DATE: Monday, August 25, 1997               TAG: 9708230325

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MARK EDELEN, PILOT ONLINE 

                                            LENGTH:   68 lines

CAMPUS INFO IS JUST A TAP AWAY FOR PARENTS

So you've dropped the kids off at some faraway college and waved goodbye, and now you're wondering when you're going to see Junior or Jane again. Not to worry - reaching out across the World Wide Web these days you can visit the kids' campus anytime.

Universities claimed early territory on the Web (the ``.edu'' domain, similar to the ``.com'' seen on commercial sites) and most have developed extensive Web sites that should keep parents clicking.

University public relations departments crank out press releases, and most student newspapers are online. Want to check out that favorite (or least favorite) professor or class your student keeps writing home about? Many faculty members and most academic departments have Web sites.

A sampling of what the major public universities across Virginia offer online:

Virginia Tech: Tech has created a special section for new students, with data on student services, residential and dining programs, academic dates, tuition and fees, and more - all information new-student parents might need as well.

If you're making plans to visit Blacksburg for a football game, Tech's Athletic Department runs one of the slickest college sports sites around. And it gets cold up there in those mountains, doesn't it? For convenience, Tech's home page has a quick link to check the forecast in Blacksburg.

The University of Virginia: The university's public relations department posts a daily UVA News with headlines and calendars. The Cavalier Daily, the student newspaper, also is online.

If you were too busy enrolling your student to tour Thomas Jefferson's Rotunda, just pull up a chair to your computer. U.Va. offers QuickTime VR tours of the building - 360-degree photos you can zoom around in with your mouse.

James Madison University: JMU's easy to use ``Who, What and Where'' section includes a searchable Directory of People to find e-mail addresses for students, faculty and staff. So if you can't find your son or daughter at home in the dorm, you can at least e-mail them. (JMU is not alone offering this service; check your school's Web site for more information.)

Parents Weekend at JMU is Oct. 24-26. Check the special Web site for information on lodging, parking and a full schedule of events.

Virginia Commonwealth University: The Resource Guide offers details on every conceivable topic a new student, or new-student parent, could need. If you really want to plan your visits ahead of time, you can even check the university calendar through 2000.

George Mason University: Here's a scary prospect for students who haven't told the full truth about last semester's grades: GMU puts them online, along with students' course schedules and unofficial transcripts. The system does requires a student's ID number and personal identification number, so sorry Mom and Dad, you can't get the details that easily.

That's just a select tour of state schools online. The majority of colleges or universities in Virginia, public and private, have Web sites. For a full directory, see the directory of Virginia education resources on the official Commonwealth of Virginia home page. The Yahoo! Internet directory has a good index of college Web sites across the country.

Locally, see Pilot Online's Hampton Roads Web Links to visit Norfolk State, Old Dominion, Hampton University, Regent University, William and Mary, Tidewater Community College and more.

Of course, no Virginia college has been in the news lately as much as Virginia Military Institute, as the first women joined the ``rat line'' last week, ushered by a Supreme Court ruling that the previous all-male admissions policy was unconstitutional.

Numerous Assimilation Plan Reports to alumni and compliance reports to a judge are available on VMI's Web site. There's also a link to the full Supreme Court decision that led to last week's historic events.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu