Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
                                           publicinfo@selu.edu
                                           www.selu.edu/NewsEvents
    Date: 3/13/97
      Contact:                           Christina Chapple  33

Editors: Photo accompanies release -- Please note local interest
SLU ADDS WEB-BASED ADMISSION APPLICATION
     HAMMOND -- Susan Wood, a Franklinton resident temporarily living in Tallahassee,
Fla., earned a footnote in Southeastern Louisiana University's history on February 27 when she
became the university's first applicant from cyberspace.
     Wood used Southeastern's new World Wide Web-based admission application just 24
hours after the new feature was added to the university's home page. SLU Enrollment Services
systems manager Janet Busekist, who created the web-based form along with Computing
Services web programmer Kevin Calmes, was excited when her computer signaled that the first
application had been submitted.
     "But it was 10:30 at night!" she laughed. "I'm sitting at my home computer in my night
shirt and I get a bleep that I have an applicant. I was so excited, but I couldn't call anyone at that
hour!" 
     The application form, which can be reached via a link on the university's main page, is
one of only a few true web-based applications in the state. Busekist said the University of New
Orleans, Northeast Louisiana University and McNeese State University are the only other state
universities with web-based applications.
     Wood said she "just assumed that Southeastern was out there" when she logged on to
apply for admission. "It was extremely easy," she said. "I'm kind of computer illiterate, so if I
found the application and completed it anyone can."
     Southeastern waived Wood's $10 application fee in honor of her "number one" status and 
                                 (MORE)
SLU WEB APPLICATION -- Add One
gave her a bag full of Southeastern souvenirs when she passed through Hammond recently on the
way from Tallahassee to Franklinton. She'll register at Southeastern next fall and may  major in
history and take classes related to anthropology. She said her ultimate goal is to study
archeology, an interest she shares with her daughter.
     Wood gave up the beauty salon business she ran in Franklinton for 14 years to join her
daughter, a Northwestern State University graduate student who is working for the Southeast
Archeological Center, in Tallahassee. "I wanted to get into a junior college since it's been so
many years since I've gone to school," Wood explained. "I thought it would be a good place to
wet my feet." 
     She said she will be glad to return home this summer, however, and that she is looking
forward to studying at Southeastern.
     Since Wood's application in late February, Busekist said Southeastern has received more
than 30 applicants via the web. "You have to keep up with what's going on," said Busekist, who
designed and maintains the SLU Enrollment Services web pages. Southeastern, said Enrollment
Services Director and Registrar Steve Soutullo, already offers online registration and its web
pages include class and exam schedules, the academic calendar and catalog course descriptions.
     "This is our first interactive service where we can actually receive transmissions from all
over the world," Soutullo said. The university's next project will be a web-based scholarship
application. "We're looking at registration on the web, but that is a very complex thing at this
point," he said. 
     "There's a sort of pressure that exists -- not really something that you can put your finger
on -- that if we don't do this we're going to get left behind," Busekist said. "This was the first
step."
                                 - SLU -
         This press release is available on the World Wide Web:
          www.selu.edu/NewsEvents/PublicInfoOffice/newsp97.htm