Presenter Jolaine Frigault, Assistant Registrar at the University of Montreal, outlined the process, challenges, and benefits of moving from a paper student record to an electronic student record. Ms. Frigault began her session by giving attendees an overview of her institution and some of the challenges students, staff, and faculty were experiencing using a paper student record.
A high-level view of the University of Montreal:
- 45,000+ Students
- 10,000+ Employees
- 13 Schools
- 800 Programs
Challenges with using a paper student record:
- Partial student record documentation
- Mediocre experience
- Students required to manually submit documents
- Duplicate document submissions
Starting the Project
This multiyear project required extensive planning across several teams, beginning in 2015 the team would begin analyzing and documenting faculty record needs and requirements. By 2016 Ms. Frigault's team would present the overall project to the management team. Guidelines for the impending project included:
- Optimization of processes
- Consider and explore trends and best practices in records management
- Automate record cleanup (pruning), purging, and preservation
- Promote the use of Peoplesoft as an entry point
- Provide a better student experience
- Comply with legislation, internal policies, and procedures
- Ensure student records are secure and confidential
In 2017 the team moved into process analysis, documentation, determination of the composition of the student record, and technology selection. 2018 saw a new project manager join the project alongside numerous other changes including:
- Updated governance & structure
- Prioritization of deliverables & phase deployment planning
- Admissions and Identity document upload prioritization
- Rollout of recommendation letters
Early on the decision was made that the University would not validate each uploaded document, instead a sampling methodology was put in place that varied by program type and calendar. The University retained the right to request, at any time, original documentation from students. Over the next three years (2019, 2020, and 2021) the team at the University of Montreal continued to improve, expand, and optimize the process.
KPI's, Feedback, and Lessons Learned
88% of users reported being either "Very Satisfied" or "Extremely Satisfied" with the results of this project. In general, students found the new system intuitive and simple to use (93% of students). In terms of sustainability, the University of Montreal managed to reduce paper use by 92%.
As this project began before the COVID-19 pandemic, and continued through it, the University of Montreal was able to quickly pivot when it needed to. Some of the lessons learned from this project included:
- Policies can be more easily enforced when attached to forms/activity guides
- Training & Change Management are essential for progress
- End-user (Faculty/Staff/Student) consultation important
- Continued monitoring to ensure the acceptance of the electronic record
Going forward the University of Montreal will continue to optimize the process, look for ways to promote adoption, and expand areas of digitization (advising notes, for example).