We’ll Handle That For You: Campus Transition to the NC RDS

Freeman Whitney Associate Registrar The University of North Carolina Wilmington

Today’s Presentation About UNCW Residency in North Carolina Campus-based residency determination Residency Determination Service (RDS) Managing the transition Life under RDS

About UNCW Part of UNC System 16,500 students (14,500 UG / 2000 GR) Serving southeastern region of NC 80% in-state students Bachelor – Doctoral degrees Large military-affiliated population (14%)

Residency in NC NC education established to primarily benefit NC residents Criteria for in-state status established by state law Procedures on determining status set by state authorities In-state = $ State grant eligible Out-of-state = $$$ State grant ineligible

Residency in NC ◦ Intent ◦ Active duty military Students have high interest in qualifying for in-state by showing ◦ Intent ◦ Capacity ◦ Domicile ◦ Duration ◦ Residentiary acts ◦ Financial independence Benefit programs allow in-state rate ◦ Active duty military ◦ Veterans ◦ National Guard ◦ Wards of state ◦ UNC System employees

Campus Based Process Until 2017, each campus determined residency for its students State manual provided direction Occasional state training events Application form and submission of supporting documentation Numerous staff involved in process ◦ Initial Decision [Admissions] ◦ Reclassification [Registrar] ◦ Residency Appeals Board [Cross-campus] ◦ State Residency Committee [System-wide] Time, training, and touches were considerable

Campus Based Process Determination made from evidence available to reviewer ◦ Not always the complete picture ▫ Sloppy or misleading? ◦ Process stalled waiting for documents ◦ Large degree of trust ◦ Lack of expertise on documents ◦ Handling sensitive data Different determinations from schools within UNC System & NCCCS High use of campus resources Potential for adversarial relationship between applicant and institution

Why Change It? Create standard review process across state One decision to be used at all schools Eliminate inconsistent determinations Verification of data reported by applicants Allow future students to determine status prior to admission process Best use of available technology to speed up reviews and enhance service

Centralized Process Establishment of Residency Determination Service (RDS) Process removed from campuses For UNCW, UG go-live was Feb. 2017 Umbrella service for NC ◦ 2 year and 4 year ◦ Public and private ▫ Graduate Schools = Fall 2018 RDS handles initial determination through appeals Customer service by phone Web-based informational interview

Centralized Process Conditional logic and branching means only relevant questions are presented Data is collected from student (DOB, address, DL number, etc) Questions continue until data is sufficient for determination Status delivered at end of interview If out-of-state . . . ◦ Reconsideration is next step ◦ RDS Appeal follows ◦ State Education Assistance Authority Appeal is final

Centralized Process If in-state . . . ◦ Pending Validation status ▫ Data entered by student is validated against federal and NC databases ◦ Failed validation changes status to out-of- state ◦ In-state determinations have 15 month shelf-life for matriculation ◦ Status does not need to be renewed when enrollment remains continuous Campus referral if Veteran’s Choice Act student or UNC System employee Students can seek updated determination when continuing students

Centralized Residency

https://ncresidency.cfnc.org “Complete Residency Determination” Log-in or create username/password

Provide consent for data verification

Success!

Email Notice

Validated Determination

Campus Notification Automated updates from RDS to SIS Custom Banner processes to retrieve updated status info RDS worked with Ellucian Students auto-updated when no registration for effective term ◦ Admission Pros ◦ Banner SAAADMS ◦ Banner SGASTDN Provides hands-off updating of student records drawn from RDS data Daily update has proven sufficient

Campus Notification Manual update from RDS to SIS Custom Banner forms and processes to retrieve updated status info RDS worked with Ellucian Students require manual when registration for effective term exists ◦ Banner SFAREGS Needed for mismatch records where data points need resolution Needed for urgent updates

Custom Form

Campus Transition Multi-year project ◦ Planning from 2014 ◦ Planned go-live was fall 2015 ◦ UNCW go-live was February 2017 ◦ Peak activity April 2016-March 2017 Designated campus liaison University Registrar Cross-campus implementation team IT Registrar Admissions Undergraduate Re-admission Graduate School Residency Appeals Board

Campus Transition Team activities Campus Concerns ◦ System updates and testing ◦ Working through test-case scenarios ◦ Conference calls with RDS ◦ Site visits from RDS ◦ Updating publications and websites ◦ Keeping campus updated Campus Concerns ◦ “Initiative fatigue” ◦ Lack of confidence/trust ◦ Loss of local control ◦ Unsure how to advise students for future ◦ Inadequate mechanisms to update campus partners ◦ Handling of military-affiliated students

Campus Transition Printing of referral cards Confusion when student/family had used old process Campus community still catching up on new process, sometimes doubting RDS capability

Life Under RDS Overall, positive change for students ◦ Status known before application ◦ Status usable across state ◦ Fast, reliable process ◦ Determination based on facts, not skill in assembling documentation ◦ Dedicated customer service ◦ Talk with the state about policies from the state ◦ Many veterans end up as in-state rather than Choice Act recipients - Overall, positive change for UNCW ◦ Staff time moved to other tasks ◦ Student situations have been handled well by RDS

Life Under RDS In progress . . . . ◦ End to adversarial relationship with students and families ◦ Continue meeting needs of veterans and dependents In progress . . . . ◦ Grad schools launching late fall 2018 ◦ Addressing student data entry errors (wrong DOB or SSN) ◦ Student understanding of “pending verification” ◦ Handling parts of term

Questions?