OASIS: New System for Undergraduate Admissions
October 23, 2007, Volume 54, No. 9	Print Issue

The Undergraduate Admissions Office and Information Systems and Computing are pleased to report on the status of new systems and processes being implemented for the Admissions Office.  OASIS (Online Admissions Staff Information System) provides tools and processes that will permit Admissions Office staff to perform their jobs more easily and effectively. Our initial release, deployed in 2006, allowed prospective applicants to enter personal information online and request an application. To date, more than 11,000 prospective students have indicated their interest in Penn using this system, with only three requests for support.

We continue with phased implementation, having deployed a major release in June and with another due this fall. Additional releases are targeted for the summer of 2008. 

June 2007:  This release focused on managing information about prospective students;  this information is, for the first time, available to Admissions Office staff 24-hours a day from anywhere around the world. The system, with an Oracle database as its core, now contains more than 115,000 prospects from dozens of sources, including the 11,000-plus students who directly entered their own contact information and interest in Penn. In addition, this release provides the same ready access to information on more than 45,000 secondary schools, including counselors and other contact persons.

Fall 2007:  The current release focuses on the Secondary School Committee (SSC), volunteer alumni interviewing committees, and initial steps for managing applicant interview information.  SSC members can now schedule and submit interview results online.  This release also provides better electronic management of standardized test scores and secondary school profile information.

Summer 2008:  We anticipate delivering two additional releases next summer. The first will include document management, specifically a repository for all information, whether provided electronically or on paper (“electronic applicant file”).  The second release will add applicant tracking, cycle monitoring and selection functionality, supporting the applicant evaluation and decision process.

While project work will continue over the winter, new features will not be added during the upcoming admissions cycle to avoid disrupting the Admissions Office staff’s work. The phases deployed during the summer of 2008 will support the 2009 admissions cycle. For more information about the project, please see our website:  www.upenn.edu/computing/isc/apps/adm/test/ or send e-mail to the project managers: Margaret Porigow (margaret@admissions.upenn.edu) or Michael Kearney (mkearney@isc.upenn.edu). 

—Eric Kaplan, Interim Dean, Undergraduate Admissions
—Robin Beck, Vice President, Information Systems and Computing