I have a solution for the credit card issue. PayPal has a new feature
called a Secure Card.
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN1840572920071119
"Secure Card generates a unique MasterCard number each time a PayPal
user arrives on an e-commerce sales checkout page that does not
otherwise accept its payments."
The only way I have found to use this service is to download the
PayPal plugin for my browser. But it worked like a charm!
People WILL have to set up a PayPal account, and put money in it,
which means they have to connect the account to a bank account and
get that approved by the bank, which is easy (I did not have to
actually go to the bank, or even contact them), but it is not instantaneous.
In general, it is becoming very uncommon to not have a credit card to
at least use in certain circumstances. However, this is a method that
would accomodate those who choose not to use one, and it is also
pretty safe in terms of being financially a secure transaction.
Pat
At 02:57 PM 11/5/2008, you wrote:
>Hello,
>
>(Note: I'm not sure if there is a more appropriate listserv to which
>I should pose this question; if so, please just let me know!)
>
>I know several members of this list also process thesis/dissertation
>submissions. I'm hoping that I can get some suggestions from you
>folks, on an issue I've encountered with the new Proquest
>dissertation submission site.
>
>The web site currently instructs students who choose to pay by
>"check/money order" to send their payment directly to ProQuest. The
>confirmation email these students receive also instructs them to
>send their payment directly to ProQuest.
>
>This is a problem for me, and for the school, because I am not able
>to consider a dissertation submission "complete", until I know
>payment has been made. (If the submission is not complete, the
>student does not graduate). Thus, students really ought to be
>instructed to send their check/money order payments to me first, so
>I can verify the payment has indeed been made, and then I can
>forward it to ProQuest.
>
>I have requested that the remit-to address be changed, so that
>students are instructed to send payments to me, but according to
>ProQuest, this cannot be done.
>
>They did say that they are working on a feature which would allow me
>to change the remit-to address on the website myself, but they
>cannot tell me when this feature will be implemented. They have no
>way to change the address within the confirmation email,
>additionally, they have no way to keep the confirmation email from
>being sent to the student.
>
>So my options seem to be:
>1) Have the site only accept payments via credit card.
>2) Stop using the site, and go back to only accepting paper submissions.
>
>I'd really rather not choose option 1, because some students may not
>have a credit card, and/or they may have one, but not wish to use it
>on the internet.
>
>Option 2 isn't really an option I'd like to consider, because it
>seems like a step backwards.
>
>
>We've had notes added to the web site, which say that the remit-to
>address is not correct, and that students ought to send payment
>here... but my belief is that, if there are incorrect instructions
>anywhere on the site, there is always a chance that someone is going
>to miss seeing the "please don't actually do this" notes, and they
>are going to follow the incorrect instructions.
>
>
>Is anyone else dealing with this issue? Does anyone have
>suggestions on how we can resolve this problem?
>
>Thanks so much!
>Take care,
>Cyndi
>
>Cyndi Adamo
>Serials Specialist - Mortensen Library
>University of Hartford
>200 Bloomfield Avenue
>West Hartford, CT 06117
>Ph: 860-768-4811
>Fax: 860-768-5349
>adamo@hartford.edu
Patricia R. Thompson
Assistant University Librarian for Resource Management Services
duPont Library
University of the South
Sewanee, TN 37383
931-598-1657
pthompso@sewanee.edu