New Tyndale Online Application

Today Tyndale launched a new Online Application. (http://apply.tyndale.ca)

A recent study (Engaging the “Social Networking” Generation E-Expectations: Class of 2007 Report (PDF)) places Online applications as the 3rd most requested activity students would like to complete on a College or University web site. 81% of respondents said they would like to complete their application online.

While we have had an online application available for over six years – this application was being hosted off-site and the information gathered had to be re-entered into our database system. This solution created extra work  and left a lot of room for human error. Using a third-party vendor also comes at a cost – a charge for each application received.

Our new Online Application – code named “app|app”  –  is integrated directly with our prospective student database. This means that the information that the student enters will – once checked – be inserted directly into the main database. The database will automatically check for duplicate records helping us to keep our data clean and our communications effective.

To begin a new application the prospective student only needs to provide their first name, last name and email along with which school the wish to apply to. Once they have started their application they are able to save it at any point and return to complete it later.

The application is divided into four steps – these steps are each hosted under their own tabs allowing for simple navigation and a shorter page structure.

Once the application has been submitted the prospective student is presented with their own application page. This provides a checklist of things required to complete their application (references, transcripts etc.) along with access to any forms they may need. There is also a online view and a print view of their application available.

While I am really excited about the increased functionality and cost savings this will provide for the Admissions staff here at Tyndale – I am equally excited about the dramatically  enhanced user experience we can now provide for our prospective students.

A special thanks to Jason Carson who helped tremendously throughout this project. Also a special thanks to Chris Wu and to those who helped with our testing process. This was a real team effort!

If anyone would like to have a demo of the Online Application please see either Jason or myself – either of us will be proud to show this off!