4. A Little About Us…
Georgia State University
Urban research institution located in downtown Atlanta, GA
Enrollment of 32,000 (approx. 54,000 once consolidated with GPC)
Decentralized
The College of Arts & Sciences
Largest college in the university (13,000 undergrad/2,200 grad)
Over 20 departments and over 100 graduate programs
Office of Graduate Services
Responsible for the admission process, advisement on and governance of
college policy, graduation clearance, dissertation and thesis formatting review,
and tuition waivers.
Student Information System: Banner (including Xtender)
Hobsons client since 2010 (ApplyYourself, Connect, and AppReview)
Staff of 10
5. A Little About Our Paperless Journey…
A CUSTOMER SERVICE INITIATIVE
THAT EVOLVED
INTO A PROCESS OVERHAUL
6. Preparing to Go Paperless…
Let’s take a quick look at the before:
Applications printed and sorted into file folders
Incoming materials matched with application file and data
entered into Banner checklist
File checked-out to the department, reviewed, returned, and
then sent to Dean’s office for final decision
And its challenges:
Processing time
Unhappy applicants – poor user experience
No collaboration and little transparency
8. Preparing to Go Paperless
4 Key Issues:
1. All parts and pieces of the application in one place
2. Advisor’s workload can be managed electronically
3. Departments can access files with flexibility for varying
review styles
4. BUY-IN!!!
9. Issue #1: Application Components in One Place
Resolution = ApplyYourself
Official test scores and other data are imported to AY
daily from Banner
Supplemental materials are collected via required
questions in the application using business rules
Letters of recommendation are collected through AY
Transcripts are imaged and uploaded to an internal
section in AY
10. Issue #2: Electronic Application Processing
Resolution = ApplyYourself & Connect
Advisors use queries to manage applications
Applications are given an audit stage, which is displayed
to applicant via the VIP page checklist
Advisors have several options for reviewing a record or
group of records and managing load. Ex
Applicant summary, including internal sections (AY)
Exports (AY and Connect)
Summary Form (AY-email template generated as letter)
Views (Connect)
Dashboards (Connect)
11. Issue #3: Electronic Application Review
Resolution = ApplyYourself
Departments use queries to concurrently manage in-
progress and submitted applications
Each department given an account for faculty review
Each department given a grad director account with
emailing and exporting access
Department receives a Recommendation Form once audit
is complete
Recommendations for accept go to Dean’s office for final review
Decision letters generated in AY using decision and enrollment
12. Issue# 4: BUY-IN!!!
Resolution = Phased Roll Outs & Opened Gates
Phased roll-outs for departments and advisors – slow
transitions
Quite the gate-keeping business – collaboration and
transparency
14. Let’s Take a Look
Application Components:
Applicant Summary
Electronic Application Processing:
Audit Status Stages and Queries
Exports, Summary Form, Views, and Dashboard
Recommendation Form
Electronic Application Review:
Audit Status Stages and Queries
Dashboard
Customer Service:
VIP Page
15. Ongoing Challenges
Technical Training
Transcripts
Letters of Recommendation (Hard Copies)
Signature Workflow AppReview
16. AppReview: Signature Workflow
ApplyYourself AppReviewComplete applications
pushed to AppReview
REVIEW BUNDLE: program/term specific
Graduate Director Reviews Bundle as
Head Reviewer
[move to next round and mapped review sheet
data to AY features activated]
FULL STATUS ACCEPTS:
Dean’s Full Status bundle for
final review via workflow
SPECIAL STATUS ACCEPTS:
Dean’s Special Status bundle
for final review via workflow
Routing Rules
(Single Review Pool)
DENIES:
No further
review
17. Benefits of Going Paperless
Happy Applicants - Improved User Experience
Decreased Processing and Review Time
Collaboration
Transparency
It’s Green-er
19. Decreased Processing Time: Psychology, Ph.D.
550-650 applications each fall
Application Submission Cycle: Oct - Dec
Interviews: Feb (scheduled in Jan)
Two month decrease in processing time
Old Processing cycle: Nov – March/April
New Processing cycle: Nov – Jan/Feb
20. Decreased Review Time: PhD Accepts
6.12%
1.17%
37.90%
33.53%
10.20%
9.33%
1.75%
0.54%
9.73%
47.03%
24.86%
7.84% 8.65%
1.35%
0.00%
11.92%
56.10%
15.70%
8.14%
4.07% 4.07%
2.19%
19.44%
48.59%
21.00%
6.27% 2.51%
0.00%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
Accept Accept Accept Accept Accept Accept Accept
January February March April May June July
Fall 2012
Fall 2013
Fall 2014
Fall 2015
*Data pulled 6/17/15
21. Next Steps
Phase in AppReview
Records management - what to keep and where
to keep it
Set standards for turn-around times
Transcripts – explore imaging prior to application
submission and taking unofficial
transcripts…again
Radius Migration???
Take a poll of the group:
*Who has Applyyourself? Of those who have the D&E Module
*Who has Connect
*Who has AppReview?
*Anyone with an online processing and review system already in place?