When students apply to Penn this fall, the admissions office will not print out their essays, grades or test scores. Instead, their applications will form the basis of a digital file that will stay with them throughout their years at the University.
Admissions officers will manage student applications on Penn's new digital media imaging system - Oasis.
The system, which has been in the works for several years, is now complete and admissions officers have been trained to use Oasis over the past several months.
The Undergraduate Admissions Office and Information Systems & Computing developed Oasis by working with Oracle Student Systems' base product to create a Penn-specific system, Margaret Porigow, admissions project manager for Oasis, wrote in an e-mail.
Every student who applies to Penn will now be allotted an electronic file in the Oasis system rather than a paper folder, according to Porigow.
Anytime the office is sent paper documents, for instance high school transcripts, they will be scanned into the system and added to the applicant's electronic folder.
While reading an application, admissions staff can enter comments electronically, which are then stored in the applicant's file, Porigow wrote.
Through a new MyPenn Applicant Portal, students can track their credentials to ensure the University has received them, view messages and reminders from the admissions office and request updates or changes to their applications.
The final admissions decision will also be entered into the Oasis system and all files will become part of an electronic archive at the end of the admissions cycle.
In addition to eliminating paper records, thereby saving trees and making it easier to carry documents, Oasis will allow for information to move "quickly, accurately, and effectively" between "the undergraduate admissions office, prospective students and applicants," ISC Project Manager for Oasis Michael Kearney wrote in an e-mail.
According to Dean of Admissions Eric Furda, the Oasis system will also be used outside of the admissions department.
For instance, academic advisors will eventually be able to access student records through the Oasis system.
Before coming to Penn, Furda helped the undergraduate admissions office at Columbia University switch over to an electronic application system.
Though some other admissions offices - including those at Columbia and Stanford - have already switched to electronic records, "Penn is well ahead of the curve," in its move to a paperless office, said James Fowler, a senior consultant at Admissions Consultants.
According to Fowler, there has been a push toward paperless offices over the past 10 years because electronic records decrease the likelihood of files getting lost.
Oasis training went well and the admissions officers are "very excited" to use the program, according to Porigow.
