Philip E. Hawkins, Ph.D.A i t Di t f Fi i l AidAssociate Director of Financial AidKennesaw State University

Cheryl MatsonyDirector of Admissions OperationsKennesaw State University

Georgia SUMMIT ConferenceGeorgia SUMMIT ConferenceSeptember 29, 2011

CollaborativeCollaborativeto work, one with another; cooperate; to work or act together or jointly for a common purpose or benefit.

Workflowthe flow or amount of work to and from an office the flow or amount of work to and from an office, department, or employee.

E ll t M g tEnrollment ManagementHow do we define who we are and what we do?

A Problem Worthy of yCollaboration

Transfer Credit Evaluation

Solution Identified and Implemented

Digital Back-Officeg

Future Applications of Solution Graduation AuditGraduation Audit Financial Aid Eligibility

BACKGROUND – A KSU EXAMPLE

Transfer students submit transcripts from other colleges through the Admissions Office

Prior to Spring 2008, evaluation of transfer credit happened following acceptance for admission

Students who were not admitted were not evaluated for transfer Students who were not admitted were not evaluated for transfer credit All steps for the transfer evaluation process occurred in the

Registrar’s Officeg Admissions and Registrar workflows were initially built separately

with no flow from Admission to Registrar for transfer evaluation

IDENTIFYING THE SOURCE OF THE ENROLLMENT RELATED CONCERNENROLLMENT RELATED CONCERNIncreased workload demands resulting from rapid growth

Broken processp

Graduation Audit AND Transfer Evaluation processes peaked at the same time Same personnel in Registrar’s Office were performing both tasks Same personnel in Registrar s Office were performing both tasks

Admissions was advancing in use of document imaging and workflow technologiesworkflow technologies

SCOPE OF THE CONCERN

University-wide Impact

Academic Advisement andAcademic Advisement and Transfer Student Orientations

Negatively impacted transfer studentNegatively impacted transfer student conversions (decisions to attend)

Financial Aid was unable to accuratelyFinancial Aid was unable to accurately award and disburse aid due to missing information

GATHERING THE STAKEHOLDERS

Digital Back Office Committee Committee made up of representatives from Admissions, Registrar’s

Office Financial Aid and Enterprise Systems ServicesOffice, Financial Aid, and Enterprise Systems Services This committee determined that a Process Review was needed.

A subcommittee of the DBO Committee became the WorkflowA subcommittee of the DBO Committee became the Workflow Committee Subcommittee was charged with identifying and implementing

solutions needed to improve customer service for transfer students

IDENTIFYING POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

Offices of Registrar, Admissions and Financial AidDBO Subcommittee met to set outcomesRegistrar’s OfficeRegistrar s Office Reengineering of the transfer evaluation and graduation audit

processes Reassignment of staff roles and reclassification of positionsg p

Admissions Office Expansion of the Digital Back Office concept

Financial Aid Office Just hoped for the best!

SOLUTIONS IDENTIFIED

Resulted in a rewrite of the Admissions and Registrar’s Office workflows into a continuous process and revamping of business practicebusiness practice

In the Registrar’s Office, the graduation audit process and the transfer evaluation process were split with dedicated personnel for eachA portion of the transfer evaluation process moved from the

Registrar’s Office to the Office of University Admissions –Di i l B k Offi Thi “d h” b i hDigital Back Office. This process – “data push” - begins the transfer evaluation process.

SHATAEQ

Left side = AdmissionsDigital Back Office enters all

courses from all transfer

Right Side = RegistrarTransfer Articulation based on

student’s chosen degree transcripts.

gprogram

Workflow strategies within document imaging system have Workflow strategies within document imaging system have also facilitated more efficient assignment of responsibilities to staff within each office Transient enrollment processing (Admissions)p g ( ) International transcript processing (Admissions) Transfer articulation by academic program (Registrar)

THE DIGITAL BACK OFFICETHE DIGITAL BACK OFFICE

Application – txt .txt & xml – Nolij

Transfer into

Applicant Workflow

Application – txt and html

Nolij Loader into Nolij Web (pdf,

Transfer into Banner

Workflow to Operator for

verification & SIS

Test Scores – txt(show up in Nolij Nolij Web (pdf,

html)

Recycle

verification & SIS Update Web form)

Electronic HS Transcript – xml &

pdf

Dragged into Nolij Web

File Complete?pdf

Scanned & Indexed

pdf College Transcripts

File

YesNo

Accepted?

Paper Credentials

Transfer

Recycle & Email Trigger Yes No

Transfer Credits?

Admission Data Push Box

Registrar Transfer Articulator Box Yes No

ENROLLMENT SERVICES COMMUNICATIONS

Once Registrar completes transfer articulation, a code is added to SOATEST (TRAN) with date of completion in the “Test Score” fieldScore fieldThis code triggers an email notice

from the Enrollment ServicesCommunication Center to theCommunication Center to the student signaling the completionof their transfer credit evaluation

d h th thand how they can access those details

MEASURABLE OUTCOMES

This new process expedites the turn-around time on the completion of transfer evaluations for students interested in attending KSUattending KSU.Prospective students can now make an informed decision about

enrolling at KSU much earlier.Wait time for transfer evaluations has been reduced from 6-8 weeks

to 10 days.Better service to prospective and currently enrolled students.Provides academic advisors with more information about the

transferability of courses at the time of advisementEnables faster Financial Aid processing for transfer students

GRADUATION AUDIT

The business process improvement gained through the re-organization of the transfer credit evaluation process assisted the Registrar’s Office in the creation of a Graduation andthe Registrar s Office in the creation of a Graduation and Transfer Evaluation Services Center (GATES).Transfer Credit Articulation and Degree Audit processes are now

tied more closely together.y gAverage GATES Workload Volume each semester:Transfer Credit Evaluations = 3,000Degree Audits = 2,000

GRADUATION AUDIT

Other business process improvements within GATES have improved efficienciesDegreeNavigator – on-demand degree progression informationDegreeNavigator – on-demand degree progression information

and robust academic planning tools for students and academic advisorsElectronic Graduation PetitionElectronic Graduation Fee Payment Processing

FINANCIAL AID

Financial Aid processes which rely on accurate number of credit hoursHOPE Scholarship (attempted hours and GPA)HOPE Scholarship (attempted hours and GPA)Loan Limits – depend on student’s grade level

Prior to this business process improvement Financial Aid staffPrior to this business process improvement, Financial Aid staff were manually reviewing transcripts for calculation of attempted hours and GPA for HOPERegarding loans, students were usually ‘under-awarded’ a loanRegarding loans, students were usually under awarded a loan

because of inaccurate grade level details during peak awarding season

HOPE SCHOLARSHIP

Financial Aid Office now relies on the SOATEST code indicating completion of transfer credit evaluation (TRAN)Enterprise Systems and Services (ESS) Office use this code as p y ( )

a “trigger” to populate the top row of ZHAHOPE with the appropriate HOPE fund code and set it to a “Pending Evaluation” statusAn SQL report generates a list of all students in a HOPE

Pending status in for HOPE evaluators to properly complete the evaluation processTransfer grades are now included by Registrar’s Office before

HOPE evaluation occurs; therefore GPA accumulations are easierHOPE evaluators now concentrate on checking the “other” HOPE

eligibility requirements residency 7 year limit etceligibility requirements – residency, 7-year limit, etc.

LOAN PROCESSING

Accurate Loan Awards Based on Grade LevelStill a work in progress!

FINANCIAL AID WORKFLOWS

We are about three steps behind our Admissions and Registrar counterparts in the configuration of the technology to assist with the workflow process but we are getting therethe workflow process, but we are getting there.Verification; C-flags; Professional Judgment

By “hitching our wagon” to the workflow improvements in the other Enrollment Services offices, we have also improved our turnaround , ptime in awarding students while also improving our accuracy of Financial Aid awardsPreviously, Financial Aid packages did not include HOPE at the

b i i f kbeginning of peak season.Once HOPE was evaluated and awarded, packages had to be

adjusted due to reduced financial need with the addition of HOPE.Reduced number of repeated “touchpoints”Reduced number of repeated touchpoints

QUESTIONS???

Please share with us ways yyou have improved customer service through collaboration and workflow improvements

Dr Philip Hawkins phawkin4@kennesaw eduDr. Philip Hawkins – phawkin4@kennesaw.edu

Cheryl Matson – cmatson@kennesaw.edu