By Selena Stevens

"We were finding out that students already knew their grades before the paper copy ever made it home in the mail. They are using our Web and phone systems to monitor their grades and find out as soon as they can."

-- Don Witt,
UK registrar and
acting director of admission

University of Kentucky Registrar and Acting Director of Admission Don Witt said the move to an online grade reporting system was a matter of demand and thanks to improved technology. Several of the university’s benchmark institutions already have made the transition to online and Web based grade-reporting systems.

“We were finding out that students already knew their grades before the paper copy ever made it home in the mail,” Witt said. “They are using our Web and phone systems to monitor their grades and find out as soon as they can. It was time for us to make the change."

Witt said tracking software showed nearly 1 million hits on the Registrar’s Web pages within the UK site that allow students online access to their grades and other academic information. Students also can check this information by using the university’s VIP phone system.

A notice will be mailed with fall grades informing students of the change. In the spring, students will have to check their grades online. If a paper copy is needed, students will be able to get one at the Student Records Office with a student ID.

“Other schools have done this great success,” Witt said. “Our goal is to move to a paperless system that takes advantage of technology for the benefit of our students and provides them with better, quicker access to information.”

The registrar’s Web site can be found at www.uky.edu/registrar.