Custom Online Registration Solution How West Coast University built a custom online registration module to align with academic model Keith Hockenbury Sr. IT Manager SIS, ACC/WCU
Confidential Information The information presented in this session is proprietary and confidential to Campus Management Corp. Please do not share or discuss it with others outside of your institution/organization. This presentation may contain plans and forward looking statements and the information as presented may be subject to change. Any recording of this session is strictly prohibited.
Session Etiquette Please silence your cell phone Please avoid side conversations Please refrain from excessive typing If you must leave the session early, please do so as discreetly as possible Please fill out the session evaluation on the Mobile App Thank you!
Background 20+ years experience in higher education 12 experience with CampusVue Student 8 years with Campus Management enterprise client and past 4 years with American Career College / West Coast University Past experiences Admissions, Registrar, Training Specialist, Academic Business Analyst, Solutions Architect Currently Senior IT Manager for CampusVue Student and BI applications
What is West Coast University? We are a private for-profit university system 5 Locations: Orange County, Los Angeles, Ontario CA, Dallas TX, Miami FL. Undergrad Healthcare programs: Bachelor of Science in Nursing, LVN to BSN, RN to BSN Graduate Healthcare programs: Masters of Science in Nursing, Masters of Science in Occupational Therapy, Doctorate of Physical Therapy. Approximately 5600 students CampusVue Student as SIS for last 7 years
Our Needs Were Simple Programs require students take courses in specific sequence Students registered for full program Schedule changes are frequent and time consuming CORE nursing students registered in specific sequence of courses each term Students only allowed to select different section of registered course, may not select alternate course Clinical course assignments set by Clinical Manager, no registration options Online course section acknowledgement WCU uses a parent/child term structure
But We Ran Into Issues Unable to utilize CampusNexus Student Portal Online Registration due to term sequencing Tested using pre/co-requisites to drive sequence, but encountered limits to accuracy Manual registration: First step toward online registration was to have students complete course registration requests and staff enter into CampusVue Student manually Difficult to manage student priority of requested courses Parent/child term misalignment during scheduling & re-scheduling Rescheduling was consuming registrar s office time and causing financial aid and billing issues
Approach To Solution Leveraged existing CampusNexus Student API Utilized existing in-house development team Developed distinct applications / tools Applications / tools developed in phases Leveraged existing native in-house application platform
Tool Box WCU created tool box containing 4 tools developed to address the issues involved in student scheduling
Laying the Ground Work for Online Registration Phase 1: Batch Unregister tool Phase 2: Term Sequence Tool Phase 3: Batch Scheduler The Scheduler Phase 4: Online Registration
Phase 1-3 Tools
Development of Online Registration Application Initially stand alone application with link via portal Use CampusVue Student existing Online Registration configuration to drive registration group creation and management of registration open and close dates / times Display students registration group time in application Presented only courses registered in upcoming term, and show available sections Display but do not allow modification of clinical courses Check for day/time conflicts, holds, pre-requisites, etc.
Challenges creating Online Registration Creating user interface that was secure, simple, and easy to use Initially log in page required to access application Displaying registration group days/time difficult. Using Scheduled Credits provided basis for determining which registration group student is in. Registration load caused deadlocking and blocking in CampusVue Student database Several cycles required Campus Management support to investigate deadlocking and how to resolve Ensured portal box resources could handle load and traffic Students slam system in first 15 minutes of each registration group opening Other CampusVue Student processes running impacted online registration performance Managing seats counts When no seats remain in selected course student needs to get put back into original section. Some left unregistered, created report to find condition for staff to fix.
Solutions to Online Registration Challenges Did pilot and student focus group feedback Pass portal credentials to validate student. Modified to accept AD sign on in 2015. Displaying registration group days/time difficult. Using Scheduled Credits provided basis for determining which registration group student is in. Created monitoring views to quickly identify and resolve issues Network team monitoring performance during registration cycles Ensured portal box resources could handle load and traffic Technical support email alias for students to report issues Other CampusVue Student processes running impacted online registration performance Managing seats counts Report created to pull any students who were left unregistered from a course due to deadlock Created temporary table to hold student info until transaction completed
Continual Improvement of Online Registration Reduce issues encountered during online registration Monitor system for errors, deadlocking and address promptly Investigate root cause if issue occurs and address in future cycle Ongoing student surveys and feedback Continued student feedback after each registration cycle Surveys adjusted to gather information on platforms used to register If technical issue occurred in cycle, request specific information from students impacted on what they experienced Investigate alternative ways to process registrations to reduce processing time and resources
Benefits of Online Registration Empowers students to select best fit schedule Significant decrease in registrar and program chair registration tasks Last cycle 3247 students used online registration. 86% of survey respondents agree online registration improves the process 73% indicated performance has improved since prior cycle More clinical assignments are being done prior to registration resulting in fewer schedule adjustments after registration
We value your feedback! Evaluate this session now on your mobile device or computer. campusinsight.com Note: All conference presentations may be downloaded after completing the post-conference survey (emailed to participants at the end of April).
Say It and Spray It! Follow us on Twitter @campusmgmt use #CAMPUSINSIGHT16 and receive your complimentary hand sanitizer at the registration desk.
Questions Contact me: Keith Hockenbury khockenbury@westcoastuniversity.edu