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

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

3. Bunting Road Campus

4. Kingsway Campus

5. Doornfontein Campus

6. Soweto Campus

7. 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.

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

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. Technology used cont.

13. Mobi system process

14. 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 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.

15. Management console

16. Management console cont.

17. Management console cont.

18. Mobi system Demo
(1) UJ applicant and admitted.

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

20. Mobi system Demo cont.

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

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

23. 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.

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

25. 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.

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

27. Conclusion
Almost 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), were admitted vs following late applications in 2012.
Efficiency were significantly increased by the system.
No queues or risks were reported.
Positive media coverage.