Developing an Online Admission
Review System
Rich Rutty
Software Developer/Analyst
Student Information Systems
Enrollment and admissions
Summer / Fall 2010 Enrollment:
38,420Undergraduate
11,582Graduate
1,193 Law
51,195 Total
2010 Admissions:
7,275First-Time Freshmen (Summer / Fall)
2,400Undergraduate Transfer (Fall only)
3,300New Graduate (Summer / Fall)
Student Information Systems
Freshman admissions
Fall 2010 Freshman Admission Statistics:
31,022Applied
14,583Admitted
7,275Enrolled
• Comprehensive application and document review for those not
automatically admitted (via Texas House Bill 588 - “Top 10% Rule”)
• Applicants eligible for certain scholarships also get reviewed.
18,964Freshman applicants scored
• Honors program applicants are not necessarily “scored,” but
reviewed.
3,226Honors applications completed
• Schools of Architecture and Fine Arts also review applicant files.
~600More freshman applicants reviewed
Student Information Systems
Personnel and timelines
Fall 2010 Freshman Reviewer Roles:
23 Full file reviewers, 825 applicants per reviewer
27 Essay readers,
702 applicants per reader
106 Viewers
• Most of the reviewers and readers worked off-campus.
Fall 2010 Freshman Review Deadlines:
12/15/2009 Application deadline
02/15/2010 Review deadline
Student Information Systems
What were we doing?
Printing files
Entering
review scores
Reviewing
paper files
Mailing files to
reviewers
Mailing files to
Admission
Office
Student Information Systems
How much paper was used?
Printouts for Fall 2009 Freshman
review used about 90 boxes of paper.
90 boxes → stack of paper 150 feet high
Student Information Systems
What we could do...
Create
electronic files
Review files
online
Distribute to
reviewer
inboxes
Student Information Systems
Reviewer
enters scores
What we could do...
Create
electronic files
Review files
online
Distribute to
reviewer
inboxes
Student Information Systems
Reviewer
enters scores
What we could do...
Create
electronic files
Review files
online
Distribute to
reviewer
inboxes
Student Information Systems
Reviewer
enters scores
What we can do with paper
• Read files almost anywhere we please. (portable)
• Scribble notes about the applicant directly on paper.
• Stacks of files give a sense of how much work has been
accomplished and how much work is left to do. (visual of
work status)
Student Information Systems
What can be better than paper?
• Reviewers can score files immediately.
• Each reviewer can customize the order in which the
documents are viewed.
• The pending files can be easily prioritized by date of
application materials completed.
• Distribution of files is automatic.
• Easier to track files assigned to reviewers.
• Reviewers can still choose to print their files.
Student Information Systems
Inspiration for a document reader
Student Information Systems
Perspiration for a document reader
1) Applicant files abound.
2) Applicants may or may
not have certain
documents.
3) Some documents are
imaged, some are
separate web pages,
others are raw text.
4) Different reviewer roles
should only be able to
view certain document
types.
5) Documents must be
secure.
Student Information Systems
What we have done
• Sufficient servers to handle traffic.
• Try to keep document size small.
– Generate raw text when feasible: applications, essays
• Try to limit database access and updates.
– Retrieve only the documents necessary for review.
– Eliminate “notes.” Update scores only.
• Make online document review as efficient as possible.
– Emphasize the document in the viewer.
– Score entry should be quick and easy.
– Inbox management should be automatic.
Student Information Systems
First attempt at a document viewer
Student Information Systems
First attempt at a document viewer
Student Information Systems
First attempt at a document viewer
Student Information Systems
Better document viewer
Student Information Systems
Build document list for each applicant
• Based upon role, retrieve only the documents allowed to
be viewed for the role.
Role
Can update scores
Document families
Freshman - PAI Reviewer
PAI, Essay1, Essay2
WRELTHNM
Freshman - Essay Reader
Essay1, Essay2
E
Freshman - Manager
PAI, Essay1, Essay2
WRELTHNM
Freshman - Viewer
HNWRELTM
Graduate - Manager
WARELTSFGM
Graduate - Viewer
WARELTSFGM
Student Information Systems
Documents for Freshman PAI Reviewer
Document Family
Document
Essays (E)
Freshman essay
Honors Application (H)
Honors Application
E
Letters of Recommendation (L)
generic Freshman letter of recommendation
H
generic letter of recommendation
I
Business Honors recommendation
H
Plan II recommendation
H
Natural Sciences Honors recommendation
H
Document formats:
Engineering Honors recommendation
H
E = electronic
Turing Scholars recommendation
H
H = HTML
Liberal Arts Honors recommendation
H
Miscellaneous admissions documents
I
Miscellaneous admissions application documents
I
Honors essays (N)
Honors application essay
E
Resumes (R)
Freshman resume
H
generic resume
I
Miscellaneous documents (M)
Transcripts (T)
Review worksheet (W)
Format
E, I
U.S. high school transcript
H, I
U.S. college transcript
H, I
Foreign college transcript
I
Foreign high school transcript
I
Miscellaneous transcript document
I
Freshman review worksheet
E
Student Information Systems
I = imaged
Document Customization
Sort inbox in date order
(reviewers and essay readers)
or name order (viewers).
Sort document families within
a file.
Student Information Systems
Document formats
• Electronic – comprises raw text which was originally
designed for our printing process
• HTML – a structured web page to display information
• Imaged – scanned documents retrieved by our image
servers
• We added another web page to display electronic
documents (electronic → HTML). The system now only
needs to handle HTML and imaged documents.
• HTML documents are displayed within the viewer (iframe).
• Imaged documents are embedded into the viewer (object).
Student Information Systems
Security considerations
• Authentication occurs with every page view.
• Roles limit which applicants and which documents can be
viewed.
• Roles also limit who can submit review scores.
• Login through a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is required
if accessed off-campus.
• Each link to an imaged document can only be used once.
• Audit all input and encode (almost) all output.
• Scripts (client and server) are used to prevent many webbased attacks.
Student Information Systems
Inbox for Freshman PAI Reviewer
Student Information Systems
Manager functions - Authorization
Student Information Systems
Manager functions – Score report
Student Information Systems
Manager functions – Inbox spoofing
Student Information Systems
Questions?
Student Information Systems
Acknowledgements
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Marilyn Galvan – Sr. Systems Analyst
Brent Heustess – Sr. Systems Analyst
Michael Caldwell – Assistant Director – Admissions
Susan Kearns – Associate Director – Admissions
Steve Rung – Assistant Director – SIS
Michael Orr – Associate Director – Admissions
Angela Svoboda – Director - SIS
Student Information Systems
Contact:
Rich Rutty – [email protected]
Student Information Systems