August 14, 2017, by Jessica Watson

How Campus Solutions will change my role – Laura Dovey

I joined Admissions at the University of Nottingham as an Admissions Officer in September 2016, having previously worked in Admissions in a much smaller university.

Here at UoN I am based within the Postgraduate team in the Faculty of Science as Decision Maker for UK Direct Science. My previous experience in Admissions was mainly working within undergraduate applications and the UCAS system. Therefore, learning direct admissions and the processes surrounding this in general, as well as specifically at the University of Nottingham, was a new world for me.

Additionally, as I joined the University, Project Transform was in full swing. I had very little awareness of the changes that had taken place in the University so far and no preconceptions of what the upcoming changes meant for Admissions, and the University as a whole.

How I work now…

Whilst the Undergraduate Admissions team are already using the new Project Transform applications system, Campus Solutions, the Postgraduate team are currently using a variety of existing paperless systems in order to process applications.

We use Saturn PG Export Wizard to download reports of the applications that have been received via the online Applicant Portal. A PDF application can then be downloaded from the Applicant Portal, along with any supporting documents that were attached to the application at the time of submitting. After that, we process the application, recording the relevant details on an Excel ‘decision sheet’ template to assess the application.

Decisions are processed using the PG Admissions desktop client, which feeds back into Saturn and the Applicant Portal.  Whilst we do use a variety of systems, and the process may seem quite convoluted (it certainly isn’t easy to explain in a few words), the admissions processes that are in place and the dedication of the teams ensure that all applications are turned around quickly and efficiently.

Looking forward to the introduction of Campus Solutions for direct admissions…

Whilst I am aware that changing our entire working process will not necessarily be easy and without hiccups, I am hoping that the system will let us streamline the admissions processes. Eventually, we’ll have one central system for all stages of the application and student process. I’m particularly hoping for a more accurate way of tracking application histories and documents, to ensure we are delivering the best service to our applicants.

Training and preparations

Unfortunately I missed the introductory session for Campus Solutions, however I have had the chance to attend the initial training. In this training, we were given an overview of how the system works, and the different functionalities. We were then given the opportunity to get hands on and test some of the functions, as well as creating our own applications.

I believe a great positive of the introduction of Campus Solutions is the scope for the input of the day to day users in the development. Whilst we are currently undergoing training, we are being given the opportunity to provide feedback. We are helping to develop the system as much as possible to ensure it is fit for purpose, rather than simply rolling out a ready-made system.

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Google+
• Share on LinkedIn