1. Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre
IAAO 2016
Catherine Wills
Chris Pollard

2. James Cook University  (JCU)
Adelaide Central School of Art
Australian Catholic University
Australian College of Physical Education
Australian College of Theology
Australian Film Television and Radio School
Australian Institute of Music
Australian Lutheran College
Australian National University
Avondale College of Higher Education
Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education
Bond University
Bradford College Pty Ltd
Canberra Institute of Technology
Central Institute of Technology
Charles Darwin University
Charles Sturt University
CQUniversity
Curtin University
Deakin University
Edith Cowan University
Educational Enterprises Australia Pty Ltd
Federation University Australia
Flinders University of South Australia
Griffith University (GU)
La Trobe University
Legal Profession Admission Board
Macquarie University
Marcus Oldham Farm Management College
MCD University of Divinity
Monash College
Monash University
Murdoch University
National Institute of Dramatic Art
Open Universities Australia
Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
RMIT University
South Australian Institute of Business and Technology
Southern Cross University
Swinburne University of Technology
Sydney College of Advanced Education
Sydney College of Divinity
Tabor Adelaide
The University of Adelaide
The University of Western Australia
University of Canberra
University of Melbourne
University of New England
University of New South Wales
University of Newcastle
University of Notre Dame, Australia
University of Queensland, The (UQ)
University of South Australia
University of Southern Queensland (USQ)
University of Sydney
University of Tasmania
University of Technology, Sydney
University of the Sunshine Coast (USC)
University of Western Sydney
University of Wollongong
Victoria University
ACTAC
Just like finance, HR, Marketing and sales IT is part of the business
If “IT” is to be successful it needs to have strong business knowledge
This is VTAC’s strength and a major risk, the loss of a key staff member can have years of knowledge walk out the door
Cloud based solutions are key, the cyclic nature of student admission require high levels of resources one day and minimal amounts the next
We have low staff numbers having a dedicated desktop support was not my desire and with reduced complexity this was achieved
Data security is a key focus of VTAC

3. Australian Tertiary Admissions Centres
Established from the 60’s to provide centralised processing for applications and offers for tertiary courses.
Limited number of universities
Limited range of courses
Single application for multiple institutions and courses
Demand driven

4. What VTAC does
Primary purpose is to deliver applications and selection services on behalf of tertiary institutions
VTAC delivers this obligation through:
In-house software development
Support and provision of information to students
Support and provision of information to institutions
Assessment and management of student data

5. VTAC 2015/2016 Applicant Group 2015/16 applicants
Domestic undergraduate
72,886
International undergraduate
2,606
Total undergraduate
75,492
Year 12 domestic
48,850
Non year 12 domestic
24,036
First preference university
66,819
First preference TAFE
4,698
First preference ITC
1,307
Graduate Entry Teaching (GET)
2,795

6. VTAC Offers

7. Reinvention Thank Catherine
How does a central admissions organisation reinvent itself? This is a question that we are grappling with.
My name is Chris, project manager,
5 years in a few universities
8 minutes minute intro, 2 minute problem/history, 3.5 minute solution, 1 minute conclusion

8. Higher education in Victoria
The Direct Portal: a reinvention example
What we’ve learnt so far

9. are not the only market anymore
High school graduates
are not the only market anymore
International
Postgraduate
Non - year 12
We’ve been around for 50 years
And we’ve been the central service for mainly high school graduates, Year 12s as we call them.

10. Direct Application

11. Institutional Trends Politics Funding pressures
Centralisation within the institution
Opportunity for VTAC
Preparing for less government funding

12. The Direct Portal Institution-branded
Access from the institution’s website
Offers produced daily
Non preferential
Free
We had blind optimism
REbrand the application interface with some tweaks
We realised that the direct space is quite different
One university was willing

14. What have we learnt so far?
Universities need more information
Offer simulations are clunky
Workflow is different
Customer service challenges

15. Conclusions Applicant profiles are changing Reinvention
The Direct Portal