Loyola’s Office of Student Records and Student Government Association are working to promote two new initiatives they hope will benefit the university community when it comes to registration and multi-university cooperation.

One act will begin for early registration in April: Loyola Online Records Access will feature information regarding textbooks for courses being offered for the summer and fall semesters, as a result of the 2009 Higher Education Opportunity Act.

Officially effective July 2010, the Office of Student Records is helping to promote this initiative like other universities across the nation affected by the new federal law.

Whether students are pre-registering during the early registration period or registering during the regular registration period, the ISBN and the retail price of textbooks will be provided so that students can plan ahead and save money on textbooks.

The textbook title, edition and author will also be included, said Kathy Gros, director of registration services. 

Similar to registering for class, Gros said she would like to incorporate a link on LORA that will allow students to access course material information easily.

As part of the requirements of the Higher Education Opportunity Act, institutions must provide a link to another appropriate Web site that satisfies the requirements of information disclosure such as the college bookstore, including initiatives to reduce costs such as used books, guaranteed buy-back and e-books.

The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid Web site offers a number of alternative resources for purchasing textbooks, from Loomagoo a textbook exchange, to Textbook Revolt, a textbook exchange program where students exchange textbooks free of charge. 
In addition, another feature to emerge next semester is default syllabuses.

Until a final syllabus is posted, a default syllabus will be posted to give students a summary of what to expect in the course in advance.

Gros said that she loves the idea of giving students options, so that they will know what to expect. 

On the local level, SGA plans to re-launch the SGA Collegiate Consortium, which includes local universities such as Tulane University, Xavier University of Louisiana and Dillard University.

The goal of the consortium is to unite New Orleans colleges and universities to better each university and the New Orleans community, said Sarah Cooper, marketing junior and SGA president.

“It was inactive last year, but we are trying to get things reconnected starting with Tulane,” Cooper said. “The Tulane and Loyola connection is not as strong as it should and could be (and) student government is trying to strengthen our connection because we are so close in proximity, and have so much to offer each other.”

Due to the influx of students on both Loyola and Tulane’s campuses, there has been an increase in car immobilization and parking tickets.

As a result, one of the main issues that will be discussed is parking on and around both campuses.

While the issue of safety is a prime concern of the Loyola community, safety off campus will also be discussed although it is not included in Loyola’s jurisdiction.

“Whether it’s safety, walking to and from The Boot, we’re doing things for our students, on and off campus,” said Cooper. 

Charmaine Jackson can be reached at [email protected]