courses, Dean of Information Services Charles Perkins said.
Barton offers online courses through two sources: BartOnline and eduKan, and each has had its own registration system, until now. A company called Pearson eCollege provides the platform that allows BartOnline and eduKan to provide online courses, and that company has asked BCC to change its enrollment software for more flexible enrollment. There needs to be a way to enroll on a secure site, seven days a week and 24 hours a day, Perkins said. That’s why he plans to ask the board of trustees to approve new enrollment software, which is expected to cost $80,500  plus $8,000 a year for maintenance.
Trustees will be asked to vote on his recommendation at the next meeting, at 4 p.m. Monday, Jan. 28.
BCC signed a new four-agreement with eCollege last June, and it extended to the year still left on the current contract. “We saved a lot of money with our renegotiation of the eCollege contract,” Perkins noted. At the time, Dean of Business Management Mark Dean reported BCC could save over $1.25 million over the next five years, because eCollege was lowering its fee of $54 per enrollment to $32.40. Although the college would save $250,00 a year, Dean said that didn’t mean BCC would pay $250,00 less, however,  because the number of online enrollments continues to grow.

Other news
Barton President Dr. Carl Heilman provides monthly reports of agreements signed. The latest are Emergency Medical Service education agreements with Mercy Regional Health Center in Manhattan and Hutchinson Regional Medical Center in Hutchinson. He also signed an agreement with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, continuing with the college’s recent designation as the only OSHA Training Institute in the state.
Heilman and Mike Johnson, chairman of the board of trustees, traveled to Topeka this week to meet with legislators.