University of California at Davis

PROJECT

PROPOSAL

Online Graduate Application and Admission

Office of Graduate Studies

Draft for comments and suggestions !!!!!

May 2005

I. Rationale At UC Davis, much of the information required in the application for graduate studies and decisions on admission and fellowship awards is now supplied and transmitted through hard copy prints. As graduate education continues to grow at UC Davis, such a labor-intensive process can no longer meet the needs. In the past several years, various units on campus have tried to address this problem by utilizing the new information technology. IET is now operating a web-based application that allows prospective students to apply for graduate admission online. Several departments, such as Computer Science, Ecology, and Mathematics, have tried to reduce workload by developing an electronic system for faculty admission committees to review the applicant information online. The project proposed here is designed to expand these efforts in a more coordinated manner. The hope is that we can develop a campus-wide, secure, web-based system that will make the process of graduate application and admission more user-friendly and efficient. The next section of the document describes briefly the current process of graduate application and admissions at UC Davis. This is followed by an outline of the features and functionalities we think are necessary in an electronic graduate application and admission system. The remaining sections of the document explain how we should approach to the project. II. The Current Process of Graduate Application and Admission

To apply for graduate study at UC Davis, a prospective student must submit an application for admission. An online applicant may do so by filling and submit an online application form at UC Daviss web site. A paper-form applicant may do so by downloading the application form from the Office of Graduate Studies (OGS)s web site or requesting an application booklet from OGS, and then mailing the filled form to the office of the program he or she chooses to study. A prospective student must send an official copy of transcripts from each college or university he or she has attended to the graduate program office. Both online applicants and paper-form applicants must do so by mail. A prospective student must pay a non-refundable application fee. Online applicants may do so by providing credit card information while filling the online application form or sending a check or money order. Paper-form applicants may do so by attaching a check or money order to the application form sent by mail. A prospective student must provide letters of recommendation. Paper-form applicants may do so by asking his or her references to fill the form of recommendation included in the application booklet and send them to the graduate program office by mail. Online applicants must download the form from OGS website or request it from OGS and ask his or her references to fill the form and send them by mail to the graduate program office. A prospective student may apply for fellowships administered by the university. A paperform applicant may do so by filling the application form included in the application booklet. An online applicant may do so by downloading the application form from OGS web site or requesting it from OGS and sending the filled form to the graduate program office by mail. (A similar form is available online or in print for continuing graduate students applying for fellowship). All prospective students must provide valid GRE scores in general or in special subjects depending on the program requirements. International applicants from non-English speaking countries must also provide valid TOEFL scores. Applicants may request ETS to transfer their GRE/TOEFL scores to OGS.

Application materials submitted online are entered into the campus student information system (i.e., Banner) automatically. Graduate programs forward a copy of the application materials sent in the paper form to the OGS, which then enter the information into the campus student information system. Once completed, an application for graduate admission is evaluated by the Graduate Admissions Advisory Committee (GAAC) in a graduate program. Similarly, an application for fellowships is also evaluated by a committee in a graduate program. A graduate program submits its recommendations for admission and fellowship to the OGS. The OGS reviews the recommendation for admission and sends the letter of acceptance or rejection to the applicant. The OGS works with the Support and Welfare Committee to rank fellowship applications, determines the recipients, and notifies the recipients of awards.

III. Scope of the Project The purpose of this project is to develop a system that allows parties involved in the process of graduate application and admission to submit and access more information online. Briefly, the system shall be equipped with the following capabilities: A prospective student may apply for graduate admission electronically; An applicant may apply for a university-administered fellowship electronically; An applicants recommender may submit a letter of recommendation electronically; An applicant may check the completeness of his or her application; An applicant may check the status of his or her application; A graduate program may record the receipt of an applicants transcripts sent by mail; A graduate program may enter, verify and correct the application information; An admission or fellowship committee electronically reviews the application for admission, application for fellowship and other supporting materials submitted by the applicant and his or her references and makes comments; A graduate program electronically submits its recommendation on admission and fellowships to the OGS; The OGS reviews the admission and fellowship recommendation and informs the applicant of the decision by email;

An applicant offered admission states his or her intention of registration; The OGS and program staff compile basic statistics of application and admission.

This project will NOT cover the transmission of transcripts and some of the supplemental materials submitted by applicants to individual graduate programs. In other words, graduate applicants will continue sending the copies of transcripts and program-specific materials by mail. We should eventually be able to allow individual programs to customize the only admission application to avoid the need for supplemental applications to the programs. IV. Deliverables

An online application for graduate application and admission equipped with capabilities outlined above and deployed in the production, development and testing environments. Modifications to the GS web site regarding the online graduate application for admission and fellowships. An online users guide. A user training course for graduate program staff. A complete set of technical documents. A plan for administration and maintenance.

V. Milestones User requirements gathering. Evaluation of existing solutions and commercial products. Application designing (specific features and technical solutions). Project plan (tasks, task duration, resources). Hardware acquisition (if necessary). Application development. Quality assurance. User testing and fine-tuning. Documentation and training. Application deployment in production, development and testing. Post-project evaluation and future enhancement.

VI. Evaluation Criteria

The project is completed on time and within the budget limits. The application provides the functionalities required by application and admission needs of most graduate programs. The application interacts seamlessly with campus databases and campus network environment. The application is easy to understand and easy to use. The application provides accurate and reliable information. The application protects the confidentiality of the data. The documentation is useful and easy to understand.

VII. Project Sponsors and Team Executive sponsor o Jeff Gibeling, Dean of Graduate Studies

o TBA, Graduate Council Business sponsors o Steven Albrecht, OGS o Ian Blake, OGS o Hector Cuevas, OGS o Lisa Finnegan, OGS o Cathy Jurado, OGS o Yuhang Shi, OGS o TBA, GSAC Technical sponsors o TBA, IET
Project managers o Yuhang Shi (temporary), OGS o TBA, IET Project team (OGS, IET, GSAC) o Business analysts o Technical analysts o Programmers o Testers

VIII. Role and Responsibilities Executive sponsor o Provide overall leadership Business sponsors o Approve project proposal o Approve project plan o Approve changes to the project plan o Appoint project manager o Provide resources needed in the project o Provide links to various constituencies o Identify participants in user requirements gathering o Identify staff members as business analysts and testers o Help user training Technical sponsors o Approve project proposal o Approve project plan o Approve changes to the project plan o Appoint project manager o Provide resources needed in the project o Identify participants in user requirements gathering o Identify staff members as technical analysts and programmers Project managers o Conduct user requirements gathering o Present technical solutions to the business and technical sponsors o Develop the project plan o Modify the project plan if change is necessary o Allocate tasks to project team members

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Provide coordination for activities and tasks Keep the project on time and within scope Maintain meeting notes and issue log Update project sponsors periodically Schedule and convene team meetings Prepare the project completion report

IX. Project Management Approach The project shall be managed according to five principles of productivity management, as follows:

The project components are modularized. Each task is defined in detail. Correct resources, including personnel, are identified and committed. Time needed for each task and the whole project is estimated. A procedure is set up for changes to the project plan. There is a general agreement on evaluation criteria.

This methodology is intended to maximize efficiency and minimize confusion at every stage of the project. The project manager will be responsible for coordination among various groups involved in the project. Regular team meetings will be conducted, as well as issue management, change control, and post-project evaluation.

Updates and Meetings. The project manager will engage the projects sponsors through periodic status updates throughout the lifetime of the project. The project team will meet regularly to address issues encountered. Ad-hoc meetings will be called for in case a change is requested or pressing issues emerge. Communication. All parties involved in the project will likely be communicating by phone and e-mail for quick updates and incremental decision-making. This will keep the project moving between regularly scheduled meetings. Documentation. The activities involved in the planning and implementation of this project shall be documented. This includes: (1) user requirements, (2) application specifications, (3) a project plan, (4) meeting notes, and (5) an issue log. The project plan serves as a blueprint for activities, tasks, task duration, completion dates, resources, and roles and responsibilities for all the parties involved in the project. Issues Management. Technical, resource and policy issues will be tracked from initiation, investigation, and resolution through the use of an issue log designed for this purpose. Technical issues are defined by those that can be resolved by the project team. Resource and policy issues require decision by the projects sponsors. All the issues must be resolved in a timely fashion so that the project may proceed according to the plan. Change Management. Changes to the scope of the project, schedule, personnel, and responsibilities will be documented and decided by the projects sponsors. All requested changes shall be submitted to the project manager. To the extent possible, a requested change should avoid causing project delays or other unintended consequences.