I sat in on a very interesting meeting today involving transfer admissions and XML transcripts. While this might not seem exciting to talk about, it could lead to a dramatic change in the processing and review of files in the future. At this time, a college transcript is mailed to us, opened, scanned, and then moved into a student’s file, which is then placed into a group of files the need to be reviewed for admission. Let’s say we pull up a transfer application for review. We would look at the transcript(s) to determine what classes will transfer, how many hours will transfer, and determine the transfer GPA. If we admit the student, an evaluator must then manually enter in each class, credit hour and grade for each college course, and our articulation system that will translate the coursework into UGA courses (the system is what the Transfer Equivalency site is based off of).
With an XML transcript, the transcript will come in, and if it matches an admission file, it would be pushed into the articulation system on a course by course basis, calculate the GPA and hours, and wait for a review by an admissions evaluator. The evaluator will review the file for any oddities, review the grades and hours, and then move forward with an admission decision. In other words, it will take a lot of data entry out of the situation, and make the entire process more streamlined and efficient.
While we are still months (or more) away from making this process a reality, I am excited about our office taking these steps! Our hope is that in the near future, we will be able to make transfer decisions quicker, more efficiently, and with less data entry (and with greater accuracy). This will also help in entering dual enrollment work for freshmen students and transient work for current UGA students.
Go Dawgs!