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© 2010

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UArtsEnrollment

Deng-Shun ChangWan-Ting ChangNicolas CoiaMichael Smith

Published by

211 South Broad Street, 5th FloorPhiladelphia, PA 19102

Copyright © 2010

UArtsEnrollment

Michael SmithNicolas CoiaWan-Ting ChangDeng-Shun Chang

Published by

211 South Broad Street, 5th FloorPhiladelphia, PA 19102

Copyright © 2010

Copyright © 2010 by Danny Chang, Wan-Ting Chang, Nicolas Coia & Michael SmithIllustrations copyright © 2010 by Danny Chang, Wan-Ting Chang, Nicolas Coia & Michael Smith

Photography credits:Pages 4, 6, 24, 51, 61, 104, 108, 111, © 2010 Nicolas Coia; Pages 7, 10, 12, 17, 49, 55, 58, 63, 67, 72, © 2010 Wan-Ting Chang; Pages 19, 21, 22, 28, 40, 44, 47, 56, 64, 71, © 2010 Deng-Shun Chang; Page 107, © 2010 Jonny Goldstein;

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced–mechanically, elec-tronically, or by any other means, including photocopying–without written permis-sion of the publisher.

Cover design by Giacomo CiminelloBook design by The BAMF Team, Danny Chang, Wan-Ting Chang, Nicolas Coia & Michael Smith

Masters of Industrial Design at The University of the Arts212 South Broad Street, 5th FloorPhiladelphia, PA 19102

First printing January 2010

Table of Contents04 Introduction: Meet Jenny08 Chapter 1: Background18 Chapter 2: Research40 Chapter 3: Opportunities72 Chapter 4: Proposal104 Chapter 5: Future Steps108 Conclusion: Meet Jenny

112 Glossary

Introduction

Meet JennyJenny had nearly finished her first semester as a sophomore at UArts and it was almost time to register for next semester’s classes. Although she was enrolled in the Illustration program, Jenny wanted to focus her non-major studies on crafts. She knew that enrolling in an undergraduate education at UArts would allow her to spread her wings, study multiple facets of art and learn from a multitude of diverse artistic individuals.

Jenny has been trying to get a hold of her advisor, Marco, for the past week, but to no avail; Marco, an adjunct professor, was required to advise, but found himself on campus infrequently. Due to the high student-to-advisor ratio in the Illustration department, the advisors found it difficult to schedule time with students for advising. After a few emails about scheduling an appointment, Jenny and Marco decided October 26th would work best.

At her advising meeting, Jenny explained her interests in learning crafts but feared she would not be able to complement her education as well as she hoped. Marco

Although she was enrolled in the Illustration program, Jenny wanted to focus her non-major studies on crafts.

asked Jenny if he could see her advising form to better understand these frustrations. Jenny was confused; she had no idea where to get the form or what classes she needed to take. Marco realized he hadn’t told Jenny what she needed to do for class registration. Marco had no substantial advisor training and did not fully understand the goals or procedures of an advisor. He emailed Jenny the links to the course catalog, bulletin, and advising forms. Marco then decided to schedule a meeting later that week so Jenny could explore her options.

Before Jenny could schedule her spring semester, she needed to know what classes were required and how many credits were left for electives. She navigated to her degree audit via a link provided by Marco. It took her quite a while to understand the document; she couldn’t help but stumble through the cryptic, text-based degree audit. After she spent some time learning how to read it, she was able to locate her required major and elective courses for the spring semester.

Jenny browsed through the course catalog and was excited to find “Introduction to Throwing,” a sculpture elective that sounded perfect. The problem was, Jenny had no idea what classes were offered in the coming spring semester. She recalled receiving a few emails from the Registrar’s Office, but was overwhelmed by the email lengths. Rather than paging through old emails, she contacted Marco for direction.

Marco sent Jenny a link to the UArts bulletin. The bulletin differs from the catalog in that it only lists available classes in the coming semester. Since she had

not previously seen this, Jenny felt lost in the Excel-like layout. She eventually found “Introduction to Throwing” and saw that it would be offered in the spring semester, but only at one time (Wednesdays from 8:30am - 3:50pm). All Jenny had to do now was schedule her remaining five classes.

Jenny began locating her major classes in the bulletin, but was soon overwhelmed with the number of sections available for some courses. Fearing she wouldn’t be able to fit her elective into the confusing schedule, Jenny decided to see if Marco could help shed some light on the situation.

At their next meeting, Marco and Jenny painstakingly looked up each class, selected from the multiple scheduling options and manually plugged them into the grid, hoping no conflicts would arise. They came up with a few alternate schedules revolving around the elective she was interested in. However, Jenny wasn’t able to take any of the liberal arts classes she wanted to take; she had to settle for less exciting courses that would fulfill her requirement.

Once Jenny’s registration plans were established, Marco submitted the advising form to the Registrar’s Office, giving Jenny permission to register for classes online. Although they accomplished their goal of filling out and sending the advising form to the Registrar’s office, Marco did not have the time to speak with Jenny about her future goals and what she felt could best influence her education.

The seemingly simple exercise of sketching out student schedules was a daunting task for Marco. There were numerous course times for each required class, creating difficulty in the manual navigation of scheduling options.

Jenny was confused; she had no idea where to get the form or what classes

she needed to take.

4 5Introduction: Meet Jenny

However, it was important to build a comprehensive map for Jenny’s semester.

Inconsistencies in class lists between the catalog and bulletin proved frustrating. Marco only wished there was a more productive way to accomplish these tasks.

Jenny received a lengthy email from the Registrar’s office confirming her advisor approval and detailing the steps she needs take for class registration. She skimmed over the endless email to arrive at her priority registration time. “Why couldn’t they have just sent a few simple lines of text?”, she wondered.

It was November 15th, Jenny’s priority registration was at 11:00am. She jumped onto her computer at 11:15am to start the registration process. She navigated to the “Search/Register for Sections” area. Jenny patiently filtered for her core classes and tried to register for them. Rather than registering for these classes, however, WebAdvisor simply added them to a list of classes in which she was interested. Annoyed at the clunky system, Jenny proceeded to select “register” from the drop down menus next to her requested courses.

An error appeared on-screen saying she was unable to register until she updated her address. This surprised Jenny because she hadn’t absorbed this piece of information from the Registrar’s lengthy email. After she frantically updated her address, Jenny was finally eligible

for registration. She was unaware that the system saved her “Considerations” and went through the entire process again, wasting valuable time.

It was then 11:45am. With 300 other students in Illustration, two of the courses Jenny wanted to register for on Monday and Tuesday were already capped: Pictorial Foundation and Figure Anatomy.

She tried to register for the Tuesday and Thursday sections of Figure Anatomy but they too were completely full. It was noon, and the only remaining time slot was the 8:30pm or 1:30pm Wednesday slot. This meant that, because of conflicting class times, she could not register for “Introduction to Throwing.”

Jenny was very disappointed, as she really wanted to incorporate crafts into her education. She felt if the online registration process was simpler or the upfront instructions were better delivered, she would have been able to register for the classes she was passionate about...

...and she wouldn’t have felt so lost.

...if the online registration process was simpler or the upfront instructions

were better delivered, she would have been able to register for the classes she

was passionate about...

6 7Introduction: Meet Jenny

Chapter 1

BackgroundThe Director of the Masters of Industrial Design program (MID), Jonas Milder, approached Adrienne Stalek, the Associate Dean of the College of Art and Design, and Krishna Dunston, the Assistant Dean of the College of Performing Arts, about implementing a design intervention at the university focused around the registration and advising processes.

Two MID students constructed research on the registration process of UArts in the summer of 2010. Their analysis helped structure an outline for rest of the project.

8 9

In the beginning...

Adrienne Stalek (left)and Krishna Dunston

The Masters of Industrial Design program was given the task of researching multiple facets of the UArts enrollment process. The Associate Dean of CAD and the Assistant Dean of CPA, Adrienne Stalek and Krishna Dunston, respectively, were interested in “How do students get into and out of classes?,” “Are the Leave of Absence, Withdrawal and Drop/Add Forms structured in the best way possible?” and “How do we improve the overall student experience?”

With that direction, research the UArts enrollment process and look for areas of improvement in which a design intervention would best influence and improve the student experience. The research should be focused on advising, registration and paper forms.

Prior to the more comprehensive research presented in this book, a smaller team of MID students, Michael Barakat and Andy Grossman, performed preliminary research on what a student experiences during the registration process.

This initial research was a proving ground for a more in-depth design intervention.

The diagram to the right highlights a hypothetical student interaction with the registration process. In this interaction, the student must track down multiple professor signatures to complete the advising and Drop/Add forms.

Through a couple interviews with employees of the Registrar’s Office, the team discovered that the paper Drop / Add forms are a headache for both staff and students. The Registrar’s office states there are too many required signatures on the form and “too much [student] hand-holding.”

Override caps, prerequisite conflicts and class petitions are just a few of the manual overrides presented by students as challenges for the Registrar’s Office. Students who need to complete these actions create additional work. They must track down professors for additional signatures, forcing them to walk up and down the campus and have the Registrar’s Office fulfill the requests.

The prior team’s research was enlightening and gave immediate direction for where further insight should be implemented.

Previous Research

10 11Chapter 1: Background

StakeholdersUArts Enrollment touches upon multiple facets of the community: the Registrar, Deans, Faculty/Advisors and the Students (arguably the most important audience).

The prior team of MID students began to uncover specific areas of focus which, when analyzed, began to show a multitude of overlapping relationships.

The interactions of students and the Registrar, students and faculty, and finally students and the deans are important to keep in mind. These interactions begin to frame the larger and more pertinent challenges the university faces today.

This diagram portrays areas of focus and their relationships with stakeholders

Advising model

Closed classes

Drop / add

Forms must be printed

Independent study form

Manual overrides

No centralized info source

Portal is not unified

Portal registration system

Signature required

Unclear academic status

Students

Faculty / Advisors

Deans

Registrar

Stakeholders Involvement


The Elements of EnrollmentThe Registrar’s Office is responsible for maintaining all university records, including class lists, procedures, resources and physical space for academic courses.

Prerequisites and enrollment caps for all university classes are delivered to the Registrar for digital cataloging. This information is accessed automatically by the WebAdvisor when a student registers for class.

Advising is the process where members of a department’s faculty approve of the student’s preferred class schedules.

Advisors are challenged with ensuring students complete their required credits in a timeline congruent with the academic calendar. If a student fails or misses a required class, that class will need to be taken at a later date with possible additional costs.

There are multiple digital systems to help faculty, students and the Registrar access and interact with university information, such as policies, email and curriculum guidelines. None of these systems (ImageNow, Portal, WebAdvisor, UArts website,Wiki and Datatel), however, have a similar visual language or architecture.

In the beginning of the advising period, students research their required credits for the coming semester and sketch out possible class schedules. These schedules are then presented to their advisors for registration approval.

There is an overarching grid system which the schedules must adhere to, but this is structured well in advance of the student interaction.

Digital SystemImage NowPortalWebAdvisorWikiDatatel

SchedulingConflictsGrid SystemCommunication

RegistrarPaper FormsPreresquisitesEnrollment CapsRequirements

Four elements of enrollment

AdvisingDeansDepartment ChairsFaculty AdvisorsStudents


Signed Physical Form Scanned Image

Processed ImageData

Advisor

Advising

Student Registrar

WebAdvisor

Image Now

Datatel

Check Approval

Register

Current Registration Process

The registration system is currently a hybrid process involving both paper and digital forms. This process starts when the student meets with her advisor to review possible semester class schedules. These schedules are annotated on paper forms. The advisor then signs the form and scans it into the “ImageNow” system. ImageNow creates a PDF of the form which can then be emailed to the next appropriate party, in this case the Registrar’s Office. The Registrar’s Office can then process the information and enter it into Datatel.

Datetel is a digital filing cabinet, cataloging all information the university has on any given student. Datatel feeds WebAdvisor, and grants registration permissions and restrictions to all students. Without this technology, online registration would not be possible.

Once the process has been completed, the student may log into WebAdvisor to check her registration status. If cleared for registration, the student can then register during the registration period.

A hybrid registration process involving both paper and digital forms

1 2

34


Chapter 2

ResearchResearch was conducted in the form of interviews and surveys. Interviews were conducted with multiple faculty from around the campus including Deans, advisors and the Registrar’s Office. While surveys were passed out to students from various class years and programs.

18 19

Interviews

Department Chair 8Dean 3Registrar 6Director 2Administrative Assistant 1Advisor / Professor 1Total Interviews 21

Of the various research opportunities available, group discussion concluded on conducting university-wide interviews as the best source of information. By formulating an interview process, information was collected in a standardized way. Researchers were able to guide the conversations and maintain consistency in topics. The conversations were also allowed to advance where the interviewee felt most comfortable.

Interviews were conducted with a variety of university staff including Advisors, Directors, Department Chairs, Administrative Assistants, Deans, and the Registrar’s Office. A total of 21 members of the UArts community were interviewed.

Each interview was approximately one hour in length and recorded for notational purposes. The questions were formulized around advising, the registration process, paper & digital forms, and the grid.

20 21Chapter 2: Research

Sample Questions• What are your responsibilities regarding registration?• Are you familiar with the grid and the rules that surround it?• How do you feel about the number of required signatures on forms

like Drop/Add, Withdrawal or Leave of Absence?• If you could improve one facet of your job, what would it be?• What would you never change about your job?• How does your department structure advising?• What are your thoughts on the current advising model?• Do many of your students take electives outside of this department?

Are there any difficulties in scheduling electives?


Student SurveysSurveys were passed out to students of UArts to better understand views of a randomly populated group. 46 students were surveyed six Freshman, seven Sophomores, nine Juniors and 21 Seniors from two buildings, Terra and Anderson Hall.


Other Universities

A example of a visual degree audit system

Most universities use text-based degree audit systems, however, Temple and the University of Colorado at Boulder use more streamlined and visual degree audits.

The system, shown to the right, overlays visual representations of a student’s progress in terms of credit hours and GPA, even going as far as breaking this data out into class type.

This is an intuitive and easily comprehensible layout of progress.

You are here Audit View Course History Close Window

PREPARED: 06/11/08 - 14:23 U12345678Mary Miami GRADUATION DATE: 06/13/08PROGRAM CODE: 11 06 CATALOG YEAR: 20048

http://www.redlanternu.comBachelor of Arts

Geography

Audit

Categories

Course Cart

Course Term Credit Grade

GEO421 Fall2009

3.0 b-

Total 3.0

Course to add:

Add to cart

Go

Update year/terms of all courses

Fall 2007 Go

Open All Sections Close All Sections Printer Friendly

AT LEAST ONE REQUIREMENT HAS NOT BEEN SATISFIED

This Degree Requires 128 Total Applicable Credits

This degree requires a minimum cumulative Grade PointAverage of 2.000.Note: Anticipated grades for Planned courses willaffect the cumulative GPA reported for this requirement

First Year Seminar

English Composition and Literature

Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences

Cultures: Minimum of 9 overall hours with both areasdemonstrated

Natural ScienceMinimum of 9 credits, including the following:At Least Three Hours in Biological ScienceAt Least Three Hours in Physical ScienceAt Least One Laboratory Course

Mathematics, Formal Reasoning, Technology

Historical Perspective

Liberal Arts & ScienceLanguage Requirement - Complete one of 3 methods.

Liberal Arts & SciencesHumanities RequirementAt least three of four areas must be represented from:History, Literature, Philosophy, and Religion.A minimum of three hours must be completed in each ofthe areas selected.Three additional hours, for a total of 12 hours, can becompleted from any area or the additional course list.

Liberal Arts & Sciences - Social Sciences Requirement

Liberal Arts & SciencesFormal Reasoning Requirement

Geography Major Requirements

Sociology Minor

Courses in Excess of those Specifically Required

**** LEGEND ****

*** Requirement Completion Status Symbols ***

Not Yet Complete

Currently Satisfied

Satisfied if In-progress Work is Included

Satisfied if Planned Coursework is Included

+ Sub-requirement Complete - Sub-requirement Not Complete

*** Course Codes *** IP In-progress CoursePL Planned Course To Be TakenR Repeatable Course>X Duplicate Course, Does Not Count>- Hours on course reduced>S Course with hours split between requirements

*** Special Grades ***RG Currently RegisteredAP Advanced Placement CreditPR Proficiency Exam

Courses by term

Copyright © 2002-2009 Miami University. DARwin IA Version 3.5.8. All Rights Reserved.


Synthesizing Interview DataAnalyzing hours of tape can be a daunting task, so interview data was synthesized into a more visual context. Key opportunities, or problem areas, were extracted from interviewees and assigned values. The scale was kept to a three level hierarchy. The larger the node, the more important an issue it represents.

The nodes were also categorized into one of the four elements of enrollment; the Registrar, Advising, Scheduling and Digital System. These elements were color coded to be easily referenced and compared with other interview results. (Cyan, magenta, blue and green, respectively)

The data was then analyzed from a holistic level and began to reveal consistency in themes. Highlighting these themes helped advance the data into another illuminating infographic.

Organization of Interview Data

Opportunity

Opportunity

Opportunity

Opportunity

Opportunity

IntervieweePosition

More ImportantLess ImportantLess Important More Important

RegistrarAdvising

SchedulingDigital System


Dual listed courses are

confusing on Portal

Helping students choose useful

electives

Space issues when students

from other majors join

classes

Coordinating schedules of faculty

Registering for upper level CAD classes

requires special topics form

Director of Graduate

Studies

Advisor inconsistency year-to-year

Unclear substitution policy

Department Chair

Credit counting difficulty

Portal is confusing

Course bulletin confusion

Inconsistent Degree Audit

formatToo many

communication forms

Department Chair

Transfer students difficulty

Degree audit inconsistency

Department Chair

Students ignore advising sheet

Faculty-wide WebNow

Access

Adjunct training

Advising FAQ

Department Chair

Transfer student difficulty

GRID based on Faculty

No University-wide time slot for Electives

Students don't use assigned

advisor

Advising during class time

Department Chair

Too many university tools

General advising training

New faculty difficulties

Advisor / Professor training for

international students

Department Chair

25% students lack advising

Courses scheduled

based on prior year catalog

Registration process redundancy

AdministrativeAssistant

Interview Data

RegistrarAdvisingSchedulingDigital System


Transfer students & courses / credit

swapping

2yr college credits no

longer accepted

Students’ schedules do not fit LACR

courses well

Students must work hard to keep up with

tight schedule

Part-time faculty lack knowledge of course and responsibility for

advising

Title / signature on the forms is confusing

Being reactive mode to other dept. in

terms of scheduling

Music & dance dept. are main issue of

scheduling courses

Cap overrides due to ensemble

Dean

Forms require

signatures

Which dean required for what signature

LOA return policy is unclear to students

Dean

Student difficulty taking courses

outside department

Students’ work schedules conflict

with class

Director of Graduate

Studies

Forms require signatures

Forms lack clarity

Unclear purpose of forms

Dean

Students addicted to drop/add

The portal is too complicated and

confusing

Lack of communication

between advising forms and

registration

Department of music and dance submit

late drop/adds due to ensemble auditions

Too many signatures required for certain

forms

Shorten the length of Drop/Add

Students are usually able to get a cap-override

signature

Registrar

Against shorter class period time

Transfer students on

wait-list

Caps are Dean’s

decision

Fewest full time faculty (50:1)

No entrant requirements for students

(ex. GPA)

Catalog is not printed

Rigid schedule due to great structure

Department Chair Advise and navigate

LOA students

Failing fall/spring sequenced courses

Students don’t look at Portal

No university wide elective slots

Advisor



Isolating interviewee data was important in understanding the relationship between employee roles and issues. In continuing to expand interview data into a more transparent system, the nodes progressed into opportunistic categories showing the relationships between the elements of enrollment.

These categories evolved as generalized areas of opportunity and the driving force for the rest of this book, they are highlighted through a comprehensive proposal strategy.

Grid Con�icts


with class


tight schedule


courses well Music & dance dept.

are main issue of scheduling courses

Advisor Training



advisor

Adjunct training





advising

Confusing Forms

Too many communication

forms



registration

Forms lack clarity


Course Scheduling






Courses scheduled



terms of scheduling

Signatures




forms

Forms require

signatures


Course Substitution


swapping


longer accepted


outside departmentUnclear substitution policy

University Tools

Portal is confusing


Faculty-wide WebNow

Access


confusing

Degree Audit



format


Caps & Space

Caps are Dean’s

decision



signature Space issues when students


classes

Students & Advising




Transfer Students



wait-list


Drop & Add







Bulletin & Catalog






Leave & Withdrawal


Advise and navigate LOA students

Advising FAQ


confusing on Portal


(ex. GPA)




Grid Con�icts


with class


tight schedule




Advisor Training



advisor

Adjunct training





advising

Confusing Forms


forms



registration

Forms lack clarity


Course Scheduling






Courses scheduled



terms of scheduling

Signatures




forms

Forms require

signatures


Course Substitution


swapping


longer accepted



University Tools

Portal is confusing


Faculty-wide WebNow

Access


confusing

Degree Audit



format


Caps & Space

Caps are Dean’s

decision





classes

Students & Advising




Transfer Students



wait-list


Drop & Add







Bulletin & Catalog






Leave & Withdrawal



Advising FAQ


confusing on Portal


(ex. GPA)




Grid Con�icts


with class


tight schedule




Advisor Training



advisor

Adjunct training





advising

Confusing Forms


forms



registration

Forms lack clarity


Course Scheduling






Courses scheduled



terms of scheduling

Signatures




forms

Forms require

signatures


Course Substitution


swapping


longer accepted



University Tools

Portal is confusing


Faculty-wide WebNow

Access


confusing

Degree Audit



format


Caps & Space

Caps are Dean’s

decision





classes

Students & Advising




Transfer Students



wait-list


Drop & Add







Bulletin & Catalog






Leave & Withdrawal



Advising FAQ


confusing on Portal


(ex. GPA)




Grid Con�icts


with class


tight schedule




Advisor Training



advisor

Adjunct training





advising

Confusing Forms


forms



registration

Forms lack clarity


Course Scheduling






Courses scheduled



terms of scheduling

Signatures




forms

Forms require

signatures


Course Substitution


swapping


longer accepted



University Tools

Portal is confusing


Faculty-wide WebNow

Access


confusing

Degree Audit



format


Caps & Space

Caps are Dean’s

decision





classes

Students & Advising




Transfer Students



wait-list


Drop & Add







Bulletin & Catalog






Leave & Withdrawal



Advising FAQ


confusing on Portal


(ex. GPA)




Grid Con�icts


with class


tight schedule




Advisor Training



advisor

Adjunct training





advising

Confusing Forms


forms



registration

Forms lack clarity


Course Scheduling






Courses scheduled



terms of scheduling

Signatures




forms

Forms require

signatures


Course Substitution


swapping


longer accepted



University Tools

Portal is confusing


Faculty-wide WebNow

Access


confusing

Degree Audit



format


Caps & Space

Caps are Dean’s

decision





classes

Students & Advising




Transfer Students



wait-list


Drop & Add







Bulletin & Catalog






Leave & Withdrawal



Advising FAQ


confusing on Portal


(ex. GPA)




Grid Con�icts


with class


tight schedule




Advisor Training



advisor

Adjunct training





advising

Confusing Forms


forms



registration

Forms lack clarity


Course Scheduling






Courses scheduled



terms of scheduling

Signatures




forms

Forms require

signatures


Course Substitution


swapping


longer accepted



University Tools

Portal is confusing


Faculty-wide WebNow

Access


confusing

Degree Audit



format


Caps & Space

Caps are Dean’s

decision





classes

Students & Advising




Transfer Students



wait-list


Drop & Add







Bulletin & Catalog






Leave & Withdrawal



Advising FAQ


confusing on Portal


(ex. GPA)




Grid Con�icts


with class


tight schedule




Advisor Training



advisor

Adjunct training





advising

Confusing Forms


forms



registration

Forms lack clarity


Course Scheduling






Courses scheduled



terms of scheduling

Signatures




forms

Forms require

signatures


Course Substitution


swapping


longer accepted



University Tools

Portal is confusing


Faculty-wide WebNow

Access


confusing

Degree Audit



format


Caps & Space

Caps are Dean’s

decision





classes

Students & Advising




Transfer Students



wait-list


Drop & Add







Bulletin & Catalog






Leave & Withdrawal



Advising FAQ


confusing on Portal


(ex. GPA)




Consolidating Opportunity


Grid Con�icts


with class


tight schedule




Advisor Training



advisor

Adjunct training





advising

Confusing Forms


forms



registration

Forms lack clarity


Course Scheduling






Courses scheduled



terms of scheduling

Forms & Signatures




forms

Forms require

signatures


Course Substitution


swapping


longer accepted



System

Portal is confusing


Faculty-wide WebNow

Access


confusing

Degree Audit



format


Caps / Space

Caps are Dean’s

decision





classes

Students & Advising




Transfer Student



wait-list


Drop/Add







Bulletin / Catalog






Leave & Withdraw



Advising FAQ


confusing on Portal


(ex. GPA)




Grid Con�icts


with class


tight schedule




Advisor Training



advisor

Adjunct training





advising

Confusing Forms


forms



registration

Forms lack clarity


Course Scheduling






Courses scheduled



terms of scheduling

Signatures




forms

Forms require

signatures


Course Substitution


swapping


longer accepted



University Tools

Portal is confusing


Faculty-wide WebNow

Access


confusing

Degree Audit



format


Caps & Space

Caps are Dean’s

decision





classes

Students & Advising




Transfer Students



wait-list


Drop & Add







Bulletin & Catalog






Leave & Withdrawal



Advising FAQ


confusing on Portal


(ex. GPA)




Grid Con�icts


with class


tight schedule




Advisor Training



advisor

Adjunct training





advising

Confusing Forms


forms



registration

Forms lack clarity


Course Scheduling






Courses scheduled



terms of scheduling

Signatures




forms

Forms require

signatures


Course Substitution


swapping


longer accepted



University Tools

Portal is confusing


Faculty-wide WebNow

Access


confusing

Degree Audit



format


Caps & Space

Caps are Dean’s

decision





classes

Students & Advising




Transfer Students



wait-list


Drop & Add







Bulletin & Catalog






Leave & Withdrawal



Advising FAQ


confusing on Portal


(ex. GPA)




Grid Con�icts


with class


tight schedule




Advisor Training



advisor

Adjunct training





advising

Confusing Forms


forms



registration

Forms lack clarity


Course Scheduling






Courses scheduled



terms of scheduling

Signatures




forms

Forms require

signatures


Course Substitution


swapping


longer accepted



University Tools

Portal is confusing


Faculty-wide WebNow

Access


confusing

Degree Audit



format


Caps & Space

Caps are Dean’s

decision





classes

Students & Advising




Transfer Students



wait-list


Drop & Add







Bulletin & Catalog






Leave & Withdrawal



Advising FAQ


confusing on Portal


(ex. GPA)




Grid Con�icts


with class


tight schedule




Advisor Training



advisor

Adjunct training





advising

Confusing Forms


forms



registration

Forms lack clarity


Course Scheduling






Courses scheduled



terms of scheduling

Signatures




forms

Forms require

signatures


Course Substitution


swapping


longer accepted



University Tools

Portal is confusing


Faculty-wide WebNow

Access


confusing

Degree Audit



format


Caps & Space

Caps are Dean’s

decision





classes

Students & Advising




Transfer Students



wait-list


Drop & Add







Bulletin & Catalog






Leave & Withdrawal



Advising FAQ


confusing on Portal


(ex. GPA)




Grid Con�icts


with class


tight schedule




Advisor Training



advisor

Adjunct training





advising

Confusing Forms


forms



registration

Forms lack clarity


Course Scheduling






Courses scheduled



terms of scheduling

Signatures




forms

Forms require

signatures


Course Substitution


swapping


longer accepted



University Tools

Portal is confusing


Faculty-wide WebNow

Access


confusing

Degree Audit



format


Caps & Space

Caps are Dean’s

decision





classes

Students & Advising




Transfer Students



wait-list


Drop & Add







Bulletin & Catalog






Leave & Withdrawal



Advising FAQ


confusing on Portal


(ex. GPA)




Grid Con�icts


with class


tight schedule




Advisor Training



advisor

Adjunct training





advising

Confusing Forms


forms



registration

Forms lack clarity


Course Scheduling






Courses scheduled



terms of scheduling

Signatures




forms

Forms require

signatures


Course Substitution


swapping


longer accepted



University Tools

Portal is confusing


Faculty-wide WebNow

Access


confusing

Degree Audit



format


Caps & Space

Caps are Dean’s

decision





classes

Students & Advising




Transfer Students



wait-list


Drop & Add







Bulletin & Catalog






Leave & Withdrawal



Advising FAQ


confusing on Portal


(ex. GPA)




Grid Con�icts


with class


tight schedule




Advisor Training



advisor

Adjunct training





advising

Confusing Forms


forms



registration

Forms lack clarity


Course Scheduling






Courses scheduled



terms of scheduling

Signatures




forms

Forms require

signatures


Course Substitution


swapping


longer accepted



University Tools

Portal is confusing


Faculty-wide WebNow

Access


confusing

Degree Audit



format


Caps & Space

Caps are Dean’s

decision





classes

Students & Advising




Transfer Students



wait-list


Drop & Add







Bulletin & Catalog






Leave & Withdrawal



Advising FAQ


confusing on Portal


(ex. GPA)





Student Response

Smooth Di�cult

How was Advising?How was advising?67% of all students felt advising was smooth, while only 14% felt it was a difficult process. The College of Art and Design held the majority voice for these surveys, representing 78% of the students surveyed.

The 54% of students who felt advising went smoothly also stated that their courses were pre-planned, instructions were easily understood and their advisors knew how to guide them through the process in a helpful way.

While only 14% of students felt advising was difficult, their statements should not be overlooked. Many of them didn’t know what courses to take and felt it was difficult to even find their advisor, and when they did, their advisor was unsure about what information the students needed to understand.

Awesome caption about this wacky wild inforgraphic

SMOOTH DIFFICULT

Advisor was not sure what to do or gave unclear information

Hard to �gure outwhat to take or �t class

in schedule

Hard to catch advisor

Not too muchto take inSenior yr

Degree audit not

clear

Advisor knew whatto do and was veryhelpful in process

All courseswere planned

out

Easy tounderstand


Morecourses and

sections

Easier accessto advisor

Email withmore info

Better websiteand system

interface

Betterdescriptionfor courses

Simpli�eddegree audit

Actuallygetting advised

Autoregister for

requiredcourses

Lateradvising

time

RegistrarAdvising

SchedulingDigital System

Many of the student concerns reflect similar issues brought up by the members of faculty during their interviews.

The student concerned with more available course sections reflects the difficulty experienced while scheduling classes in the grid.

For the students, the issue is lack of sections, however, the faculty are concerned with scheduling hundreds of

courses to better enable students to take classes outside of their major. The more courses offered the more difficult this becomes. However, as student interest in attending UArts rises, classes will become larger and more courses will need to be offered.

Many students also feel the need for a better website and system interface. But due to the number of systems the students and faculty need to interact with, they become easily lost in the web of sites.

The Degree Audit allows the student to see what classes they have taken and which classes they still need to take. Straightforward as it may seem, the current Degree Audit is not user-friendly and many users find it difficult to absorb the needed information.

54%FOR

22%UNDECIDED

24%AGAINST

BLOCK OUT DAY for Advising?

Black-out day for advising?

What would make advising better?


Chapter 3

OpportunitiesThe interviews uncovered many opportunities for improved systems and enhanced ways of presenting information. Some of these opportunities net out in more robust and expansive proposals, while others simply lend themselves to a simple format update or a more palatable way of presenting information.

40 41

OverviewGraphic illustrations now categorize the four elements of enrollment. These elements represent the multiple opportunities uncovered through the research process and create a better visual queue to call upon when thinking which element the opportunity most affects.

The colors of the illustrations continue to follow suit with all previously presented material and should serve as the first discernible visual queue when referencing different sections of this book.

RegistrarConfusing FormsDrop & AddSignaturesCaps & SpaceBulletin & Catalog

AdvisingAdvisor TrainingTransfer StudentsCourse SubstitutionStudents and AdvisingLeave & Withdrawal

SchedulingCourse SchedulingGrid Conflicts

Digital SystemUniversity ToolsDegree Audit

42 43Chapter 3: Opportunities

Confusing Forms

“There are a lot of forms that say Director or Head’s signature... And the it says beneath that Dean’s signature...

And I confess, stupid me, I still don’t in any case know which

Dean that is.”

UArts recently switched from an all paper system to an almost full digital system. Although the switch from paper to digital was implemented, many of the old paper forms have since stuck around. Forms such as Leave of Absence, Drop/Add, University Withdrawal and Class Withdrawal are still widely used.

Not only are the forms antiquated, but form structure “[hasn’t] been updated since the schools inception.” Such as the Drop/Add form.

Currently stated on the Drop/Add form is the distribution order for the carbon copies, which no longer exist. The Drop/Add form also states that signatures are required to drop or add a course, insinuating the completion of a physical form, when in reality, this can currently be performed online, and signatures are not required.


The drop/add procedure evolved from a paper-to-digital process a few years ago but was never appropriately advertised. Students still walk around campus to collect signatures from professors and drop off the form at the Registrar’s Office. This increases the work load for the Registrar’s Office and adds stress to the student, who needs to walk up and down Broad street finding professors to sign the form.

One interviewee stated that “students are addicted to drop/add.” A student frequently dropping and adding courses completes a new form each time, creating unnecessary work for themselves and faculty.

These are all unnecessary headaches created around a simple procedure that is already available online, negating the need to obtain professor signatures and involve Registrar personnel.

“Students are addicted to drop/

add.”

Drop & Add


The number of signatures required for a given form can be quite inundating. There are upwards of six signatures for a given form.

The Drop/Add form has a minimum of four signatures. If a student is dropping and adding multiple courses, than the number of signatures starts to increase proportionately to the number of classes added.

The Deans signatures are located on many forms, including, but not limited to, Leave of Absence, Withdrawal, Change of Grade and Section Change.

Due to the number of forms with which the Dean’s signatures are “required,” the Deans have lost sight of their responsibilities or reasonings for signing certain forms simply due to unchanged rules.

Since the Dean’s signature was originally required, no one ever challenged it’s necessity.

“I’m supposed to sign this form, so I should be doing some kind of function,

clarifying something, giving some information... I’m not really sure

what purpose I’m filling.”

Signatures


Caps & Space

"There are times when students come in from other departments, they

somehow got permission…and they just can't fit in the space."

“If enrollment goes up or down, we have to adjust the number of

courses that we teach.“

UArts total enrollment numbers are increasing. However, an increase the student body does not mean increased space or more faculty on staff.

Not only are enrollment caps affected by the number of students enrolled in the university and the size allotted by the classroom types, but more importantly, the popularity or frequency of requirement of a course.

The greater the popularity of a course or the higher the number of students required to take a course increases the speed at which a course becomes full. And as courses fill up, it creates more difficulty for students to schedule a layout to include all required and preferred classes.

In the last, and most awkward of scenarios, students show up for the first day of an already full class. The class can only hold 12 students due to resource limitations. Even though the space constraints are known, somehow the system cleared them or a faculty member signed a form to approve their registration.

Determining enrollment caps for a course in relation to physical space of a classroom is crucial for course scheduling


The course catalog and bulletin are accessible in multiple ways with different interfaces

Academic Calendar | Faculty/Staff Directory | My UArts Portal

HELP

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The University of the Arts

Nov 03, 2010 2010-2011 UArts Undergraduate and Graduate Course Catalog GO

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Catalog Home About UArts Colleges Departments by College Liberal Arts Division

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POLICIES ANDPROCEDURES

—Academic Options —Academic Progress and

Student Responsibility —Enrollment and Registration —General Information —Grading Policies —Graduate Student Policies —Graduation Requirements —Student Information and

Communication —Transfer Credit and Course

Equivalency

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My Catalog Pages

2010-2011 UArts Undergraduate and Graduate

Course Catalog

The University of the Arts320 South Broad StreetPhiladelphia, PA 19102

215-717-60001-800-616-ARTShttp://www.uarts.eduCEEB code 2664Title IV code 003350

To learn more about the University of the Arts go to the AboutUArts page.

All catalogs © 2010 The University of the Arts. Powered by the acalog™ academic catalog management system (ACMS™).

Online Course Searching

Online Course Catalog

Course Catalog

Course Bulletin

Bulletin & CatalogThe University Bulletin and Catalog tend to create more confusion than enlightenment. For starters, the catalog lists all classes offered by UArts. Which is a necessary document for UArts to offer. But it also lists classes that the university used to offer but no longer does.

When initially scheduling the coming semester, students frequently check the course catalog, the most easily accessible of the two. In the catalog, students can read more detailed course descriptions, helping them decide on what to take. The issue is when they try to register or check the bulletin (once it is released or sent to them by their advisor), students soon realize one or more of the classes they were considering as an elective aren’t offered in the coming semester.


There are a few departments, however, with their own advising standards that focus their efforts on cross-advisor training. The Music Department, for instance, holds a “black-out day” in which they set aside an entire day for advising where all professors are present and students have the opportunity to contact and speak with any teacher. Students can either schedule an appointment or wait for availability on a first-come first-served basis.

The day also doubles as an advisor training bootcamp. Senior advisors sit with novice advisors to help answer more complicated enrollment issues that may arise. This process promotes the spread of knowledge and gives new advisors greater confidence in their techniques.

However, this is just one department’s story. Across the campus, advisors are not guiding the student education as well as they could. Teachers passively approve student requests rather than talking with them about future goals or educational concerns.

Advisor TrainingFew departments facilitate advisor training. Training is not standardized or enforced by UArts, and the advising model actually changes from department to department.

Most departments only have four fulltime faculty members. Approximately 20% of these faculty are new to the advising model and don’t necessarily understand the processes and procedures instilled that accurately guide students through the registration process.

“Advisors should be doing more holistic advising but

we don’t have any way to ensure compliance... it’s something we

try to improve on”

Only few departments have instilled cross-advisor training


“They can’t fit in the program... but they would add great diversity to

students’ education.”

Transfer Students

Transfer students usually experience a more difficut advising and registration process

Transfer students are a great source of diversity to the university. Students interested in transferring into a program at UArts are typically from two-year programs who want to complete their bachelors degree or students who feel UArts would compliment their artistic objectives.

But transferring in from an outside program can be difficult. Other schools don’t have the same standards or requirements in their core classes. This forces the Department Chair to closely interview prospective transfer students and see if they’ll need to take additional courses.

These comparisons can be tasking and it is the role of the Chair to decide what classifies as an appropriate substitution and what does not.


Course substitution requires substantial knowledgable and experienced advisors

Course Substitution

“The advisor has certain authority to determine substitution courses...

Being able to determine substitutions is important.“

“...Depending on the overall profile of the student, Deans can accept the D

as a passing grade.“

Course substitutions can be performed if, for instance, a senior in her last semester is three credits shy of graduating. And when researching her degree audit, the advisor uncovers an overlap in material from an elective the student took and the core class from which she withdrew or never had.

However, the ability to determine adequate substitutions is a learned skill. It is similar to deciding whether the curriculum from another university can be accepted when trying to integrate a transfer student.

Although slightly different, Deans have the ability to accept the grade of “D” as passing. This is only an acceptable procedure in unique cases. Like when a student shows that she can excel, but may have had a rough semester, where, she let an elective fall to the way-side.


A student’s undergraduate career is guided by three things. First is the major program in which she is enrolled. The stated program outlines the core classes needed for graduation. Second is the student’s interest in elective courses. And third, possibly the most important, is the advisor’s foresight to analyze the student’s potential and help her make the best elective decisions possible.

If an advisor knows his student personally, then he understands her potential for success. And with that knowledge, the advisor should be able to guide the student towards or away from particular educational difficulties.

In the end, it is, however, the student’s choice and responsibility in exactly what classes she enrolls. The student needn’t ever take a core class, as the only true restrictions she’d encounter are prerequisites, class caps and semester credit counts. If a student wanted to, she could register for four electives a semester, but would never complete the degree requirements for graduation.

Students & Advising

“I think students don’t take it seriously sometimes... A quarter of them just

don’t get advised at all.“

“Students have control over their choices... We [advisors] will still set it up so students are assigned to this section or that section, but they can ignore our advice and choose

whatever they want.“


In addition to following appropriate timelines, are the requirements upon returning to UArts. Taking a leave of absence is a time sensitive procedure. Students may not be gone from the university longer than one semester, and if they are absent past this period they need to apply for readmission. Based on this requirement, it becomes difficult for students whose programs are very linear in structure.

A Sophomore leaving in her Fall semester and returning in what should have been her Junior Fall semester needs to integrate completely with the prior year’s Freshman. Otherwise, the student would be at a great disadvantage.Cross-department communication appears to be lacking at UArts. As stated by the Deans, the Leave of Absence form should not be accessible by students since it is the Registrar’s decision if a student is of good academic standing to even be considered for taking a leave, on the contrary though, the form is very much available.

It has become clear that many students do not understand the schedule for which taking a leave of absence or withdrawal adhere. And try to take a leave of absence or withdrawal when university guidelines state that this is not permitted, and, instead, the student needs to take a letter grade of “F” rather than “W”.

Is this a factor of poor information delivery by the advisors or a lack of attention to detail by the student body? In both scenarios, students either do not care about the semester timeline or haven’t absorbed (read) the information.

Leave & Withdrawal

“I want to be able to advise and navigate [leave of

absence] students even if they are not here.”


The complexity of scheduling is worsened by unintuitive methods and the lack of deparment communication

There has been chatter around the university pertaining to shorter class times with a greater number of class instances. Many oppose this, though, because it is valuable to have a couple of hours in a class for critiques and object building.

Course Scheduling

“I prefer longer class times, one-on-one contact

is important, we lecture, demo and critique during

class”

“I'm moving and trying to make my electives work for people, but unless something comes down from the

university saying this is when electives are, there's

not much we can do"

A standardized weekly layout labeled the grid was created so all university classes would begin and end at the same times.

Originally, the grid was based on the following rules: •Startdayat8:30ameveryday •NocoursestobescheduledWednesday 11:30am - 1:00pm •10minutetraveltimebetweenclasses

There are informal rules in place, however studio classes are scheduled in the afternoon, from 1:00pm - 3:40pm, and liberal arts classes should be scheduled in the morning from 8:30am - 11:20am. Some departments follow these informal guidelines, but others cannot. Due to the lack of university-wide rules dictating when core, liberal arts or elective classes are scheduled, departments are not forced to construct their schedules to allow students an easy way of scheduling classes outside their program.


Various conflicts affect the student’s ability to schedule a comprehensive class layout.

Often the student’s work schedule does not fit her class layout and she needs to work hard to keep up with the busy class schedule.

Also, due to the rigidity of certain departments’ class schedules, it becomes difficult for the student to fit liberal arts elective courses into her semester.

The Music department, for example, has ensemble auditions during the first month of a semester. These auditions are not finalized until after the Drop/Add period.

At this time, the student needs to reformulate her class layout around the ensemble class. This means that a liberal arts elective she may have received a cap override for must now be dropped.

Grid Conflicts

"… In programs like dance and music…the professors decide which students they want in their ensemble and meet at the time of the professor’s choosing.

After registration, they drop out of my class"

"[Certain] departments are notoriously difficult to work with... They [schedule ensembles] during Add/Drop,

which is bizarre."

“[The student] schedules are intensely busy.”

Student’s have a hard time registering for courses because of constant scheduling conflicts


University Tools

“Too many university tools!”

“WebAdvisor is too complicated and confusing to use.”

“...There are a lot of different information sources... It’s a lot to

keep up with.”

A majority of university tools have migrated from paper forms, pamphlets and books to a digital network of information and form completion.

This progression was necessary to increase efficiency, decrease the use of paper items and allow for a greater number of individuals to easily access UArts information.

UArts digital systems have been haphazardly networked together. There are multiple sources for the same information, zero consistency in visual language or layout of the differing sites. And above all, the user interface is confusing, impractical and difficult to grasp. Not to mention layouts, appearances and locations of information can and do change without community wide acknowledgement.

Wiki Portal

Sakai WebAdvisor

There are many university tools with different and unintuitive interfaces


Degree Audit

“Sometimes, because of the way it’s formatted, people don’t see certain

things.”

“I would say probably most faculty in most departments would look at it and

say I don’t know what this is.”

The degree audit is an important document in any collegiate institution. It houses the students academic profile and is used to ensure adequate completion of required credits for graduation.

However dry the information may be, it is important for this information to be clear, concise and easily navigated. Instead, the UArts Degree Audit is formatted in an archaic fashion as if it were created on a typewriter and distributed to students through the USPS.

Numerous faculty and students have issues reading and understanding the content of this form. And the reasoning is not due to the cryptic speech or absurd tone of the document. It is simply due to it’s unapproachable layout.


Chapter 4

ProposalA three step proposal has been derived from all prior research and focuses on most, but not all opportunity analysis.

Through the implementation of the following phases, UArts and it’s students will be able to focus their efforts on more important areas of education.

72 73

Three Phase Strategy

Email

The opportunities presented in this book reflect various degrees of miscommunication and unintuitive design of physical forms and digital systems. Through the synthesis of detailed and comprehensive research, including data extraction of interviews and surveys, an overarching design solution should be considered to justly satisfy the needs of UArts and the student experience.

A comprehensive overhaul of the UArts enrollment experience is being proposed through a three-phased approach. These phases were determined based on feasibility and the collective influence they will have across the enrollment process. The individual phases touch upon different aspects of the identified opportunities (but not all), and are ultimately dependant on the prior phase.

Please Print Clearly:

STUDENT NAME: Last, First Middle YEAR/SEMESTER

STUDENT ID# MAJOR

FOR OFFICE USE Input By: Date:

CREDITS before drop/add

Course # Sec. # Credits Instructor Signature

AD

D

Office of the Registrar Exceptional Drop/Add Form

1) 2) Obtain Dean of College signature only if taking over 18 credits. 3) Return form to Registrar’s Office.

Obtain Instructor signature for each course adding to override prerequisite.

Only use this form to add courses if taking over 18 credits or to override prerequisites.

Course # Sec. # Credits

D

RO

P

TOTAL CREDITS

STUDENT SIGNATURE DATE DEAN SIGNATURE DATE Required only for 18+ Credits

ADVISOR SIGNATURE DATE

System

Phase 1: Email Redesign A guideline for constructing emails from the Registrar in a more digestible manner

Phase 2: Form Redesign Redesigning select forms to better fit the current school policy and to alleviate confusion

Phase 3: System Redesign An intelligent online system that integrates all current digital systems

Forms

74 75Chapter 4: Proposal

Opportunities Addressed

Registrar Advising

Scheduling Digital System

Phase 1: Email Drop & Add

Bulletin & Catalog

Students & Advising

University Tools

Phase 2: Forms Confusing Forms

Drop & AddSignatures

Students & AdvisingLeave & Withdrawal

Phase 3: System Drop & AddSignaturesCaps & SpaceBulletin & Catalog

Advising TrainingStudents & Advising

Courses SchedulingGrid Conflicts

University ToolsDegree Audit

As previously stated, the following phases do not contribute to all of the opportunities presented in the prior section. This guide shows which element of enrollment each proposal affects and the opportunity in which it helps address.


Phase 1: Email Redesign

New

The distribution of registration and advising information is extremely important for students. All information can be found online, but the Registrar’s Office is responsible for sending emails to remind students of their responsibilities.

Current Registrar emails have a unified structure, but tend to be very text heavy and lack an informational hierarchy. Students become easily lost and don’t pay attention to the important details.

The first phase proposes a new structure to the Registrar’s emails. The structure offers a clearer layout and delivery of information through the use of varied font sizes and weights that reinforce the importance of information. Also included is a visual timeline with which students can use to better absorb required dates and information.

These templates should help guide the Registrar’s Office to construct emails that convey only the required information.

Old

Students can better understand an email due to a strong hierarchy of information and new visual elements

New

Old

Drop & AddBulletin & Catalog

Students & Advising

University Tools


Phase 2: Form Redesign

UArts has a multitude of forms that enable students and faculty to complete any number of registration or clerical issue. Throughout the years, a majority of these forms have become available online. However, the process of form submission is still performed offline.

Many forms, such as Leave of Absence and Withdrawal are outdated and lack instructional clarity. Students and faculty often become confused about which form to use and how to submit the forms upon completion.

The second proposal phase is to redesign confusing and antiquated form structures. In so doing, the forms should convey easily absorbed information while matching current school policy.

The Leave of Absence, Withdrawal and Drop/Add form were specifically examined with a focus on their functions and the purpose of requested signatures.

The following redesign is the first iteration of what should be a continued practice. Deeper investigation and involvement from the Dean and Registrar’s Office is expected to further conclude the design process. Integrating the form submission process digitally should also be considered.

A brainstorming session will be moderated by the MID team with select members of the UArts community who are in closest contact with form decisions. This session will uncover all the antiquated form issues as well as dive into a more complex and revealing calendar focused on form deadlines and informational layout.

Confusing FormsDrop & AddSignatures

Students & AdvisingLeave & Withdrawal


Old

Office of the Registrar Drop/Add Form . Directions to Student 1) Obtain Instructor approval for each course you are adding or dropping. 2) Obtain Departmental Advisor and/or College Dean approval. 3) Return form to Registrar’s Office before the end of the Drop/Add period. Distribution: White-Registrar, Canary-Student, Pink-Departmental Advisor.

Please Print Clearly:


STUDENT ID# MAJOR


Course # Sec. # Credits Instructor Signature Course # Sec. # Credits Instructor Signature D

RO

P

AD

D

Original Credits:

Total Credits after Drop/Add:

ADVISOR SIGNATURE DATE DEAN SIGNATURE DATE Required for 18+ Credits

STUDENT SIGNATURE DATE

Instructor signatures are not required for dropping courses.

Regular Drop/Add can be done online.

No need for three sheets.

Instruction not clear.

Old

Drop/Add FormPlease Print Clearly:


STUDENT ID# MAJOR


CREDITS before drop/add

Course # Sec. # Credits Instructor Signature

AD

D

Office of the Registrar Exceptional Drop/Add Form

1) 2) Obtain Dean of College signature only if taking over 18 credits. 3) Return form to Registrar’s Office.

Obtain Instructor signature for each course adding to override prerequisite.

Only use this form to add courses if taking over 18 credits or to override prerequisites.

Course # Sec. # Credits

D

RO

P

TOTAL CREDITS

STUDENT SIGNATURE DATE DEAN SIGNATURE DATE Required only for 18+ Credits

ADVISOR SIGNATURE DATE

New

The current Drop/Add form has multiple unnecessary and outdated items. For starters, the process has been fully migrated online, and the form is no longer necessary.

The Drop/Add form should be relabeled as “Exceptional Drop/Add Form.” The Exceptional Drop/Add form is used when a student has over18 credits for the semester and requires a Dean signature to add a class or needs to override a prerequisite.

In addition, the form instructions are no longer accurate. A student does not need instructor approval to drop a course (1), does not need advisor or Dean approval to drop a course (2), and there are no longer white, canary or pink colored copies as the form is no longer a carbon copy form (3).

These instructions have been modified to reflect the actual requirements in the above proposal.

Finally, there is no need for an instructor to sign off on a student dropping his class. This is not a university requirement or departmental rule.

The new form eradicates this section to deter the student from performing additional tasks.

In conclusion, the new Exceptional Drop/Add form will create less confusion, help streamline the Drop/Add process and force students to flex the digital capabilities that have already been integrated.


Major: Last date of attendance: Expected semester of return:

Reason(s) for request: __ General/Personal __ Medical B

SEMESTER/YEAR

REQUEST FOR LEAVE OF ABSENCE

DATE ISSUED

Name:

Permanent Address: Street

City State Zip Code

Telephone

UARTS ID#:

Check here if this is a change of address

__

Undergraduate Graduate (Graduate students who have begun a thesis or final project are ineligible. See reverse for information)� �

Office of the Registrar ___ Coded Initial: Date:

Required Signatures - GENERAL LEAVE OF ABSENCEAn approved General Leave of Absence indicates that the student may resume their studies at the conclusion of the Leave (maximum 1 semester). A student who fails to register at the conclusion of the approved Leave must apply for Readmission. Student must obtain the following signatures:

1. Department Chairperson/Director __ Exit Interview Completed Initial: ________ Date:________

2. Financial Aid Exit Review Initial: ________ Date:________

3. Student Billing __ yes __no, reason_________________________________ Initial: ________ Date:________ 4. Library Clearance __ yes __ no, reason________________________________ Initial: ________ Date:________

Dean of College GENERAL LEAVE OF ABSENCE ___ APPROVED ___NOT APPROVED

Initial: _______ Date: ________ Assignment of “W” grades to all courses (available only when leave is granted for current semester): ___ APPROVED ___ NOT APPROVED

Dean of College Signature Date

Required Signatures - MEDICAL LEAVE OF ABSENCEAn approved Medical Leave of Absence indicates that a student may attend classes once appropriate medical documentation has been received and verified by the Dean of Students (maximum 1 semester).

To be completed by the Dean of Students:

1. Financial Aid [Check with Financial Aid regarding how this withdrawal will impact Financial Aid status] Initial: ________ Date:________

2. Student Billing Clearance [Check with Finance to verify any balance]: __ yes ___no, reason__________________________ Initial: ________ Date:________

3. Library Clearance __ yes ___no, reason___________________________ Initial: ________ Date:________

Dean of Students MEDICAL LEAVE OF ABSENCE ___ APPROVED ___NOT APPROVED Convert to Withdrawl Initial: _______ Date Effective: ________

Assignment of “W” grades to all courses: ___APPROVED ___NOT APPROVED

Dean of Students Signature Date

Complete column Complete columnA

A B

Only students in good academic standing are eligible to request a Leave of Absence. Eligibility to be confirmed by the Office of the Registrar

Academic Standing___ Transcript___ Current Schedule___

Student Signature: Date:

Dean of College would talk to the student and approve the leave. Form should be submitted personally.

Students should obtain the following signatures and submit form to Dean of Students Office.

Leave of Absence Form

Old


Reason(s) for request: __ General/Personal __ Medical B

SEMESTER/YEAR

REQUEST FOR LEAVE OF ABSENCE

DATE ISSUED

Name:


City State Zip Code

Telephone

UARTS ID#:


__

Undergraduate Graduate (Graduate students who have begun a thesis or �nal project are ineligible. See reverse for information)

O�ce of the Registrar ___ Coded Initial: Date:

Required Signatures - GENERAL LEAVE OF ABSENCEAn approved General Leave of Absence indicates that the student may resume their studies at the conclusion of the Leave (maximum 1 semester). A student who fails to register at the conclusion of the approved Leave must apply for Readmission. Student must obtain the following signatures:

1. Department Chairperson/Director __ Exit Interview Completed Initial: ________ Date:________

2. Financial Aid Exit Review Initial: ________ Date:________

3. Student Billing __ yes __no, reason_________________________________ Initial: ________ Date:________ 4. Library Clearance __ yes __ no, reason________________________________ Initial: ________ Date:________

Dean of College GENERAL LEAVE OF ABSENCE ___ APPROVED ___NOT APPROVED

Initial: _______ Date: ________ Assignment of “W” grades to all courses (available only when leave is granted for current semester): ___ APPROVED ___ NOT APPROVED

Dean of College Signature Date

Required Signatures - MEDICAL LEAVE OF ABSENCEAn approved Medical Leave of Absence indicates that a student may attend classes once appropriate medical documentation has been received and veri�ed by the Dean of Students (maximum 1 semester).

1. Financial Aid [Check with Financial Aid regarding how this withdrawal will impact Financial Aid status] Initial: ________ Date:________

2. Student Billing Clearance [Check with Finance to verify any balance]: __ yes ___no, reason__________________________ Initial: ________ Date:________

3. Library Clearance __ yes ___no, reason___________________________ Initial: ________ Date:________

Dean of Students MEDICAL LEAVE OF ABSENCE ___ APPROVED ___NOT APPROVED Convert to Withdrawl Initial: _______ Date E�ective: ________

Assignment of “W” grades to all courses: ___APPROVED ___NOT APPROVED


Complete column Complete columnA

A B

Only students in good academic standing are eligible to request a Leave of Absence. Eligibility to be con�rmed by the O�ce of the Registrar

Academic Standing___ Transcript___ Current Schedule___


[Final Interview Required]

Unless medically/ physically uncapable, student must obtain the following signatures:

[Final Interview Required]

NewThe “Request For Leave of Absence” form has not been updated since it’s creation.

There are no inconsistencies in regulations, but a form refresh is in order. Further clarification of signatures will help the parties involved to better understand their roles.

Interview data suggested the Dean’s were not completely clear of their role in signing a Leave of Absence form. In speaking with the Registrar’s office, it is the responsibility of the Dean to have a final interview with the student.

The choice was presented to remove their responsibility from the form. The Deans, however, requested to maintain their involvement to ensure the student understands the repercussions of her departure.

Further clarification is to be added for a Medical Leave of Absence. Signatures are only to be obtained by the Dean of Students if the student is medically unable to obtain signatures.


10th week:

Students can just email Registrar Office with UArts email account for personal withdraw.

Students should obtain the following signatures and submit form to Dean of Students Office.

Withdrawal from University Form

Old


Reason(s) for request:

SEMESTER/YEAR

MEDICAL WITHDRAWAL FROM THE UNIVERSITY

DATE ISSUED

Name:


City State Zip Code

Telephone

UARTS ID#:


__

Undergraduate Graduate (Graduate students who have begun a thesis or �nal project are ineligible. See reverse for information)

O�ce of the Registrar ___ Coded Initial: Date:

MEDICAL WITHDRAWAL FROM THE UNIVERSITYAppropriate medical documentation must be received and veri�ed by the Dean of Students.

1. Financial Aid [Check with Financial Aid regarding how this withdrawal will impact Financial Aid status]

Initial: ________ Date:________ 2. Student Billing Clearance [Check with Finance to verify any balance]: __ yes ___no, reason_______________________________________________________ Initial: ________ Date:________

3. Library Clearance __ yes ___no, reason_______________________________________________________ Initial: ________ Date:________

MEDICAL LEAVE OF ABSENCE ___ APPROVED ___NOT APPROVED Initial: _______ Date E�ective: ________



Student must obtain the following signatures unless medically/ physically uncapable:

Dean of Students [Final Interview Required]

Required Signatures -

Assignment of “W” grades to all courses: ___ APPROVED ___NOT APPROVED

Students should complete this form.Dean of Student is only responsible to complete this form

when student is medically/ physically uncapable.

New The “Withdrawal from the University” form is actually completely unnecessary, there is currently no need to submit a form to withdrawal. If the student wishes to withdrawal from UArts, all she must to do is email the Registrar’s Office stating her withdrawal. The Registrar will then complete the students declaration.

With that said, the “Withdrawal from the University” form should be renamed to “Medical Withdrawal from the University.”

A medical withdrawal requires the student to provide “medical” documentation upon readmission to the university.

The form has been redesigned to eliminate the general withdrawal components and only display information unique to a medical withdrawal.

As with the Leave of Absence form, the student is responsible for obtaining signatures if medically and physically able.


W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W10 W11 W12 W13 W14 W15

Withdrawal from the University

No academic penalty Grades of “W”

Not permitted unless academic extenuating circumstances exists,

Grades of “F”

Leave of Absence


Medical leave only,Grades of “W”

Not permitted, Convert to Withdrawal,

Grades of “F”

Drop/ Add,Late

RegistrationAdvising for

next semester

Registra-tion for

next semester

Open Drop/

Add for next

semester

Graphic Calendar

To start and alleviate the misunderstanding of the UArts timeline, a graphic calendar has been created. The calendar illustrates important dates of which the student must be aware before, during and after class registration.

The calendar should be used in all email from the Registrar’s Office and on the back of applicable forms. Increased distribution of the calendar will help information retention from the student body.

Visually representing this schedule and the repercussions for not meeting deadlines drives home the importance of submitting forms by the stated deadline.

The clients were very appreciative of this calendar and immediately felt it would help alleviate headaches. They also felt it could evolve to help improve other areas of thinking as well.

“I wanted to share my enthusiasm about the visual calendar you

included...This is really excellent and has revealed

possible ways to clarify and streamline the processes...”

MEDICAL WITHDRAWAL FROM THE UNIVERSITY Guidelines

Please read the following carefully. If you have any questions regarding this form, or would like to check your enrollment status, please contact the O�ce of the Registrar at 215-717-6420.

Please note that the University does not recognize non-attendance in classes or non-payment of tuition as the equivalent of, or grounds for withdraw from the University.

Students who have withdrawn and wish to resume their studies at a later date must submit a Request for Readmission Formand application fee to the O�ce of the Registrar in accordance with University policy and deadlines, as stated in the catalog. If aStudent is granted a medical withdrawal he/she must provide “medical” documentation to the Dean of Students indicating thatthey may resume their studies before they can register and/or attend classes.

Date E�ective is the date of separation from the University that will be noted on the transcript.

Calendar:• Prior to the start of the semester until the end of the drop/add period: No academic penalty, considered a dropped course and will not be listed on the student's transcript.

• After the end of the posted Drop/Add period to the end of the tenth week of the semester: Grades of ‘W’ (Withdrawal) to appear on transcript.

• After the end of the tenth week: Withdrawal are not permitted unless non-academic extenuating circumstances exist.* Grades of ‘F’ (Failure) to appear on transcript.

*For more information, please refer to the current University Course Catalog. Students should consult with the Student Billing

O�ce or current UArts Catalog for a Refund Calendar.

Last updated: 11/20/10


Withdrawal from the University


Not permitted unless academic extenuating circumstances exists,

Grades of “F”

Drop/ Add,Late


next semester

Registra-tion for

next semester

Open Drop/

Add for next

semester

A visual calendar illustrates important dates for easier understanding of UArts policy

LEAVE OF ABSENCE Guidelines

Please read the following carefully. If you have any questions regarding this form, or would like to check your enrollment status, please contact the O�ce of the Registrar at 215-717-6420.

An approved General Leave of Absence may be taken for one semester only and gives the student the right to resume their stud-ies at the conclusion of the Leave with no further conditions. An approved Medical Leave of Absence may be taken also for one semester only and indicates that a student may return to classes at the end of his/her leave once appropriate medical documen-tation has been received and veri�ed by the Dean of Students. Students who fail to register at the conclusion of an approved Leave will be required to apply for readmission in order to return to the University. Readmission requires the submission of a Request for Readmission Form and application fee to the O�ce of the Registrar in accordance with University policy and dead-lines.

Graduate students may take a maximum of one semester Leave, either sequentially or as needed, over the course of their stud-ies. Once a student has completed his or her coursework, and the Master’s thesis or graduate project has begun, graduate students are not eligible for a Leave of Absence. Graduate students who have not completed their thesis must register for the ‘Thesis Continuation Fee’ each semester until completed.

Date E�ective is the date of separation from the University that will be noted on the transcript. Date E�ective is determined by: • General Leave: Date that Request for Leave of Absence Form is issued, as indicated by the O�ce of the Registrar • Medical Leave: Date determined by the Dean of Students

Students are not permitted to take a Leave of Absence from the University after the end of the seventh week of the Fall or Spring semester, (or the second week of either Summer session) in which they are enrolled, except when non-academic exten-uating circumstances exist. In such cases, the request may be converted to a Medical Leave of Absence, and appropriate docu-mentation must be presented to the Dean of Students.

Please note the following policies regarding withdrawal from courses.

• Prior to the start of the semester until the end of the drop/add period: No academic penalty, considered a dropped course and will not be listed on the student's transcript.

• After the end of the posted Drop/Add period to the end of the tenth week of the semester: Grades of ‘W’ (Withdrawal) to appear on transcript.

• After the end of the seventh week: Leaves are not permitted unless non-academic extenuating circumstances exist.* Grades of ‘F’ (Failure) to appear on transcript, if after the tenth week of the semester.

*For more information, please refer to the current University Course Catalog. Students should consult with the Student Billing

O�ce or current UArts Catalog for a Refund Calendar.

Last updated: 11/20/10


Leave of Absence


Medical leave only,Grades of “W”

Not permitted, Convert to Withdrawal,

Grades of “F”

Drop/ Add,Late


next semester

Registra-tion for

next semester

Open Drop/

Add for next

semester


Due to university-wide confusion on where to find information and how to interact with the multiple digital interfaces offered by UArts, a proposal has been formulated to rehaul the current digital system.

The UArts Info Center integrates the Course Catalog, Bulletin, Student Registration, Degree Audit and enables professors to schedule class times and locations through a unique and user friendly user interface.

The screenshot on the right shows the course catalog concept. Users can scroll their mouse across the multiple available degree programs to queue the course list for that program. Course descriptions are then expanded as the mouse rolls over the class name.

To the left is the expanded navigation bar. The course catalog is publicly available for all prospective students and faculty. The “Course Catalog” tab includes access to UArts specific information; including the Faculty List, Academic Calendar, Degree Requirements and Offerings, Policies and Procedures, Student Affairs, Financial Services, Admissions, Digital Technology and the Administration Board of Trustees. These link back to the UArts website. But while switching back and forth between the main site and the UArts Info Center, there is no loss of visual language.

The visual consistency increases the user experience and decreases confusion and frustration.

Phase 3: System Redesign

The Info Center integrates all information from the UArts catalog

Course Catalog

This is a demonstration of how to view course information on the UArts Info Center

New

Old

Drop & AddSignaturesCaps & SpaceBulletin & Catalog

Advising TrainingStudents & Advising

Courses SchedulingGrid Conflicts

University ToolsDegree Audit


MyUArts RecordOnce logged into the system, user based credentials filter what tabs are available. The “MyUArts Record” tab gives the student immediate access to key information pertaining to their current academic status.

The most current bulletin appears on login and by default shows the student’s declared major.

The main body functions very similar to the Course Catalog, however there is an additional layer of information next to each class. The class information is categorized by four different pieces of information:

All course and student information would be joined in a database via unique tracking codes. These joins would allow the bulletin to provide information based on individual student status and major declaration.

These additional pieces of information give the student access to view what classes they have taken, need to take and can take.

Complete

No Permission

Requirement

ElectiveE

R

The Info Center offers a more intelligent way to view a course bulletin based on the student profile


With a built in calendar, planning course schedules become very intuitive

advisor meeting, the advisor can click this button, enter his login information and approve the student’s class schedule.

The class registration button is only available upon the students priority enrollment date, which automatically registers the student for her classes. If a particular class is full, the student is notified and will need to adjust her schedule accordingly.

The student can link out to her degree audit from here as well, to ensure she is meeting all requirements of the degree.

Advisor approval can be done paperless and instantly

The student can drag and drop available classes into their temporary schedule on the left pane of the window. By doing this, a temporary class schedule will begin to appear. The student can then see how different class options work.

There are both calendar and list views for the temporary class schedules. Allowing for multiple entry points to dissect the information.

Below the course scheduling functions are “Register for Selected Classes” and “Advisor Approval” buttons. The advisor approval function is only available to advisors. When the student references her class selection in her


The updated degree audit maintains consistency in delivering information in a visually contextual way. This newly designed degree audit shows a snapshot of the student’s status via a credit based progress bar.

The progress bar states both the total number of earned credits and total number of remaining credits. Under the progress bar is the students current GPA. This is a great view for the student to better understand her progress at UArts.

The main body of the page details past and current years of the student’s academic life. Detailing her completed classes with the letter grade received. It also represents the number of required credits for a given semester and the number of credits successfully completed.

With these details, the student can easily see her undergraduate career progress. Simple visual details like these give the mind and eye more entry points to grasp the information.

Many UArts tools have not been updated for the individual of 2010 and as such, loose the reader’s attention.

The above screenshot shows the current state of the UArts Degree Audit. The cluttered text-based layout complicates the user’s ability to absorb necessary information

Degree Audit

Old

The Degree Audit can be shown in a more visually contextual way

New


Transparent SchedulerThe Transparent Scheduler is only available to the Department Chair and is designed to improve the chair’s ability to layout his class schedule across both the grid and the department floorplan.

Restrictions are implemented to limit editing and viewing of only the Department Chairs department information.

The system is very dynamic. It displays all available classes offered by the department in a scrollable list, with the ability to add, subtract and edit course details. Once a course is selected, it can be assigned a time and day on the calendar.

The initial view will show the chair his building and floor plan. This will be a new way too look at and edit class schedules. The floorplan displays the maximum number of students allowed in a room and room availability. In the opposing view the Department Chair can click different days or times to see floor availability. And inversely, can click a room to see it’s availability in the week view. These tools will help deter issues of finding needed space and alleviate the inability to quickly schedule multiple scenarios.

Department Chairs have the ability to schedule courses using the Info Center The floorplan provides

a more clear and intuitive way to schedule courses


Visually seeing when and where courses are scheduled greatly eases the scheduling process

Being able to see what courses are scheduled helps Dept. Chairs plan courses better to avoid grid conflicts

When editing or adding a class, the Department Chair has the ability to set the time and day of that class as well as the room in which it will be held. Clicking on a grid block allocates the length of time the class will be held and places the class in that timeslot. When a timeslot is highlighted, the floorplan changes to reflect the classes availability for that day and time.

As rooms are scheduled, they become gray to show the unavailability of that space. Once all possible options have been exhausted, and the Department Chair needs to find a room to fit that one other class, he can navigate to another floor in his or another building to see if any rooms are available.

Departments must allocate a room as available for outside department use. As some classrooms are built for specific studios, this layer of information is a necessity.

An additional function was added to help the Chair schedule around particular courses. By double clicking a timeslot, the window to the right appears as a list of all classes in the university that have already been scheduled for that given time and day.


Submitting course schedules to the Registrar’s Office is just one click away

The last function of the Transparent Scheduler is “Bulletin Generation.” Once the Department Chair has completed scheduling all classes, he can choose to generate the bulletin. This notifies the database that all classes have been scheduled and the bulletin is ready to be published. It also sends copy to the Registrar’s Office for auditing purposes.

Note:The only way in which this phase can be implemented is through the investment of a customized database. The current hurdle in enhancing the processes and procedures of registration is a lack of unique joins between the degree audit, course catalog and bulletin. Therefore it becomes necessary for all classes to be assigned a unique identification code from which different tables of information can be connected in a database schema. This simple upgrade will create the connection between degree audit, course catalog and the bulletin.


Chapter 5

Future StepsThe three phased proposal is a huge step in enhancing the student and faculty experience at UArts. These phases are not, however, shutting or locking any doors. That would be the opposite of what design is about.

Design interaction should not cease at UArts, forward thinking faculty should drive future iterations, updates and changes that continue to evolve and better the UArts experiences.

Outlined in this section are thoughts on the next steps that would help continue design sensibilities.

104 105

Overall, advisors have lost their ability to advise students in more comprehensive manners due to the short amount of time they spend together. Approximately 65% of meeting time is now focused on finding a schedule that works best for the student rather than analyzing the student’s goals and helping sketch out future plans. Once the student and faculty are provided with simpler and more robust ways of formulating schedules, advisor meetings can focus on student careers.

A sight unseen is the process by which faculty schedule rooms and times for classes. This will only become more difficult as UArts flattens its hierarchical class structure (CAD, CMAC, CPA). Implementing a system to allow faculty a more efficient way of handling their scheduling conflicts will better the overall teaching and advising abilities. An excellent by-product of this system is the increase of employee moral. By providing a solution for scheduling problems, a massive headache is alleviated for advisors and chairs so their time can be better spent in other facets of their department.

With these implementations, the future of the advising model can be modified to focus on the student, elevating the quality of advising. Advisor training should become less technical due to the simplified interface of the UArts Info Center. Training can be more professional and educate advisors about the classes offered, the academic structure, and the policies at UArts.

To further enhance the implemented system, automated emails can be blasted to students during particular times of the registration process. The automation of emails can be based on time and action. When a certain date approaches, a static email will be sent out to students as a reminder to schedule advisor meetings. Also when a Department Chair updates the bulletin, an email can be sent informing students of the bulletin update.

These implementations improve the daily work tasks of Advisors, Chairs and the Registrar by leveraging the power of the database.

Looking Forward

106 107Chapter 5: Future Steps

On October 12th, Jenny received an email from the Registrar’s office. She was immediately surprised by the format of the email. It was different than most university-wide emails. She didn’t necessarily need to read through the email, it was very visual. There was a timeline showing the schedule of the coming months and one peculiar link, which initially concerned her.

Jenny was not familiar with any “Info Center” and feared that registration may be a challenge, especially if she had to learn a foreign interface!

Jenny’s curiosity got the best of her, and she immediately clicked the mysterious link. It brought her to an elegant website. The layout was simple yet complex - it seemed like a mass of important information was at her fingertips... Jenny soon realized it was.

The course catalog was one click away from the bulletin. Integrated into the list of departments was a simple and almost fun way to choose her major. The bulletin then automatically listed which classes Jenny was able to take (based on pre-requisites and her degree audit status). The bulletin also listed which classes were required or elective.

Conclusion

Meet Jenny

The system was intuitive, informative and extensive. Jenny realized all she had to do was click the class section in which she had interest and it would be added to her personal schedule.

She quickly sketched out her preferred class layout as she explored the new system. Jenny even had a few options available incase certain classes hit their caps before her priority registration time. All she needed to do now was meet with Marco (Jenny’s advisor), obtain advisor approval and wait for priority registration. When she became able to register all she’d need to do is click the “Register for selected classes” link.

“This is a great system,” thought Jenny. All she needed to do was schedule a time to meet with Marco.

Jenny focused some time on her degree audit as well. It featured a clear graphic detailing the number of credits taken and the number of credits left to complete. Overall, the degree audit was easy to digest. It visually listed her different semesters and the classes she took. She could also see which classes were required for the coming semester, and easily click out to the bulletin for scheduling options.

Jenny met with Marco the following week. Although he was new at advising, the meeting went without a hitch. They logged into Jenny’s Info Center to view the schedule she had proposed. After reviewing her choices and making a few edits and substitutions, Marco gave Jenny his advisor approval.

Jenny and Marco now had the rest of their advising time to talk about her academic plan and how the classes she was taking were helping her achieve her goals while attending UArts. This was important to Jenny as she was concerned with getting the most out of her undergraduate career.

Jenny explained that she wanted to focus some of her studies on crafts, but had not been able to register for any crafts classes in the past. It did seem, however, that she would be able to get into the throwing elective. Seeing that all she needed to do was log into her Info Center and click “Register for Classes,” Jenny felt at ease with her abilities to get into the classes of her choice.

Jenny left her advisor meeting feeling great about the progress her and Marco had made. She was able to speak with Marco about her undergraduate career and gain feedback on how she could best schedule her remaining two years at UArts.

November 14th arrived and Jenny jumped onto her computer to register for classes. She logged into the Info Center clicked “Register for selected classes” and was immediately registered for her core courses. Jenny would need to wait for the general enrollment date to register her electives.

The layout was simple yet complex - it seemed like a mass of important information was at her fingertips...

Jenny soon realized it was.

Jenny left her advisor meeting feeling great about the progress

her and Marco had made.

Conclusion: Meet Jenny108 109

Rewind to October 11, 2010. Marco sat down with the Department Chair before the advising period to walk through the newly implemented scheduling tool. Previously, scheduling the Grid was done using whiteboards, Excel and even Adobe Illustrator to visually show each day. These processes were time consuming and tedious, but they got the job done.

The Info Center was everything they needed. Once the Department Chair signed in, they could see all available classes for their department with the option to edit the details or add and delete a class.

Once all class data was up-to-date, they could start moving classes around on a digital floor-plan by day, time and location. Although unable to schedule a senior studio, the system allowed them to navigate to other floors and buildings to find an open classroom.

A few floors up was a classroom designated as available for outside use. The Info Center allowed them to easily schedule the senior studio class in that room. Scheduling the Grid is typically a time consuming exercise, but with the Info Center, Marco and the Department Chair were much more productive. The system’s simplicity prevented numerous headaches, allowing them to focus on the problem at hand rather than how to accomplish said headaches.

Once they finalized their decisions, the chair was able to generate the bulletin with one click. This extracted all the information they just created in the format required by the Registrars Office. From there they could print, save and “Submit to Registrar.” No additional content creation was necessary.

The Info Center was now ready for the Illustration majors to take charge of their next semester.

The Info Center was now ready for the Illustration majors to take charge of

their next semester.

Conclusion: Meet Jenny110 111

GlossaryA full-time or adjunct faculty member of a department who also has the responsibility to help students to select courses and engage in short- and long-term educational planning.

A comprehensive document provided by the Office of the Registrar that shows the meeting times for every class scheduled for a given semester. Organized by department, it shows the section, title, amount of credits, meeting days and times, faculty, prerequisites and other restrictions associated with each course. Currently, the bulletin is formatted as a text-based table in a PDF document.

College of Art and Design, one of the three colleges at the University of the Arts.

A comprehensive document provided by the Office of the Registrar that shows the course requirements associated with each degree. It also shows the academic calendar, policies and procedures for enrolled students, and additional information about student financial services, university libraries and other aspects of the university. Currently, the course catalog is formatted as a text-based PDF. There is also a text-based online version that includes descriptions for each course offered by the University.

College of Media and Communication, one of the three colleges at the University of the Arts.

A function that allows a student to satisfy a course requirement with the credit earned from a different course of equivalent value/content, as determined by the department chair. Occasionally a student may not be able to enroll in the exact course required for the degree program, or the department may recommend an alternate course to better suit a specific academic goal. In these cases, the student is to request an approval for a course substitution from the department chairperson or program director.

Advisor

Bulletin

CAD

Catalog

CMAC

Course Substitution

College of Performing Arts, one of the three colleges at the University of the Arts.

UArts’ business enterprise system, developed by Datatel, Inc., which is used to manage major administrative functions across the University. Colleague is divided into three main functions: Student (Recruitment, Registration, Accounts Receivable, & Financial Aid); Financial (Purchasing & budgets); Human Resources (Personnel & Payroll).

A text document viewable from WebAdvisor that shows a student’s completed courses and grades as well as the incomplete courses required by the degree program. Dean - A head of a college or division in a university.

A senior academic who is the head of a department.

A form for students who wish to drop or add a class to their schedule the during drop/add period.

The maximum number of students allowed for one course.

A set of guidelines meant to standardize the structure of the weekly schedule throughout the university. Departmental chairs use the Grid to arrange their class schedules.

A document imaging and management tool developed by Perceptive Software, Inc that allows the capture, organization and management of data. It allows department chairs and administrators to scan, file, retrieve, print, fax, or distribute electronic objects, including forms and degree audits.

A form provided by request for students who wish to take a semester away from school for personal or medical reasons.

CPA

DataTel (Colleague)

Degree Audit

Department Chair

Drop /Add Form

Enrollment Cap

Grid

ImageNow

Leave of Absence Form

112 113

An online hub meant to serve as a one-stop gateway for students and faculty to access the various tools used by the University. It includes links to email, Sakai (a courseware management program), the Office of the Registrar’s website, and WebAdvisor.

A prior condition required to register a certain course.

An official in a university who handles student records and registration process.

A channel of the portal that grants students, staff, and the community access to the UArts databases. This channel is used by students to execute tasks relating to registration, including browsing the course catalog, searching for course sections, registering for classes, and viewing class schedules. WebAdvisor gives students access to their degree audit and the ability to view or edit other aspects of their academic profile. WebAdvisor also provides the student with financial information such as billing statements and remittance forms.

An online information center that allows the various offices with in the university to share content with students, faculty, and staff. Its role is to provide general information to the UArts community. Although, like the Portal, it provides access to resources from the Office of the Registrar, it does not provide the registration and communication functions that the Portal offers.

A form for students who wish to withdraw from school for personal or medical reasons.

Portal

Prerequisite

Registrar

WebAdvisor

Wiki

Withdrawal Form

Glossary (continued)

114 115

UArts Enrollment TeamMID 2nd year

MID 1st year

Director

Instructor

Deng-Shun Chang

Mike Smith

Wan-Ting Chang

Nicolas Coia

Jonas Milder

Mark Havens

Doug Bucci

Special Thanks!

Michael NashAdrienne StalekKrishna Dunston

Peter StamblerChris Myers

Charlie David Kettner

De Angela Duff Dr. Annette DiMedio

Jayme Guokas Karl Staven

Mark Tocchet Michael Grothusen

Mark Campbell Michelle Wall Rande Blank

Susan Viguers Tony Guido

Margaret Kip O’Donnell Marilyn Del Valle-Santiago

Jeffery Kisler Lakiesha Sanders

Shawn Green Jacqueline Manni

ProvostAssociate Dean, College of Art and DesignAssistant Dean, College of Performing ArtsDean, Liberal ArtsChair, Graphic DesignDirector, Ira Brind School of Theater Arts Chair, Fine Arts: Painting, Printmaking, SculptureInterim Director, MultimediaChief Advisor, MusicAdministrative Assistant, Media ArtsChair, Media ArtsChair, IllustrationCo-Chair, FoundationCo-Chair, FoundationAssisstant to the Director, MusicInterim Director, Master of Art Education Director, Book Arts/PrintmakingChair, Industrial DesignRegistrar, RegistrarAssistant Registrar, RegistrarRecord Manager, RegistrarReceptionist, Registrar Data Clerk, RegistrarStudent Data Coordinator, Registrar

Thanks to all the members of the UArts community that contributed to this project:

116 117

uarts enrollment

Documents

asked jenny

danny chang

wanting chang pages

avail marco

nicolas coia pages

jenny08 chapter

proposal104 chapter

research40 chapter