Using Technology to Empower Graduate Admitting Departments PACRAO 2012

1. Using Technology to Empower Graduate Admitting Departments PACRAO 2012 Stanford University Graduate Admissions, Office of the University Registrar Judith Haccou, Senior Associate Registrar & Director of Graduate Admissions Tifany Ferguson, Assistant Registrar & Associate Director of Graduate Admissions Stanford University, Office of the University Registrar

2. Overview • Identified Need • Development & Implementation • Assessment & Enhancements Stanford University, Office of the University Registrar

3. By the Numbers • 38,000+ applications • 66+ graduate admitting departments • School of Earth Sciences • School of Education • School of Engineering • School of Humanities and Sciences • School of Med PhD/Other non-MD programs • MLA – Part time program for working adults • Professional Schools • Graduate School of Business (MBA, PhD, Management Programs) • Law • School of Medicine MD Program Stanford University, Office of the University Registrar

4. Admissions Background • Diverse Admissions Process • No one size fits all! • Variety of: • Deadlines • Work flow • Admission Review Criteria • Ranking • Committee size/across departments & schools

5. BEFORE Departments On-Line Applicants Receive & Review … whatever … PeopleSoft Central Review Make Offer ETS Applicants Respond to Offer

6. Why Change • Identified need: Current paper process not ideal • Multiple costly shadow systems • No central source for system training and troubleshooting • No single system to facilitate delegation within and across departments • No ability to track review process Stanford University, Office of the University Registrar

7. Technology: Admit Development • Collaborated with CollegeNET • Focus group of faculty and staff • Range of processes • Technical skills • Applicant cohorts • Encouraged wild ideas • Determined common needs • Established campus readiness plan Stanford University, Office of the University Registrar

8. Phase 1: System Deliverables • Determined system deliverables based on common needs • Application Form • Capability to customize program specific required supplemental uploads, fields and applications deadlines without having to work through the vendor • Process to load application data into PeopleSoft Stanford University, Office of the University Registrar

9. Phase 1: System Deliverables • Admit System (evaluation system) • Secure logins • Roles to determine access level • Batch process to create account users and assign permissions • Ability to filter and sort candidate lists • Flag candidates • Status reports: Evaluation counts, assignments, completed evaluations and ranking scores • Allow departments to upload documents • View multiple applications • Common and simple evaluation workflow • Customization of evaluation workflow options: View/hide previous evaluator’s comments, self-assign and re-assign applications Stanford University, Office of the University Registrar

10. Technology: The Admit System Stanford University, Office of the University Registrar

11. Technology: The Admit System Through innovative technology, we have empowered graduate departments and streamlined the Stanford decentralized admissions process. • No longer necessary to print applications or create physical files for each applicant. • Departments can create individual pool structures and layouts to meet their individual work flow processes. • Applicant checklist functionality enabled departments to easily track and communicate receipt of application materials to applicants. • Reviewer assignments enabled multiple reviewers to have online access to application files, at the same time, and from anywhere. • Decision letter functionality changed how we communicated with applicants, as well as saved money and time. • Search and report functionality decreased the need to use additional systems • Certified eTranscript displayed in application form and Admit for current Stanford students/alumni. Stanford University, Office of the University Registrar

12. Admit User Trends

13. Becoming Educators & Leaders • Learning a system with rapid development • Model department pool structure types • Test functionality (trial & error) • Create “variables” guide • Document (Stanford specific) • Audit layout configuration (name and date of layout) Stanford University, Office of the University Registrar

14. Empowering Admit Users • Tools used to educate campus Admit users • Direct communication with Graduate Admissions staff • Established weekly notifications • Hands-on open lab sessions • Topic specific training sessions • Developed Stanford specific job aids • Archive job aids on Stanford staff learning page website • *Admit on-line Help document • CollegeNet webinars Stanford University, Office of the University Registrar

15. Empowering Admit Users

16. Admit User Experience

17. Admit Through technology, we have streamlined a decentralized admissions process.

18. Application Flow The concept of “pools” are used to manage groups of applications and the evaluators that can review and act on them at various stages in the application evaluation process. Filters: Can be set to automatically route incoming applications to a specific pool based on conditions specified.

19. Varying Pool Structures Complex Work Flow: Department Pool Structure Sample

20. Varying Pool Structures Simplified Work Flow: Department Pool Structure Sample

21. Permissions Specified on a per-user basis Pool based and inherited Highly granular

22. Configuring Layouts

23. Configuring Layouts Selected layouts from parent pool Open pool Selected layouts for this pool All layouts

24. Specifying Application Lists • The Application tab lists all submitted applications • The column lists can be modified to display any fields in the application form. • Tags can be created and applied to mark/group applications • Sorting and exporting capabilities • Search and report features

25. Specifying Application Lists Selected columns from parent pool Selected layouts for this pool All layouts

26. Checklist Layout • Contains fields for application materials: • Checklist Info • Application Status • Checklist Notes • Recommendations • Transcripts • Official Test Scores • Additional Documents

27. Automating with Triggers A trigger automates an action you want taken on an application when a particular “event” happens to the application record in a particular pool. Any trigger can include conditions that further define when the trigger should act.

28. Automating with Triggers Applicant checklists are being assigned upon import. Set status of “Application Complete”.

29. Automating with Triggers • Trigger Types • Assign: Automates the ability to assign applications to evaluators. • Add to Pool: Allows the ability to physically move an application from one pool to another. This trigger also allows you to remove the application from the originating pool. • Email Applicant: Automates the ability to send predetermined EMAIL_APPLICANT type templates to applicants. • Email User: Automates the ability to send predetermined EMAIL_USER type templates to Admit users. • Notification: Automates the ability to send notifications to Admit users that appear on the bottom half of the user’s Home tab. Stanford University, Office of the University Registrar

30. ADMIT for Stanford Technology Empowers graduate departments Streamlines a decentralized admission process Stanford University, Office of the University Registrar

31. Discussion & Questions Stanford University, Office of the University Registrar

32. Thank You Judith Haccou, haccou@stanford.edu Senior Associate Registrar & Director of Graduate Admissions Tifany Ferguson, tferguson@stanford.edu Assistant Registrar & Associate Director of Graduate Admissions Stanford University, Office of the University Registrar