Forget about typing traditional scholarship applications if you’re enrolled in Iowa State’s College of Engineering. Sophomores, juniors and seniors can apply for scholarships online.

This is the second year the college has had the scholarship applications online.

“We decided to do it online for efficiency for the students and the college,” said Cheryl Moller-Wong, last year’s coordinator of Engineering Student Services. “Students can fill out one application and be eligible for all the available scholarships.”

“If things can be done electronically, we try to do it that way,” said Karen Zunkel, current coordinator of Engineering Student Services. “It makes it easier to enter the information, and it reduces paperwork.”

Paper is more likely to get lost in the file, Zunkel said. “By doing it online, all the information is stored in a database, and we can make sure we’re not missing students.”

Moller-Wong said some scholarship donors want specific criteria and have to wade through all the applications to find potential students. However, with online applications it’s easy to sort and find all the eligible students.

There were some minor problems with the system last year that are not expected to pose a problem this year. The main problem last year was that the system only worked with certain browsers, such as Netscape version 1.1N or newer versions, and Microsoft Internet Explorer, but not Mosaic, Zunkel said.

“The numbers [of users] were small that experienced it though,” Zunkel said. “They would get to the end and find out it did not work.”

Also, two students might submit their applications at the same time, and one might not get in, Moller-Wong said. One person simply has to resubmit his application.

Kyle Rames, a senior in computer engineering, said he used the system last year to apply for scholarships and prefers this method.

“I thought it was easy and straight forward to use,” Rames said. “You can sit at the computer, compose it, push a button and send it in. You don’t have the hassle of picking stuff up and running around with it.”

Students who don’t have access to the World Wide Web, such as students who are studying abroad, can still apply for the scholarships.

“We try to make exceptions for those who don’t have access,” Zunkel said. “Eventually, all the information must end up online. We would just work from paper and enter the information.”

In the future, more colleges on campus may use online scholarship applications.

“I think people are trying to get away from the paperwork,” Zunkel said. “I think we’ll be seeing it [online applications] everywhere.”

Some colleges seem interested in it, Moller-Wong said, but are afraid to make the jump. “Companies like it, and the efficiency is there.”

Students may submit their applications from Jan. 6, 1997, until Feb. 10, 1997. The application can be found on the ISU College of Engineering homepage at http://www.eng.iastate.edu.