1. Tara Keefer – Information Technology Megan Jones – Registrar’s Office
Millersville University Multi Approval Workflow for Graduation Exception Processing
Tara Keefer – Information Technology
Megan Jones – Registrar’s Office
Megan

2. Project Implementation Considerations
Introduction
Paper Process
Electronic Solution
Project Implementation
Considerations
Megan

3. About Millersville University
Millersville University is a member of the 14 PennsylvaniA State System of Higher Education
Founded in 1855
6,980 Undergraduates
947 Graduates
550 Staff and 300 Faculty
3 Colleges offering over 150 programs
Megan

4. PAYROLL
REGISTRAR
GRANTS & PARTNERSHIPS
ONLINE PROGRAMS
OFFICE OF STUDENT ACCOUNTS
HUMAN RESOURCES
EXPERIMENTAL LEARNING & CAREER SERVICES
FINANCIAL AID
GLOBAL EDUCATION
GRADUATE PROGRAMS
PURCHASING
CERTIFICATION OFFICE
ACCOUNTING
Tara

5. Project Team Members
Tara Keefer IT Application Manager of Auxiliary Services
Megan Jones Senior Assistant Registrar and Project Sponsor
Michael Dulay Director of Web Tech Services
Megan

6. Document Management System at Millersville University
Singularity for 2 years with minimal progress due to the challenges of configuring the system
OnBase for 5 years
Two OnBase Administrators contributing quarter time each
Offices
Workflows
Documents
Files
Database Size
File Storage Size 12 43
992,975
2,312,813
7 GB
261 GB
Megan

7. To share our experience on implementing an electronic solution with Graduation Exception Processing
Megan

8. What is Exception to Graduation?
A graduation exception form authorizes the Registrar to satisfy a requirement on their degree audit. This is necessary to ensure a student can complete their program efficiently and effectively.
Major/Require Related - Request courses outside of major be approved for major requirements
Minor - Request courses outside of minor be approved for minor requirements
Honors College - Request courses be approved for Honors College requirements
General Education - Request transfer courses satisfy General Education requirements
MU Academic Policy - Request to waive minimum grade requirement
Megan
1,200 Forms Processed Annually

9. RO: Registrar’s Office
Paper Process
On average it takes 1 week for a student to have a degree requirement exception approved and processed on their degree audit.
Periodically a student will call RO asking where their request for exception form is. RO has difficulty determining which approver has it. The form can be sent to the wrong approver or the approver is absent. The process is further delayed.
The exception forms piles up on the Dean’s desk and then they are returned to the RO as a batch. The RO has to scramble to process all the exceptions which delays response time to the student.
The exceptions form gets lost in interoffice mail and the RO has to find out who has it and ask them to resend it.
Copies of this form are redundantly filed all over campus
Paper Form
Megan
RO: Registrar’s Office

10. OnBase Solution
We went live March, 2017 and thus far we have processed 500 exceptions electronically.
Turnaround time can be as fast as 15 minutes which was never possible with paper.
Lost exceptions are no longer possible thus avoiding delays in graduation.
Only undergraduate level students who have a major declared can submit a form, therefore, no more invalid exceptions requests.
Megan

11. DEMONSTRATION
Tara

12. Step 1 of 7 Form Initiation from Banner Self -Service
Advisor
Student
Department Secretary
Tara step 1

13. Advisor

14. Student

15. Department Secretary

16. Step 2 of 7: Validate Student
Megan Step 2

17. Step 3 of 7: Form Submission Online Form within Banner Self-Service
Tara Step 3

18. Step 4 of 7: Approvals
We plan on implementing single sign on to eliminate the OnBase login page.
Megan Step 4

19. Keep the Student Informed During the Entire Process!

20. REMINDER NOTIFICATIONS
Every day at 8AM, check to see if exception request is older than 7 days.

21. ADVISOR APPROVAL
The Hitlist is still displaying when one document is returned using FormPop despite AutoDisplayOneDocument being set to 'true'

23. Keep the Student Informed During the Entire Process!

24. CHAIRPERSON APPROVAL

25. Keep the Student Informed During the Entire Process!

26. COLLEGE DEAN APPROVAL

27. Step 5 of 6: Registrar Office Processes Exception
Megan Step 5

29. Step 6 of 6: Email Student Document
ATTACHMENT: Completed Exception Form
Step 6 of 6: Student Document
Tara Step 6

30. - Professor of Art and Design
“Thank you, thank you, thank you. I can't begin to tell you how much time this will save me.”
- Professor of Art and Design

31. - Professor of Education
“I am sitting in College Council and just saw the electronic Exception to Graduation.  Great system!!! Love it, Love it, Love it!.... …. I love the electronic process for exceptions. I have shared it with my faculty.”
- Professor of Education

32. - Assistant to the Provost
“[Faculty Union] was very, very happy to hear about the online process, and very appreciative of the work you and Tara have done to put it into place. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them so happy at [University President and Faculty meeting], actually. Seriously!”
- Assistant to the Provost

33. - Administrative Assistant
“I wanted to send you a little note thanking you for the hard work you put into making my job a little more streamlined. The exception process has always taken a good chunk of time to process, and I am certain the transition to the electronic forms will certainly improve the experience for everyone involved!”
- Administrative Assistant

34. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION
Tara

35. Project Request and Approval
Project Request Form
Required OnBase Modules
eForms
Unity Client Server
Web Server
Workflow

36. PROCESS FLOW DIGRAM

37. Form Design and Development
Form Design Document presented to Web Team
THREE forms developed for ONE form
Eform hosted Banner Self-Service
Unity form for workflow
Unity form for student attachment
Challenges with Eform
jQuery and JavaScript expertise required
PL/SQL
Unity Forms were easy to create

38. Banner Integration for Form Autofill

39. Current Method – Banner Integration
Oracle Wallet: OnBase Web Server Certificate resides on Oracle Server which allows Oracle Server to talk to OnBase Web Server.
PL/SQL program reads the html file from the onbase web server.
PL/SQL searches the html file for a string and replaces the string with autofill data. Student ID, Name, datasets (chair/advisor), major, minor, term code, role, if they are the advisor)

40. PL/SQL Package
HTML Form

41. Form Submission From Banner Self-Service
Submit form to OnBase
Return to Banner Self-Service

42. New Method – Banner Integration
No Oracle Wallet
No html or JavaScript
Use OnBase Form Developer (point and click)
Onbase will build an encoded url that has a the Spriden ID and token valueBuild a string of the form fields and data values in Banner PL/SQL
Within Banner Self-Service session develop program (JavaScript,C#,Java,PL/SQL) to generate encoded URL
This URL is then a link between Banner and OnBase. By clicking this link it will open up the form and autofill it all with in your Banner Self-Service or SSO session.

43. Campus Rollout Project Sponsor Presentation at Dean’s Council
Presented by Provost at Faculty and University President Meeting.
Faculty Union Presentation
Demonstration at College Councils
Student Support Page
Faculty Training Guide
Administrative Assistance Training Guide
Megan

44. Considerations
Key to Success: Project Sponsor ownership and engagement
Should have spent more time designing Workflow prior to configuring solution in Workflow Studio
Several hours of work could have been saved if we used the Banner Integration with Unity Form
Document can be accidentally locked due to RO keeping documents open
Weekly status update meetings keep project moving forward
The OnBase configuration was easy. The eform and Banner Integration consumed the most time.
Tara and Megan

45. Excitement for the Future
Change of Grade Form
Graduation Application
Accounting Journal Entries
Tuition Waivers
Change to Master Schedule
Leave of Absence/Withdraw Medical
Facilities Key Request
Title IV Funds

46. Thank You
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47. CPE Credits
To receive CPE credits for this session (if eligible), complete the CPE Attendance Form on the PABUG Annual Conference website
For additional questions please contact Lora Harper CPE - Coordinator