UK-Birmingham: miscellaneous software package and computer systems
The University of Birmingham is looking to implement a web based Post-Graduate Admissions system that allows applicants to apply for University courses online. As part of this, it is expected that the selected system will allow the University to inform applicants of formal offers of a place at the University or offers of a place subject to conditions at the University electronically via email and via a PDF document. It is also expected that the system will allow applicants to upload research proposals, degree certificates, etc with the application and that the application and attached documents can be linked in the system. Further features that it is expected that the system will provide include allowing an applicant to the University to view the progress of their progression online, automatic referral of the application to referees, a fully electronic process which allows internal referral to, and responses by stakeholders, as well as allowing the University to email groups of potential applicants as defined by the University.
Currently the central Admissions office receives 30 000 post-graduate applications a year. Many of the processes for handling these applications are manual, in terms of passing the application from the central Admissions office to the academic department and in terms of informing the applicant of an offer of a place at the University. It is believed that through implementing a modern post graduate admissions system, many of these manual processes can be replaced with electronic processes, which in turn, will mean that decisions on applications can be made faster and hence applicants informed in a more timely manner, which it is hoped will improve the conversion rate from offer to acceptance.
