UJ’s mobi site for late application enquiries Tinus van Zyl ITS User Group Conference Namibia, March 2013

Background The University of Johannesburg (UJ) is one of the largest, multi-campus, residential universities in South Africa with almost 50 000 students annually. Nine Faculties across four campuses. 128 101 applications processed for 2013 (83 917 applicants). Admitted 19 260 for undergraduate 1st year studies. Only have space for 10 500.

Bunting Road Campus

Kingsway Campus

Doornfontein Campus

Soweto Campus

Background In 2011 UJ implemented a physical solution (in the form of temporary marquees) to support and improve the late application process on all four campuses. For 2012 it was decided to centralise the resources (still in the form of marquees) on the Bunting Road campus. Unfortunate events last year prompted a review of the “walk-in” process. Management decided to implement a virtual process for 2013 in the form of a mobi enquiry system and extended call centre with no physical setup.

Communication campaign Wide communication campaign which included radio, social media, news papers, street pole ads and gate hand-outs.

Mobi system challenges Integrating ITS application data, the Application Rating System (ARS) from HEDA and the DOE grade 12 data. Incorporating UJ application “upgrades”, “downgrades” and applicants wanting to transfer between qualifications. Deciding the important elements. By rule, mobile websites should only contain the most important elements of your website considering the restricted screen space and internet connection speeds.

Application Rating System (ARS) For the last 3 years UJ used the ARS system (part of the HEDA system) to do the final grade 12 admission verification on UJ applicants within a day or two. After the release of the final grade 12 results in the first week of Jan, HEDA imports the results and apply the prospectus admission criteria to each applicant. Based on the ARS admission reports UJ then SMS applicants their final admission status and update ITS manually. No paper verification or reporting to campus before registrations are required.

Technology used Developed by ITS using Oracle Application Express (APEX). Compatible with any mobile device (e.g. iPhone, blackberry or android), all tablets and PC browsers. Stress tested using OATS (Oracle Application Test suite) to improve response times: reduced from 40 sec to 20 sec for the 5 mobi steps.

Technology used cont.

Mobi system process

Mobi system process cont. This system incorporated the grade 12 and IEB results for the last three years. UJ marked on ITS which qualifications were still available in January before the system went live. The system went live on the 7th of January 2013. Results of all the SA grade 12 learners could be evaluated against UJ’s prospectus and endorsement requirements. Closed the 11th of January. Successful Mobi enquiries were ranked by faculty staff and applicants were notified via SMS of their status.

Management console

Management console cont.

Management console cont.

Mobi system Demo (1) UJ applicant and admitted.

Mobi system Demo (2) UJ applicant, but want’s to change course.

Mobi system Demo cont.

Mobi system Demo (3) Submitted enquiry, with “waiting for decision” status.

Mobi system Demo (4) Un-matched matric results.

Advantages of the system The extended call centre (50 agents) also used the same system for telephone enquiries. No physical presence were required on any campus to execute the process. Successful enquirers were requested to follow an electronic application process and only report to campus on the day of registration or even register online. Mobi enquiries could be made from anywhere in South Africa.

Statistics On Monday the 7th of January 2013 the system was used the most with 10 226 unique enquirers with 2 930 of them being able to log a successful enquiry. Enquiries Date

Statistics cont. The hourly trend showed that the most enquiries were around mid-day with a maximum count of 1006 per hour. The most successful enquiries logged per hour were 272. The process was supported by an informative webpage / mobi site which explained in detail the steps and functionality of the system. A YouTube instructional video was also used to explain the steps.

Statistics cont. Unique number of visits per hour and successful enquiries (7 and 8 January 2013). Enquiries Date

Conclusion Almost 38 000 unique enquirers utilised the system during this week with more than 6800 being able to log a successful enquiry. Of the 6800 enquiries (3 000 were totally new applications at UJ), 2 500 were admitted vs 1 300 following late applications in 2012. Efficiency were significantly increased by the system. No queues or risks were reported. Positive media coverage.