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High School Membership

Connect to the world of higher education

As a high school member, you'll be connected to more than 11,000 members from institutions around the world. Facilitate your professional development by attending discounted meetings, gaining complimentary subscriptions to our College & University journal and more.

Why should you join? From professional development opportunities to forging connections that will help you in setting down career stones, there's more than one reason. 

Annual Membership Price: $302

Requirements: YOU MUST BE A REGISTRAR, COUNSELOR, OR OTHER PERSONNEL AT A SECONDARY SCHOOL.

Develop Professionally

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Professional Competencies

Work on your skills like leadership and management, technical knowledge, and upping your professional contributions to the field. We have the tools for you.

Online Learning

From free webinars to self-paced on-demand learning, AACRAO's online learning covers a variety of subjects—technology, strategic enrollment management, admissions, FERPA, transfer, credential evaluation, and international education—and allow you to engage with the presenters and instructors.

Take the next step in your career

High School to University Registrar? It can happen. AACRAO's Career Navigator is a wealth of job postings and resources for training.

Gain Recognition

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Get Published

AACRAO's professional journals College & University and SEM Quarterly are always accepting articles and have a wide circulation base.

Research Opportunities

Leverage the expertise of our over 11,000 members and contribute to one of the premier sources of practice related research within the global higher education community. 

Join a committee

Do work you're passionate about, with support and mentoring from fellow members. From Caucuses to specialized topics, it's all one community, no matter where in the world your institution is located. 


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AACRAO's bi-weekly professional development e-newsletter

Admission Processes and Challenges

Jan 5, 2024, 14:28 PM
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Summary : Take advantage of the tools and technology available to help institutions manage and optimize their processes.
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Sponsored by Alithya

Higher education admissions processes are as varied as the almost 20,000 higher education institutions worldwide. These processes are often complex, consisting of various activities and touchpoints with applicants that need to be managed by admissions staff. Common activities during the application and admit phase include: 

 

  • Application data intake 
  • Checklist management 
  • Receiving data from 3rd parties (test scores, transcripts, recommendations, etc.) Interview and/or audition management 
  • Committee reviews of application files 
  • Articulations management and transfer credit evaluation 
  • Eligibility determination and applicant ranking 
  • Communication with applicants 

With each of these activities, there are inherent challenges that admissions offices face. Chiefly among these are disparate systems, increasing application volumes, and scarcity of support staff (both within the admissions office and information technology services). 

Managing the Data

At many institutions, a myriad of software platforms are utilized to manage the various parts of the admission process which can create several challenges. For example, a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is used to manage marketing, event management, and prospective student data while admission application data (usually collected by a different third-party software) is exported and stored in a Student Information System (SIS). Meanwhile, test score data, transcripts, recommendations, portfolio submissions, and audition information are generally gathered (and may be housed) in separate third-party systems respectively. Using disparate systems causes institutions to have to create and maintain integrations or develop processes to export and import the data regularly. If the integrations or imports are not real-time, there is an additional challenge to keeping data in sync and up to date. These challenges greatly impact applicants who not only have to navigate through different systems for various document submissions but also do not receive feedback that what they submitted counts toward their application requirements. 

Moreover, higher education institutions are seeing a record number of applications with an increase in volume each year while at the same time dealing with a decrease in the number of support staff available to review application files. This, in turn, causes delays in determining applicant eligibility, admissions ranking, review of transcripts for transfer student admission and transfer credit, and providing timely communications with applicants. While many institutions explore the option to automate some of these functions, complexities in the processes or calculations paired with the use of varied systems create challenges in fully automating the admission process. 

While Admissions Offices face challenges such as those described above, as well as a multitude of other difficulties, as a leader in higher education consulting and a premier Microsoft and Oracle partner, Alithya is well-poised to assess your institution’s unique situation. We are a trusted partner that will offer solutions tailored to your needs that will alleviate your current technological limitations.

Categories :
  • Technological Knowledge
Tags :
  • corporate
  • CRM
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AACRAO's weekly e-newsletter delivering policy and industry news

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Questions? Contact us at membership@aacrao.org or (202) 355-1040