Ref: 022809
Capturing data from application forms
All the data from application forms must first be captured into a database.
Analysis of the application
The analytical admission reports are done according to the first option of all candidates. Programs that have more applications than the study places available can become limited programs, others become unlimited. Each of the programs that can become limited actually becomes limited by the approval of Ministry of Education and formal approval of the government.
Determination of exams
The government approval determines the next step of the procedure. The
limited and unlimited options have to be determined. First option of a
candidate becomes limited, if it fulfils one of the following conditions:
· the program of the first option is limited
· the program of the first option is unlimited, but according to
qualifications candidate must pass either the capability tests or other
additional tests
Other options of the candidate become limited, if his first option is limited, otherwise they become surplus. For all the limited options the candidates must be put on lists for capability tests and additional tests if it is a option for a program, for which registration demands determine so.
Capturing of marks
The following kind of marks must be captured:
· Marks of candidates, which have finished secondary school in the past
and had to enclose all their certificates with the application form. This is a
manual procedure and is done twice. The second capture controls the first one
and so the probability of mistakes is practically zero.
· Marks of capability tests and additional tests, which are delivered from
departments in form of ASCII file.
· Marks of candidates, that are finishing secondary school in the current
scholastic year. These marks are delivered from the National examinations
centre in form of ASCII file.
Calculation procedure
For each program and type of final exam (bachelor's degree or internal final examination) there are entrance qualifications and weights for marks for which candidate gets points. Because there are six different scales of marks, the calculation procedure must transform each mark from its original scale to the mark in scale from 0-100. Setting of flags and searching for maximums are also part of this procedure.
Selection procedure
Selection procedure is the main characteristic of new application procedure and is the step, where both procedures differ mostly. It tries to place candidate on his most preferred program, for which he fulfils all the qualifications and has enough points according to his competitives whereas the places available for each program must be considered.
The most important mission of information system is to assure the consideration of all the qualifications. They are implemented in data model, so the code is independent. The most critical procedures, that information system supports are calculation and selection procedure. Interphase test method was developed for the purpose of testing their function.
Information system was developed two years ago, renovated last year and is now being maintained. In the last year there were some changes in the procedure that exceed the maintenance, so we now talk about renovation and maintenance of the information system. In the next sections the evolution of the information system will be described.
We had to begin with selection of hardware and software for production system and development. For both admission services (each university has its own) we choosed PC platform, two better PC's for servers and 11 PC's for clients. On both servers we installed operating system Novell NetWare and Database server Oracle 7.0. Operating system for clients was DOS and the development tools were Oracle client tools: SQL Forms, SQL Menu, and SQL Reports. As CASE tool we used SilverRun. Each admission service had it's own LAN, networks were not connected. Two unconnected servers caused many problems during the whole procedure.
The main consequence of time pressure was the partial development of information system. There wasn't enough time to make analysis in the beginning to get the full picture of the system. In every moment of development we were working only on activities to support the current checkpoint of application procedure. To get to current checkpoint and support needed activities we made additions to process and data model and implemented it. Information system was not developed according to information engineering methodology. We could say that information system was not developed but was composed.
Because of partial development some mistakes committed in early stages arose at the end. Especially some default values of flags and some segments of data model were the problem. That was the source of many problems in the last step of procedure.
In the second year there were some changes in the application procedure. They
were the result of analysis done by all the actors involved in it. This was one
of the strongest reasons for renovation. From technical point of view there
were following reasons for renovation of the information system:
· Functional reasons: Information system was operating correctly, but
because of its partial development its use was complicated.
· Technological reasons: Information system was operating in DOS. In the
same year ORACLE announced, that the development of development tools for DOS
has stopped. Information system became technologically old over night.
We decided for the following renovation, which was done in two phases:
· First phase: Classical reverse engineering phase to gain the business
model was not needed because of the changes in the application procedure and
functional reasons for renovation. In this phase we only analysed the
information system, especially the data model.
· Second phase: It was a forward engineering phase, where we developed new
information system in Windows environment using new Oracle tools. The
development was based on documentation of information system, analyses done in
the first phase, changed application procedure and experience gained during the
development.
Information system also supports significant improvement in the application procedure. This is communication with candidates. Candidates get mail at least twice during the procedure. After capturing of application forms data candidates get mail with their data in the database. The aim of the first mail is to verify the data because mistakes appear during capturing. It gives candidates the possibility to mail back any noticed irregular data in the database. Candidates get second mail when the selection procedure is finished. They are informed about the program they are accepted in with all the explanations. Since such a communication has been adopted, there are much less telephone calls to admission service from candidates, because they get feedback.
We believe that it would be better to divide application procedure in two separated parts. In the first part candidates would only specify data which would not depend on future outcomes, such as graduation success and success in bachelor's degree. Special forms would have to be prepared to acquire this. Received data would be captured into database. Reports would be produced and send back to the candidates in order to check inserted data is correct. A blank form would be included, where candidates would choose their options as soon as they would finish secondary school and bachelor's degree.
Receiving information about candidate's success in bachelor's degree plays very important role in the application procedure. At the point we come to the second part. Now we have all the data needed to start with calculations and other activities need to be done to finalise the application procedure.
Benefits
· We avoid predicting all procedures possible according to the future
outcomes. We only deal with the information available at the moment.
· The second part is carried out only for those candidates that would
actually pass graduation and bachelor's degree!
· After consideration based on graduation results and results of
bachelor's degree, candidates could rationally decide where to apply!
Using I-OCR technology to capture data from application forms would reduce expenses. According to technical details about I-OCR technology, we expect the whole process would not last more then few days.
Advantages:
· Reduced costs
· Using WWW application candidates would not be able to enter incorrect
records
· Coding would be unnecessary
· Data would be inserted directly into database
· Communication between candidates and Admission Service would be cheaper
and faster
Copyright EUNIS 1997 Y.E.