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Team # 197 -- Graduate School Admissions Decentralization and Electronic Application
Graduate School

October 1996

Objective

To study the processes involved in decentralizing admissions and developing an electronic graduate student application form.

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Team Membership

• Rodney Erickson, Sponsor
• Lynne Goodstein, Sponsor
• Cindy Nicosia, Leader
• Barbara Sherlock, Facilitator
• Jean Courter, Member
• Becky Halpenny, Member
• Beth Haupt, Member
• Don Hogg, Member
• Jodi Johnson, Member
• Kathy Mingioni, Member
• Heather Shutica, Member

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Results Achieved to Date

• Applicants deal directly with dept to which they are applying
• Electronic application reduced printing costs, mailing costs, provided a more personalized service when answering applicants' questions & processing applications
• Time savings in reviewing applications is est. at 2,375 hours/yr
• Central coordination is maintained in the admissions office
• Dept flexibility increased
• Established new admissions process
• Redesigned current graduate school application making it more convenient for mailing
• Established new procedures for applying to the graduate school
• Established new procedures for admitting applicants
• Established a new system for ordering and receiving graduate school applications
• Psychology department decreased the number of applications prepared and mailed from 3,033 to 490 yielding an annual savings of over $2,967 in supplies and labor
• Established plan to provide additional income to programs - $20 per paid application to cover possible increased costs
• Provided training to over 140 staff assistants and other personnel and developed and provided a training manual
• Decreased entry time for application data
• Reduced application materials maintained by the Graduate School
• Provided a simpler and more personalized service when answering applicant’s questions and processing applications
• The Graduate Admissions Decision System (GRADS) was developed to support the processing of electronic data
• GRADS allows the graduate programs to view electronic applications and download data into their own databases and change admission statuses, semesters, and degrees via the Internet
• Developed Adobe downloadable Graduate Enrollment Services forms including the Graduate School application
• Reduction in 4 staff members--3 grade 16, 1 grade 14. The estimated annual savings based on mid-point salaries are $90,432.

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