Unsuccessful - what me? A summary of feedback on - UCAS

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12 THE FUTURE FOR ADMISSIONS IS PAPERLESS ... The stories so far ... UCAS news Kelly Villiers in the Recruit<strong>me</strong>nt and Admissions Office at Coventry University, and Lorna Jones, Director <strong>of</strong> Admissions & Student Recruit<strong>me</strong>nt, at the University <strong>of</strong> Dundee For a number <strong>of</strong> years now prospective university students have been making their applications online through the UCAS website and are now in the habit <strong>of</strong> checking the progress <strong>of</strong> their application on UCAS Track. What is not widely known is that this electronic process is interrupted because after receiving the applications online UCAS then prints and posts the applications to each individual university or college for it to deal with. This creates an obvious delay in the application process. At Coventry University and the University <strong>of</strong> Dundee things are different however as they were two <strong>of</strong> the first universities to introduce a paperless admissions system. Kelly Villiers from Coventry University. We relish improved speed and efficiency in admissions Coventry University receives applications electronically from UCAS, with no need for paper copies, which <strong>me</strong>ans the speed <strong>of</strong> admissions processing is greatly increased. The university reassures prospective students that the university has received their application with an acknowledg<strong>me</strong>nt communication. They are then regularly contacted by admissions staff so that they are aware <strong>of</strong> the progress <strong>of</strong> their application. In our specially designed admissions system applications are assessed electronically by pr<strong>of</strong>essional admissions staff in the Recruit<strong>me</strong>nt and Admissions Office who adhere to the values <strong>of</strong> ‘fair and equal’ decision-making based on academic criteria. Activities including liaising with faculty admissions staff for their input on decisions, adding notes, docu<strong>me</strong>nts and emails to an applicant’s record are all done online through the admissions system. The system can also invite applicants to interview, audition or portfolio review and as well as send our decision to the applicant all through UCAS. At all stages our paperless admissions The key benefit <strong>of</strong> the paperless system is the dramatically improved speed at which we can communicate with our applicants system allows us to make decisions efficiently, avoid unnecessary delays, and keep applicants infor<strong>me</strong>d <strong>of</strong> the status <strong>of</strong> their application. The key benefit <strong>of</strong> the paperless system is the dramatically improved speed at which we can communicate with our applicants. Applicant <strong>feedback</strong> tells us that 92% <strong>of</strong> applicants for 2009 entry agreed the information they received from us was either useful or very useful. Anecdotal evidence suggests that students and their advisers welco<strong>me</strong> efficient decisionmaking and being kept up-to-date during the admissions process. For the university the main benefits have been improved levels <strong>of</strong> service to applicants and greater standardisation and pr<strong>of</strong>essionalism across the wider admissions community. Lorna Jones, Director <strong>of</strong> Admissions & Student Recruit<strong>me</strong>nt Admissions – the paperless experience so far at the University <strong>of</strong> Dundee There is a very positive attitude towards change at the University <strong>of</strong> Dundee with work starting towards a paperless system two years ago. The work concentrated on the embedding <strong>of</strong> an environ<strong>me</strong>ntally
Applicants’ data on the way to the HEI - the traditional way and the new electronic way apply Applicant friendly attitude towards paperless systems, building on Dundee’s record <strong>of</strong> success in this area. It’s not just about paperless applications, although this is part <strong>of</strong> the overall aim. Work began in the university’s School <strong>of</strong> Medicine to improve the whole student selection process and ideally move towards the imple<strong>me</strong>ntation <strong>of</strong> paperless interviews. The first task was to look at and grade all applications for <strong>me</strong>dicine. Quality control was maintained by random sampling, with a <strong>me</strong>chanism for our Medical Selection Convenor to look at all borderline applications and make decisions about which applicants would be invited to interview. Applicants were, for the first ti<strong>me</strong>, able to book their own interviews online and all interview docu<strong>me</strong>ntation was sent to them electronically. Academic staff will, for 2010 entry, be able to book interview sessions online to suit their diaries – everyone agrees that this will be a significant improve<strong>me</strong>nt on the paper process! There has been a much improved turn-around ti<strong>me</strong> for decision-making, with the university being about two months quicker than in previous years. The majority <strong>of</strong> the interviews for <strong>me</strong>dicine took place in a two week period in January. Medical applicants have had access to the Virtual Learning Environ<strong>me</strong>nt at the university. The aim for the future is for all Dundee’s UK UCAS applicants to access all their docu<strong>me</strong>ntation online. The university has been exploring the use <strong>of</strong> technology to support interviews for <strong>me</strong>dicine and is currently considering the use <strong>of</strong> laptops to record scores and com<strong>me</strong>nts. Applicants see a number <strong>of</strong> interviewers where questions are asked and tasks undertaken and it would be possible for one laptop per station to be used to record the results. Interviewers would then no longer need copies <strong>of</strong> paper applications. The new admissions s<strong>of</strong>tware will maintain a record <strong>of</strong> the decision-making process (the current paper system requires all applications to be looked at by two <strong>me</strong>mbers <strong>of</strong> staff and double-signed!) making this an auditable system which continues to provide a robust quality control <strong>me</strong>chanism as well as <strong>of</strong>fering a better experience to the applicants and staff who use it. If you would like more information contact: Lorna Jones, Director <strong>of</strong> Admissions & Student Recruit<strong>me</strong>nt at the University <strong>of</strong> Dundee, email l.a.jones@dundee.ac.uk, and Kelly Villiers in the Recruit<strong>me</strong>nt and Admissions Office at Coventry University email k.villiers@coventry.ac.uk. Both welco<strong>me</strong> enquiries about their paperless admissions. HEI HEI UCAS news 13
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Page 3 and 4: FAREWELL TO UCAS Anthony McClaran l
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Page 7 and 8: FROM CARE TO UNIVERSITY ... The Fra
Page 9 and 10: Improving feedback
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Page 15 and 16: DEADLINES ON THE HORIZON 2009 entry

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