The Solution
The original solution was characterised by scanning and a lot of manual intervention including locating the correct applicant folder and uploading content to it. To reduce:
- Searching for missing files/ applicants
- Constant checking and re-checking
- Moving applicant folders as their status was changed
A digital process via the Applicant Portal was proposed. This enables content to be streamed into the correct Applicant Folder which was now set up with content types and metadata default values. As a result, content received (whether received in the post and scanned or downloaded from UCAS in bulk) was processed by workflow and automatically routed to the correct applicant folder removing the need for manual filing.
The cumbersome manual process for moving content between SharePoint Online and Google Drive was replaced with a workflow that did the majority of the manual work. The Google Drive Desktop app was used as a manual safety strategy.
The Admissions team knew the process was inefficient, but it was the only way it could be completed to meet the highly pressured time-sensitive admissions deadlines. The team had the in-depth business knowledge to know what the process needed to do but needed technical support to help automate the process and take advantage of current technology. Transparity came in to demonstrate the art of the possible.
Our approach was to work in partnership with Jesus College to understand the process and the problems that existed within the end-to-end process and there were quite a few challenges some of which were discovered part way through this project. An example was the manual hunt for applicants who were missing a particular file. A manual search was several hours in progress but within 40 minutes of being made aware of the issue, Transparity had developed a customisable Flow that was flexible and could be used to search for files meeting different criteria.
The manual process was challenging for the College to manage, yet now it operates from a single spreadsheet with a workflow taking the data and modifying the applicant’s metadata in SharePoint Online accordingly.
Trust between Jesus College and Transparity was developed, and Transparity were able to fully support them to streamline and automate a solution that is flexible enough to enhance and extend in the future.
Key components of the Solution include:
- Automated the updating of applicant records.
- Automated the routing of content from different sources (UCAS, Applicant portal, Admissions Team) to the correct applicant file.
- Processed data for successful applicants into the appropriate structure and automatically uploaded it to the University’s chosen Data Management System.
- Tools to further reduce time, effort including:
- Document Count discrepancy checker
- Applicant Status discrepancy checker
- Missing Document (where applicants should have a file with a specific filename format)
- PDF files being automated to the correct student folder to reduce the need for manual filing and support a paperless office.
