Already dubbed one of the most wired campuses in the country, UB has taken further steps this year to leave pens and paper in the dust.
Advances in technology at UB this year are putting several processes that were once done manually - like class evaluations and student elections - online.
UB officials said the switch to conducting certain things online will not only allow students easier access, but will also make it easier for administrators and organizers to run the elections and evaluations more smoothly.
Jennifer Wantz, student activities associate and student government liaison for Student Life, which held the UB Council election online for the first time this year, said online operations are generally the cheapest route.
"The cost factor was a big part of our decision to do elections this way," said Wantz. "It is much cheaper to run it online than to do it with paper and have to rent out machines."
"The student government would rather not have to pay for elections if there is another way to get around it," she added. "This is a good thing that we can save money."
According to Wantz, the Student Life office also reasoned that everyone on both campuses has equal access to computers. In the past, South Campus residents have had to travel to North Campus to vote.
"If I wasn't able to vote online I never would have been able to, because I don't get a chance to go to North Campus that often," said Sara Koenig, a freshman undecided major who lives on South.
Hand in hand with technological advances, however, come unforeseen problems.
"We have had a few students not being able to vote, either because they have a check-stop on their account, or because they didn't pay their technology fee," said Wantz. "But we were able to resolve them."
Along with the student governments and the UB Council, academic departments have also turned toward life on the Internet.
While the medical school has been doing online class evaluations for years now, the College of Arts and Sciences just recently decided to try a new approach - a pilot program this year has put evaluations of English, World Civilizations, American Pluralism and math online.
"We have been doing Arts and Sciences evaluations for many years, and we needed to enhance it," said Peter Gold, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "We wanted to provide better reports for people."
According to Gold, by doing evaluations online, UB is trying eliminate the use of thousands of "bubble sheets" that were previously used.
According to the College of Arts and Sciences, students in the selected areas will receive an e-mail, which links them to an online evaluation resembling the old bubble sheets.
"This way will give students who like to write something in better detail a chance to write it," said Gold.
Gold said he's hoping for good participation, and is looking forward to the results.
"We are really looking for better teaching when all of this is through," he said.
