San Joaquin Delta College has developed a number of administrative applications using Object Works SmallTalk. One application, which is for students, works with the help of a counselor as an education plan module. The application allows a counselor to determine what requirements a student must complete, depending on whether that student wants to earn a vocational certificate or transfer to a four-year college.
The application contains two tools: the Student Educational Plan Editor, which builds a plan from scratch, allowing a student to add classes; and a prefabricated plan, which a student can customize. The system displays an outline of requirements, checking the ones completed. The counselor then selects the incomplete requirements and obtains a list of classes from which the student can choose.
The toolkit was developed between May and August of 1992 in an object-oriented environment with Object Works by Parc Place. Data resides in an RDB database on a VAX minicomputer. Data access language is used to get from the database to Smalltalk. The application is not locked into any one platform, which is an advantage, according to Matt Rosen, assistant director for technical services. It is also extremely productive. Since it was created in an object-oriented paradigm, the application lessens hours dedicated to maintenance and modifications.
The college is working on a student information system using Smalltalk entirely on the Macintosh, and would like to attempt a true client/server approach using object-oriented tools. The project is targeted for implementation in 12 to 14 months. Students could plan their schedules according to time availability and courses needed, as specified in their education plan. Then they could register through a touch-tone phone system to create a completed file of their schedules.
For information, contact Matt Rosen, assistant director for technical services, San Joaquin Delta College, 5151 Pacific Ave., Stockton, CA 95207; (209) 474-5300; FAX: (209) 474-5649; AppleLink: D6489.
