Instructions for Interactive Forms

Using Microsoft Word Interactive forms (.doc) are simple and can save time by allowing you to fill out the form electronically, to save it, and to send the form back to the Honors College as an attachment in an e-mail. This expedites requests as well as provides convenience for you, as you do not have to hand-deliver certain forms in the future. If you are familiar with forms, you can skip to the next section.

Some things to know about interactive forms before using them:
  • The term, ‘field’ refers to the gray areas on the form that you fill
  • To move between these fields, use the 'Tab' key. Do not use the Enter Key, since this does not function as expected in interactive forms.
  • If a field looks as if it is populated already, it is known as a drop-down field. An example of this would be the gender field on certain forms, populated as Female. These fields are clicked rather than filled. Just left-click on these fields, choose one of the choices available, and it will update itself automatically.
  • These forms are protected, which means that only the gray areas are accessible. Clicking on other portions of the form will activate the closest field on the form.
  • You can either open or save the form when the ‘.doc’ link is clicked. If you are using Internet Explorer, clicking ‘Open’ will open the word document in the browser window. If you are using Firefox or other browsers, clicking open will open Microsoft Word to access the form. If you are not using Internet Explorer, and do not have Microsoft Word (97 or later), please download the appropriate .pdf file, print it, and complete it. You then will need to hand-deliver or mail it to the Honors College.
  • If you are using Internet Explorer (5.0 or later) and partially fill out the form and then try to navigate away from the form by using the ‘Back’ button on your browser, typing in a new web address, or closing the browser, it will prompt you with a message asking you if you wish to save the form or discard it. If you want to save it, make sure to use the ‘Save As’ and choose an appropriate place to save it. By default, Internet Explorer will open the form in a hidden directory. By clicking 'Save' or the disk on the toolbar, you save the form to that hidden directory, not allowing future access to the form.



To send the forms to the Honors College:

  1. Fill out all of the necessary fields on the form required and save it to you disk. You are allowed to rename the form, so use a name that will mean something. For example, ‘Fall2006_Reg.doc’, which indicates a Fall 2006 registration form.

  2. After saving the form, send it to the Honors College as an attachment, using an appropriate heading. An example would be “Fall 2006 Registration”. Because there are many incoming e-mails to the Honors College, mislabeled e-mails may be accidentally overlooked or may require clarification, leading to delays in processing of your information.

  3. Once we receive it, we will acknowledge the receipt of the form with a reply once we process it.