On-Line: Undergraduate Admissions Applications

College of Charleston Profile 13 th oldest college in the nation founded in 1770 Traditional Liberal Arts & Sciences Curriculum 42 Undergraduate Majors 15 Graduate Degrees State assisted College/University Undergraduate students: 9,787 Graduate students: 1,977 Number of Faculty: 439 Average class size: 25 Student/Faculty Ratio: 18/1 SCT SIS+

Why On-Line? Applicant Benefits Rapid access and submission in a rolling admissions environment International Application time reduced On-line Payments Institution Benefits Data Entry Time Reduced Minimize Errors Collect Fees Electronically Rapid acknowledgement of submission

Limited in-house staff resources to devote to initial production and maintaining the process Multiple, customized versions of the application are available on-line Security of payment and records information were handled by the vendor Outsource vs. In-house

Choosing the Vendor Transparent to applicant, apply from CofC web site Autonomy & control remains with institution Rapid response to application edits and modifications No wait to print updated paper versions of applications Data analysis capabilities Cost-effective for medium-size college No software or hardware to purchase Charged only for valid submissions, minimal investment risk

Technology Involved Upfront time spent on the form design SCT SIS+ records system running on Alphas with RMS files Batch uploads nightly to update records FOCUS to create update transactions to system CofC created a master file description to read the file from CollegeNet Files uploaded via in-house programming

Technology Process The transactions are loaded into SIS+ via the maintenance cycle Totally automated process with no staff intervention Admissions prints and checks data loaded for accuracy CollegeNet downloads applications into a data file by date CofC picks up the data via FTP and runs a FOCUS program against it to create transactions

Implementing the Process Review application versions and send to vendor Review & integrate with CofC web site Review current application processing operations and align paper & electronic workflow Training and changing work tasks and patterns Downloading applications & data from vendor Building links to web site

1999 Results On October 4, 1998, the College of Charleston provided an electronic method of undergraduate degree application via the institutional web site. 9.6 % of total undergraduate applications were received electronically for Fall These applications were received from 42 states of the United States and 13 Foreign Countries. More than 35 % of the electronic applications received were from South Carolina with 55 % submitted from the Southeastern United States.

Fall 2000 Results Applications were accepted from August 1 through April 26 on-line. 15% of all applications received were submitted online from: -43 states of the US -18 foreign countries, -29% South Carolina -60% Southeastern US

Applicant Profile Comparisons 1999 ElectronicAll Other % Accepted5%95% Average GPA Average Class Rank68%73% 23 and younger78%85% 24 and older22%15% Male47%36% Female53%64%

Applicant Profile Comparisons Fall 2000 ElectronicAll Other % Accepted13%87% Average GPA Average Class Rank72%75% 23 and younger89%88% 24 and older11%12% Male43%34% Female57%66%

The Future Optical Scanning SCT Web products (Faculty and Student) eCommerce options Operations and work flow refinement Management of technology tools EDI Enhancements Automated response refinements

Other forms-inquiry, graduation, etc. Esponse management Triggers as notification tool to applicants For the Enterprise-notifications to other departments Extra – Enterprise (data portability) –State System –Career services Application Enhancements

Don Burkard, Dean, Admissions & Adult Student Services, College of Charleston Dorinda Harmon, Director, Transfer & Adult Student Services, College of Charleston Eileen Mansfield, SIS Program Manager, Admin, Computing & Telecommunications, College of Charleston Heidi Doebel, CollegeNet, Contact Us: