royalhollowayuniversityof london - improve their application processing

1. Case Study Royal Holloway, University of London Improving Admissions efficiency and Application processing using e2s Recruit (white-labelled internally as ‘RH Direct’ by Royal Holloway, University of London) Client Quotes Overview “RH Direct has been a step change for the College in terms of dealing with applications and the applicant experience and feedback from agents and applicants using e2s Recruit has been very positive, with it being compared very favourably to the systems used by competitors.’’ Royal Holloway, University of London, is ranked in the top 200 universities in the world. Through world-class research that expands minds and changes lives, the dedication of the teachers and the feel of the Royal Holloway experience, it is a community that inspires individuals to succeed academically, socially and personally. The College has approximately 10,000 students, including UK and international undergraduates and postgraduates. It is currently engaged in transforming the way it operates to better secure its strategic goals which include increasing quality student numbers and ensuring a sustainable future. Sue Gemmill Assistant Director: Admissions & Applicant Services In 2016 the College embarked on a project to improve the way they handled their admissions process and in particular introduce a new online application process for all applicants other than UCAS, predominantly postgraduate taught and research. Following the tender process Engage2Serve were chosen to partner with the College to deliver the solution. “The RH Direct Agent Portal supplied by Engage2Serve, it’s a great portal and has made our jobs easier and more efficient. I would recommend the system to other Universities.’’ Engage2Serve won the contract to deliver the following service to Royal Holloway, University of London. a. A self-service application portal to enable prospective students and agents to manage all aspects of applications for courses. This is configurable for certain courses so that they can only manage partial aspects of the application. International Agent - Omer Mirza from the Education Resources Network

2. b. Online application forms. Various types of application forms were required covering a variety of different courses, from full time study to a postgraduate degree programme to one term study abroad applications from partner institutions. Users can complete additional forms post submission to supplement their application for example a scholarship application form. Benefits for Applicants and Agents • Shorter end-to-end application process. • Easy to complete on-line, dynamic application form for all types of application, apart from UG, that enables collection of all the information required to make an admissions decision. c. Evidence management capability. This enables applicants to upload supporting evidence that can be reviewed by College staff. • The dynamic feature of the application form means that applicants only complete questions that are relevant to them, giving an improved applicant experience. d. Online assessment centre and workflow. This provides central management and oversight of the applications process, while allowing decisions to be assessed by stakeholders across the College. • All types of applicants (UG, PGT, PGR, PELP, Study Abroad etc) have access to a self-service portal. All types of applicant are able to view the outcome of their applications on the portal so have a permanent record. The College initiated the Improving Admissions programme as part of a wider Business Process Review. The College believed that there was significant potential to improve its admissions processes and that making these more efficient, effective and better aligned with student expectations will help to attract quality students, thus securing a sustainable future for the College. • Applicants can upload additional documents after submitting their application. They can also use the portal to make requests such as deferring their studies, changing their agent etc • CAS Checklist function shows applicants the different stages that they have to complete before they can be given a CAS to apply for a visa to study in the UK. • Applicants and Agents can see the details of deposits that have been paid to the College, once they have been recorded in Banner. Project Benefits RHDirect opened for postgraduate and study abroad applications in October 2016. Since then UCAS applications, deferred applications from the previous system, applications through partnerships organisations, pre-sessional English programme applications and scholarship applications have been introduced. RHDirect has had over 10,000 applications submitted through it and created applicant portals for approaching 20,000 undergraduate UCAS applications. There have been several hundred scholarship applications submitted and currently RHDirect has over 34,000 individual programme applications started within its system. • Agents have their own portal, enabling them to keep track of their applications and when decisions are made on the applications. Agents can have a hierarchy system of submitting applications within a single agency. • Scholarship application system enabling personal data on the system to be reused rather than entered a second time and statements to be uploaded electronically to the portal. • Applicants can view scholarships they are eligible for based on criteria entered. • Applicants and agents can see if they have been awarded or not awarded the Scholarship on their portals Prior to implementation of e2s Recruit, the systems used by Admissions were (a) an externally hosted application form for programme applications that did not link to Banner, the student record system (b) supplementary applications through the website with no link to the main application, (c) an unsecured status checker through Campus Connect to show application status (not password protected), and (d) a separate document store where all documents had to be manually uploaded from email attachments. • Applicants and agents can view the status of their application and offers made in one easy place. Applicants can accept or decline their offers online. • Applicants and agents can add additional information post submissions for example new qualifications and they change information for example contact numbers without having to contact Admissions.

3. Benefits for Staff • Improved data security as scholarship applications can be viewed within the staff portal. • Dynamic application form which allows for course specific questions to be asked. • RH Direct can stop the access to the Applicant Portal for UCAS applications and also reduce the access for agents during the UCAS results embargo period. • e2s Recruit links directly with Banner. Applications are submitted into Banner in real time. • Academics and Admissions staff can see in real time all applications submitted. • RH Direct has an increased application search function allowing staff to search on multiple criteria including programme applied for and email address. • The Staff Portal has the ability to upload new applications via Excel Spreadsheets. This ensures an application process that works for our partner organisations and a significant reduction in manual entry required by the Admissions office. Summary • Applicants and agents can accept and decline offers in the Portal themselves. Data in the College about applicants’ responses to their offers is more accurate. The work of Admissions staff is reduced because there are no more emails accepting or declining applicants offers. e2s Recruit has automated a wide variety of functions that were previously manual or not done at all. It has reduced the number of systems required to be supported by the IT department significantly. The decision made by the IT department to bring IT systems in house that supported the recruitment of students has resulted in more control over these systems and more assurance that they comply with legal information security requirements. • A draft CAS process has meant fewer CAS documents being issued with inaccurate data, which has reduced the number of CASs that have to be withdrawn and then reissued. This has saved on staff time needed to redo the work but it has also reduced the percentage of refused CASs, safeguarding our UKVI licence to sponsor international students, for which refusal targets cannot be exceeded. It’s All About Student Experience! e2sRecruit e2sRetain e2sConnect Automate Marketing and Admissions Engage and Serve your Students Better Nurture your Alumni www.engage2serve.com +44 7788 431284 info@engage2serve.com