UW System E-app Changes

UW HELP has been working this past year on a redesign of the UW System electronic application (E-app). The first E-app was launched in 1998, and while it has had many updates, it has not been redesigned since its inception. With UW HELP leading the charge, each of the system campuses’ admissions offices have met with UW HELP to share and discuss our business processes and needs. UW–Madison’s experience being a Common Application member has allowed us to provide guidance and advice both from the user perspective and from the technology side regarding suggested improvements. The goal with the redesigned E-app is to allow for greater ease from the user perspective. This is designed to help students complete the application faster — in a single sitting — and to reduce unnecessary questions that might prevent a student from completing their application. Students are also able to apply to multiple system institutions at one time without needing to update any information, aside from adding the new institution essay and academic program. The overall look and feel of the redesigned E-app is intended to be more modern, attractive, and appealing to students. It is a dramatic upgrade from the previous E-app, which resembled technical design from the early 1990s, when it was initially built. The redesigned E-app includes vibrant graphics and easy to follow info buttons that are more intuitive, user-friendly, and easier to navigate. Some of the changes toward a more streamlined and efficient application include an easier account set-up, including using email as a user name rather than creating a user name, and options for a password re-set when a user’s password is forgotten. A live agent chat feature will also be available to assist with questions applicants may have. Applicants will also have the ability to upload documents. The courses in progress section has been streamlined to require significantly less information, however, students are also able upload a PDF of their unofficial transcript both for courses in progress and grade reporting. Students can also upload a resume rather than manually adding in their work experience, all designed to make the process faster and easier for students. Students will be able to self-report a need for an application fee waiver. They no longer need to have this sent official from a school counselor. A student must choose one of four situations that makes them eligible for a fee waiver. Additional upgrades include allowing applicants to skip partial or entire modules that don’t apply to them, such as allowing transfer applicants to skip providing activities if it’s not relevant to their situation, or not requiring parent information for those not needing to claim Wisconsin residency. Designed to help streamline the E-app, the revised residency section eliminates many of the residence for tuition questions on previous versions of the E-app and collects more generalized forms of information, which not only streamlines the review process but also removes some challenges that have previously made the residency component more difficult for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Using a substantially revised format, the new E-app’s residency section provides several benefits. The section has a reduced number of questions, requests multiple choice responses rather than free-form text responses, and uses smart logic to minimize the collection of non-essential residence information. Updating data structures will limit the amount of residency information applicants must provide, but it still allows reviewers to determine which of the students clearly qualify as residents and which require additional questions to gather more specific information. Wisconsin applicants will have an easier time qualifying for resident status in their own right, rather than mainly deriving their status from parents. We are excited to utilize the new E-app and streamline the application process for students, while simultaneously making our lives a little easier along the way.