This week Choate’s new electronic sign-out system, REACH, went live. For the first time in school history, students may now sign out for the weekend without using slips of carbon paper. The new system, aimed to facilitate the sign-out process for both students and faculty, will only operate in the digital world.
After the student makes the request for a weekend sign-out, their dorm adviser receives an email explaining the student’s weekend plans. After reviewing the information, the adviser either approves or declines the request. The email includes information including time of departure and return, destination, and means of transportation. A paper prep slip is never signed, and no form is ever returned to the Deans’ Office.
Mirialie De Jesus ’18 used the system for the first time last Tuesday, for a college visit to New York City. “I think the new system is a lot more efficient,” she said. “But I find it a bit redundant to have your parents approve your request every single time, especially because my mother never minds that I’m leaving campus. She trusts me. Also, she doesn’t check her email.”
Many advisers reported being caught off guard when the new system’s emails first showed up in their inboxes. Some forwarded the email to the rest of their advising team, wondering, “Is this a test, or is this for real?” Mr. Will Morris, Choate’s Director of Residential Life and the main force behind the project, assured them that it was real; the process of using electronic signouts has begun.
Since Annett Ho ’18 began at Choate in 2015, she has left campus every weekend to study violin at the Juilliard School, in New York. “I am so sick of those slips!” she said. “I can’t wait for the new system. In my time here, I must have had 300 slips signed. I killed, like, a forest of trees.”
The new system is the result of years of work by the Deans’ Office. The School officially announced the electronic weekend sign-out system last spring, and hoped to unveil it in early September. However, because of various technical issues, the School was forced to postpone its implementation.
In recent weeks, Mr. Morris ran a series of test runs. “The first issue that hindered the process,” Mr. Morris explained, “was that parent information had not loaded correctly. After fixing the problem, we tried running a trial through REACH again and realized that some student information had not loaded correctly either.”
Choate wanted to ensure that the system was working perfectly before it was introduced. Mr. Morris explained, “It is important that we make sure that we get that right because keeping tabs on students’ whereabouts is a very important responsibility.”
When REACH is fully functioning, the program will also allow for students to set their evening location on campus through the REACH app or website. The information will appear on that student’s house log so the adviser on duty will be notified about the student’s whereabouts.
Mr. Morris described creating this new system, “Any information technology-related project — particularly when you are trying to get information systems to communicate with one another — is difficult.” The data stored in REACH includes basic information on the student, including his or her dorm, room number, and adviser. Mr. Morris continued, “The information required for this system has turned out to be more of a hurdle than I, Choate’s information technology staff, or even REACH really anticipated.”
A group of students were selected to test the new sign-out system; some had their REACH app functioning as expected, while others had minor operation flaws. REACH is trying to decode the problem in the system. The process of resolving these issues requires constant communication between Mr. Morris, Choate’s ITS department, and REACH’s technology support office to ensure a secure system.
Mr. Morris said, “We will continue to move forward with it carefully and see if this is going to be the right direction for our school.”
Despite the difficulties in the electronic sign-out system, Choate continues to push for the ideal sign-out system that will ensure the responsibility and security of students at all times. Mr. Morris said, “Choate has a strong interest in moving this out as expediently as we can without compromising our responsibilities in keeping track of our students.”
