ISAC Wins Green Government Award

State higher ed agency’s “Go Green Initiative” saves 44 miles of paper

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – An aggressive effort to go “paperless” has earned the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) the 2008 Illinois Green Government Award for showing “…exceptional commitment to improving the environmental quality of Illinois.”

Thanks to a range of initiatives such as encouraging on-line applications to its prepaid tuition program and requiring vendors to submit electronic responses to Requests for Proposals, the agency estimates it has saved 252,919 sheets of paper.  This is the equivalent of six trees or – if placed end-to-end – 44 miles of paper.

The award was issued by the Illinois Green Governments Coordinating Council, created in October 2007, and chaired by the Illinois Lieutenant Governor to help 70 state agencies, boards and commissions develop greener ways to deliver services to Illinois residents and businesses.  The award earned by ISAC was in the category of innovative office operations.

“I salute ISAC for its commitment to making our state more sustainable,” said Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn.  “We can all learn from ISAC’s creative practices to make the Land of Lincoln green.”

In early 2008, ISAC Executive Director Andrew Davis instructed each division director to identify at least one transaction or document where the use of paper could be eliminated or reduced.  Some of the initiatives showed immediate results:

• The largest single saving came from the requirement that vendors submit their proposals electronically, which saves 130,000 sheets per year; 
• Another significant paper reduction effort came from eliminating one nonessential mailing to student loan borrowers, saving 42,996 sheets of paper annually;
• Some of the agency’s publications such as the Annual Data Book and Handbook of Illinois Postsecondary Institutions have been posted on-line;
• Documents provided to auditors are now sent electronically;
• Of the more than 5,000 applications made during the current College Illinois!SM enrollment period, 94 percent were on-line applications;
• Daily facsimile solicitors have been told to stop faxing the agency;
• Every copier is set to do duplex copying and users are encouraged to do so;
• Nearly all communications with college presidents and financial aid officers are now done electronically, and
• Nearly all ISAC employees now have either direct deposit or electronic pay-stubs.

“These are basic, common-sense solutions that will pay off financially and environmentally,” Davis said. “The very people we serve - the high school and college students of today - stand to lose the most in decades to come if we fail to act creatively and decisively.”

In the coming year, Davis vowed to continue the full implementation of a program now underway that allows high school transcripts to be transmitted to colleges electronically rather than by snail mail. With 102 high schools already participating in the Illinois Transcript Exchange (ILTE) program, high school counselors sent more than 2,300 official electronic transcripts to 45 colleges and universities in Illinois in 2008.

“Today’s high school students are tech-savvy people who grew up in an on-demand world. It’s ironic that their records are still being transmitted in such an antiquated, wasteful way,” Davis said. “Not only is the Illinois Transcript Exchange program a green solution, but it also increases the security of students’ records, expedites processing and frees up high school guidance counselors to better serve students.”

About ISAC
The Illinois Student Assistance Commission is the State’s centralized provider of financial assistance aimed at helping students and families access postsecondary education and/or training. Each year, the Commission awards an estimated $400 million in scholarship and grant aid to nearly 185,000 qualified students, and also provides an additional $740 million to borrowers through its student loan programs. The agency offers credit-based alternative loans, a 529 prepaid tuition program known as College Illinois!, and a broad array of outreach and informational services to ensure that families have access to the information they need to pay for a college education. More information is available by calling toll-free 800.899.ISAC (4722) or visiting the agency’s Web site at www.collegezone.com.