Registry and Planning Services
Paperless Admissions
Last Updated: 13/07/17
Contents
1) Overview
2) Viewing applications in MAP
3) Processing applications
4) Communication with applicants
5) Cascade
Overview
Paperless admissions allows admissions staff to view and act upon applications electronically in MAP
without the use of a paper-based form or the need to use SITS client. Once an application is initially
reviewed, it is then owned by the user and a workflow commences whereby a decision can be made,
the applicant can be passed to a tutor, invited for an interview or cascaded. Each step in the process is
recorded in SITS for each applicant, allowing staff to easily track the progress of any application.
Viewing Applications
Applications are viewed using the ‘Admissions’ tab in MAP. Users are shown department specific
applications currently awaiting action/ownership and applications ‘owned’ by the user, sorted by date
received.
Applications can be filtered into the following views using the drop down menu in the upper right hand
corner:
 All Applications
 My Applications
 UGT Applications
 PGT Applications
 DRT Applications
 CAS Applications
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Applications can be sorted by clicking on any of the column headings and clicking on the Applicant ID
opens a quick applicant view in a new window without taking ownership of the application.
Using the Applicant Lookup below the Application List allows the user to search for any applicant, using
a number of search criteria, to view detailed applicant information and record/send communications.
The Applicant Lookup can be used to search for any applicant, regardless of application stage, and
should be used to record communication i.e. when receiving a phone call.
Clicking on ‘Initial Admissions Review’ for an application immediately gives the user ownership of that
application and allows a number of actions to be performed.
Processing Applications
Upon receiving a new application, clicking ‘Initial Admissions Review’ takes the user to the application
summary where the following information is displayed:
 Key applicant information
o Various applicant information; of particular importance are the course, application
stage and the application owner(s).
 Warnings
o These need to be checked carefully as some will state a requirement for the
application to be referred to Registry, such as if the applicant is under 18, has declared
a criminal conviction or there is uncertainty about their fee status.
 Available Actions
o A list of all available actions for the applicant. See below for further information on
actions.
 Review
o All previous actions for the applicant will be listed in date order from latest to oldest.
Similar to ACD in SITS, below the actions are tabs displaying further applicant information, some of
which allow the user to change applicant details or record further information.
Personal Details
Six containers of STU information are displayed and the data can be edited. If the applicant provides
an updated address, for example, this should be updated here.
Other Applications
Any other applications to Aston University are displayed.
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Qualifications
Displayed are predicted grades, completed qualifications and outstanding qualifications imported from
UCAS. Also shown are any existing SQEs.
Personal Statement
The Applicants personal statement is shown and also a free-text box for adding notes relating to the
personal statement. Should the personal statement contain evidence of a disability, there is a tick-box
for recording this.
References
As with the personal statement tab, references are displayed followed by a text-box for entering notes
and a tick-box for evidence of a disability.
Communications
See section on recording communications.
Education and Employment
The applicant’s education and employment history is shown.
Documents
Any existing documents are available to view. Clicking on Upload allows the user to attach a document
to the applicant; the document is located and assigned a document type and Upload is clicked.
Audit
All previous actions for the applicant are displayed.
It is important to note the application owner is now one specific member of staff and only that user can
perform an action. Each of the available actions results in the following:

Hold – request further information
o Returns application to School ‘pot’ with the expectation that the School will contact the
applicant regarding the chosen reason for putting on hold i.e. references, passport or
querying qualifications.
 Hold – call in for interview
o Returns application to School ‘pot’ with the expectation that the School will contact the
applicant to schedule an interview.
NB. See later section on communication for contacting applicants for the above actions.


Send to Tutor for review
o Removes application from list and sends to tutor’s application list for action. The tutor
can then request/arrange an interview, request information or recommend a
decision/change of course; all of which return the application to the admission staff
application list.
Refer to Registry – Criminal Convictions / Under 18
o Removes application from list and sends to Registry’s application list for action.
Registry can then respond either No, Yes or Defer; all of which return the application to
the admission staff application list.
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
Make a decision / Reject
o Takes user to a screen for confirming the decision, which immediately updates their
application record. If positive, all mandatory fields need populating (marked by an
asterisk) followed by clicking Next. If rejecting an application, populate the relevant
mandatory fields before confirming the decision by clicking Next.
o When populating Offer 1 and Offer 2, dynamic list boxes are used to help populate the
offer code. The code can be found by either typing the start of the code itself or its full
name in OLB. Note that Offer 2 is a non-academic condition and the application
decision will not store if an offer code is used that contains academic conditions.
o This screen is where the admissions course code can be changed if necessary, as well
as the entry block. To change an applicant’s route, this needs to be changed in ACD.

Cascade
o See section below on the cascade process.
Note that as an application is processed, the review stages at the bottom of the Application Summary
will build up in descending date order and summarise each stage with a date, user and outcome.
Once a final decision has been made for an applicant, they will be removed from the application list.
Should an applicant be made an incorrect offer or reject decision, their record will need to be updated
using RCD.
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Communication with Applicants
When viewing an applicant through either the Application Summary lookup or when considering an
action for an application, using the Communications tab allows the user to send a message to the
applicant or record communication with the applicant outside of the system.
Below the list of previous communications that have been sent is an option to send a message or
record communication.
Sending a message will send an email to the applicants home email address i.e. personal and from the
drop down menu a template message can be selected, applied and edited as the user wishes.
Recording communication allows the user to select a communication method and record some text,
which can then be viewed by other staff looking up the applicant.
To send an offer email/letter via an SRL, it is recommended ACD records are retrieved in SITS
on a daily basis using the decision date and then running the SRL.
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Registry and Planning Services
Admissions Cascade Process
Last Updated: 13/07/2017
Cascade Process Overview
The Cascade process used by Aston to
suggest alternative courses to applicants
that do not meet the entry requirements of
their initial course application has been
incorporated into the Paperless Admissions
screens.
Original Academic School Rejects
Application – Applicant Removed
from their Paperless Intray
An overview of the process is shown here.
Applicant Displays in Cascade
Student List and on Registry Staff
Cascade List
The main steps of the process are:
1) Original Academic School sends the
application into Cascade. This removes the
applicant from their Admissions: Application
List.
2) Other Academic Schools can view
students in Cascade and suggest
alternative courses ( offer ). These are sent
to Registry to collate with offers from other
schools.
3) After two weeks, Registry Admissions will
either:

Contact the applicant by email with
any alternative courses suggested.

Reject the application if there have
been no alternatives offered.
4) If Registry has contacted the applicant,
they will wait for up to two weeks for a
response and will then either:


Change the applicant’s course code
to match successful suggested
course. This will send the
application to the new Academic
School, who will be able to make a
decision on the application.
Reject the application if there has
been no response from the
applicant.
No Academic
School
registers
interest within
two weeks
One or more
Academic
Schools
register
interest within
two weeks
Registry
Declines
Application
Registry emails
potential
offers to
applicant
End
Applicant does
not respond
within two
weeks
Applicant
responds
within two
weeks
End
Registry
changes MAS
course code to
new
programme
New Academic
School makes
offer
End
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Sending an Application into Cascade
If an application is not suitable for the courses being offered by your Academic School and you believe
that it may of interest to another Academic School, it can be sent into the Cascade process.
Sending an application into Cascade will:


Remove the application permanently from your Admissions: Application List.
Add the application to the list of Cascade students viewable using the ‘View Cascade List’
option in the Admissions: Cascade container.
You can send an application into cascade at the Admissions Review stage by following the below
steps.
Important Note: If an application has been referred to a tutor or Registry, it cannot be sent into
Cascade until the application has been passed back to the Admissions Review stage.
1) Click on the Cascade option in the list of available actions.
2) Enter notes against the Cascade action to add to the application audit log, and then click on Next to
send the application into Cascade. This will remove the application from your application list and send
the application into the Cascade stage.
If an application has been sent into Cascade by mistake, it can be retrieved by contacting
Admissions staff in Registry and asking them to assign the application back to your Academic
School.
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Viewing and Responding to Cascade Applications
Once an application has been sent into the Cascade stage, it is allocated to Registry Admissions staff
until the application is either:

Allocated to another Academic School after the applicant responds to indicate that they would
like to apply for a course suggested by an Academic School

Rejected by Registry Admissions staff because there were no suggestions of alternate courses
provided by Academic Schools within two weeks of the application being cascaded.
Viewing Cascade Applications
Cascade Applications can be viewed using the View Cascade List option inside the Admissions:
Cascade container.
The Cascade student list displays a table of all the applications that are currently at the Cascade stage.
The table can be sorted by Applicant Number, Date of Cascade, Applicant Name, Course Applied For,
Year of Entry and the Cascade response already provided by your Academic School. You can sort by
any of these columns by clicking on the purple heading above the rows of applications, highlighted
below in red.
Applications will stay in the Cascade List for up to two weeks waiting for responses from
Academic Schools. Once two weeks have passed, the application may disappear from the list at any
time if it is processed by Registry Admissions. Applications that have been in the list for more than two
weeks will have their date of Cascade highlighted in red, as shown in the screenshot below.
You can view an Application Overview and Application Details for each application in the list using the
links in the Available Actions column of the table.

The Application Details page opens in a new web browser window and allows you to view the
full application details, which includes all the information that is available via MAP.
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
The Application Overview page contains basic application details and opens on top of the
Cascade list, allowing you a quick view of an applicant’s details.
Responding to Cascade Applications
Admissions staff can respond on behalf of their Academic School by using the Offer and Reject options
in the Available Actions column.

The Offer option allows you to contact Registry with suggestions as to alternative
courses that the applicant may consider.

The Reject option is not mandatory. It is used to indicate your response to Registry, but is
also used to allow you to sort the Cascade list by the responses from your Academic School.
For instance, this will allow you to sort the table so that only new applications you haven’t
looked at are displayed at the top of the table.
Once you have made a response to an application, it cannot be changed without contacting Registry
Admissions staff.
If you wish to suggest alternative courses to the applicant, you need to select one or more alternative
courses and add offer details, in particular the grade requirements for the alternative course. Once you
have done this, click Send Cascade Request to contact Registry Admissions with details.
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Viewing Cascade Offers / Alternative Course Suggestions
You can view all existing Cascade offers using the Application Overview links. This will give you
information about the cascade offer made by your Academic School and any offers made by other
Schools.
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What Happens Next
After you have suggested alternative courses to Registry for an application Registry admissions will (
depending on which is the shorted period of time ) either:

Wait two weeks

Wait until all Academic Schools have provided a response.
Registry will then either:

Reject the application because no Academic School has suggested any alternative courses.

Contact the applicant with any suggested alternative courses, who may respond to indicate
that they wish to be considered for one of the alternative courses.
If the applicant chooses to be considered for the course you have offered, their application course code
will be changed by changed by Registry Admissions, and the application will appear in your
Admissions: Application List so that you can enter a decision.
You can identify applications that are appearing in your Admissions: Application List as a result of
Cascade offers by looking for those that are at the From Cascade back to Review stage. You can sort
the list by the Current Stage heading to group these applications together.
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