City College of San Francisco - California Competes

THEME IV
Informal improvements. The Re-engineering Study was a formal process that helped to trigger a whole
series of what the Dean of Admissions and Records calls “informal improvements.” These have led to
streamlined processes and the removal of barriers for students. Perhaps the most outstanding accomplishment
in recent years has been streamlining registration to the point where students no longer have to go
to A&R in person to get a registration appointment. Manual entry of application and matriculation data
used to get so backed up that the appointments that students were given were of no use, because they had
to wait for the paperwork to go through before they could actually register. It became a process that took
students days to accomplish. Now, with the implementation of the online application process, matriculation
data is entered instantly and students can get an appointment online within minutes. The lines at
Conlan Hall registration have continued to get shorter and shorter, particularly as phone registration
has been supplanted by web registration.
Use of the Internet has brought numerous benefits. Web registration has become so popular at CCSF that
phone registration has been eliminated as an option. Reviewing best practices at other colleges, CCSF also
decided to implement an online application form for credit admissions. Students now get a registration
appointment right after submitting an online application. To solve the problem in noncredit of enrollment
forms being sent back because of delays in getting the student officially admitted, A&R is piloting
a process at the Downtown Campus whereby students get assistance from counselors and A&E 2 staff in
filing online applications. Piles of transcripts that used to be mailed to SFSU, Cal State Hayward, and
San Jose State are now sent electronically. A&R is particularly pleased with improvements they have made,
working in cooperation with the Transitional Studies Department, to serve students who are getting the
adult high school diploma. Issues with missing units and incomplete transcripts, previously commonplace,
are now very rare because of improved coordination.
Noncredit attendance accounting, however, is one area in which progress towards automation has been
on hold. Noncredit is not benefiting as much as credit by the increased efficiency in A&R. The Positive
Attendance Rosters are a manual operation from the teachers’ perspective. While teachers take responsibility
for accurately completing and submitting the rosters, the vacant slots of “open entry/open exit” 3
are tallied manually by staff who walk class to class, counting students or seats. One legislator has seized
on the proposal of noncredit attendance accounting by census, and progress towards automation is
delayed while the District again waits to see whether that initiative results in changes to state law.
The first time that concept made it as far as the State Department of Finance where it was defeated.
Meanwhile, most areas targeted by the Strategic Plan for noncredit streamlining (“waiting lists,
registration, transfer between classes, class counts, no-show follow up, and attendance accounting”)
wait on the back burner while the census issue is pending resolution.
Has the re-engineering effort led to a radical transformation of Admissions and Records That would be
an overstatement. As of this time, the Re-engineering Study is regarded by some as more of a platform for
change than a precise roadmap to it. The steering committee has discussed increasing staff involvement
in the future and the development in Spring 2005 of a structured initiative for improvements in 2005–06.
For now, A&R identifies a principal challenge as the inability to get classified positions filled due to
budget constraints.
2 Admissions and Enrollment
3 Noncredit classes are offered on an open-entry, open exit basis, meaning that students can enroll or withdraw at any time
in the semester. Funding is based on daily attendance, so that vacancies must be filled as they occur.
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