OneStart self-service hours extended

Starting next month, students will be able to access their transcript, look up their student identification number or check their RPS meal point balance using OneStart at 3:30 a.m. if they need to.\nOn Oct. 2, OneStart's self-service tab will be available from 12:01 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Formerly, the self-service tab was available from 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The application's hours for Sundays -- 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. -- will remain the same.\n"The extended hours provide more availability for students accessing the system while on campus," said Sara Chambers, IU's director of HRMS and SIS systems. "(The new hours) also allow more availability to students and applicants accessing the system from other parts of the country and around the world." \nChambers said one reason for the change is that in previous semesters, University Information Technology Services received repeated requests from students and faculty to increase the hours of availability. \n"This also shows up as a frequent comment on the annual UITS user survey," she said. \nThis change does not affect the e-bill, make a payment and direct deposit sign up portions of OneStart. These services will continue to be available 24 hours a day. However, the financial aid services, along with the other self-service applications, will be available during the new hours, Chambers said.\n"A lot of students don't have time during the day to check OneStart," said junior Christena Wentz. "The new hours will be more convenient."\nSara Mandel, an associate instructor in the art history department said she feels the system could still use more improvements. \n"For the amount we pay for the technology fee, it should be invested in something more than a few extra hours of access to (the self-service applications)," she said.