Ontario Universities Application Centre IAAO September 2017 Valerie

Ontario Universities’ Application Centre IAAO September 2017 Valerie Boyd, Acting Executive Director Trudy Sykes, Director of Operations

Agenda • The OUAC at a glance • Major Accomplishments and Challenges − Application Management System (AMS) • • The Goal The Result The Highlights What is “New Normal”? − Leadership Team and Succession Planning • • Strategic Planning Organizational Structure − New Partnerships • Questions?

The OUAC at a Glance • Established in 1971 as a independent organization under the leadership of the Council of Ontario Universities (COU), we manage the flow of student applications to 20 of Ontario’s universities • Applications include: undergraduate, law, medical, rehab sciences and education programs, and some contracts • The OUAC is a division of COU Holding Association Inc. , which is a registered charity. − All funds not required for running the OUAC are distributed to the universities to support their application processes.

The OUAC at a Glance • Universities make all admissions decisions; we facilitate the flow of data to and from universities and applicants • We also work with guidance counsellors and provide university admission information for students (e. INFO, Ontario Universities’ Fair, University Information Program) • Admission Information Service (AIS): Allows applicants who may not have an offer of admission to determine which universities still have specific programs available • We maintain an extensive electronic transcript system

OUAC By the Numbers. . . In 2016 -2017: • 218, 292 applicants filed 671, 927 choices • OUAC collected over $70 million in revenue • OUAC transferred over $56 million to the universities Between 1971 and 2017 the OUAC processed: • • 6 million+ applicants over 17. 5 million applications (choices)

Application Management System (AMS): Project Overview • 2014: We contracted Oracle to implement People. Soft Campus Solutions (CS) • OUAC built the front end (Application Interface) and Oracle resources built most of the back end (People. Soft) portions for the applications • A highly collaborative initiative to tie everything together • It was a tight 2 -year timeline to plan, build, test and implement the new AMS

AMS: Goal/Scope • Our largest project ever • Aggressive mandate – must go live Fall 2016 • 20 universities – dependent on us (and vice versa) • Complete replacement of core system! • Integrate existing EDI and document management • XML and flat file distributions • Complexity – 900+ page distribution specification (6, 500 element/combinations!)

Risk Management • 200, 000+ applicants annually • 20 universities – and their resource constraints • Replacing all of our core systems within 2 years (including interfaces) • People. Soft – complex and new to us • XML distribution is new, different – and highly critical • Extensive testing • Failure is not an option – impacts to applicants and universities

The Results • We went live on time! • Medical school application (OMSAS) taken out of scope • There were bumps… and still are • High stress at times • Aggressive risk mitigation during project and first cycle • 10 universities getting XML distributions • We are completing the first cycle • Didn’t lose any OUAC AMS team members! • Substantial work still to do

Highlights • Teams within teams • Strong communication • Tremendous support from universities • Rapid response/triage teams – October to January • Benefits now and future

What is “New Normal”? • Still very much in transition mode − Continuing to stabilize and simplify − Developing new processes − Adjusting organizational structure • Converting remaining universities to XML distribution • Moving OMSAS on to new AMS for 2019 cycle; all using XML • Moving Document Management and EDI systems off legacy hardware • Simplify systems/de-commission legacy hardware • Transcripts – Canada/Global opportunities

Leadership Team and Succession Planning • Currently in ninth month of Executive Director (ED) search. • Succession planning for several senior management positions due to loss of managers through resignations and upcoming retirements.

Strategic Planning • Previous ED started process; however, this was stalled due to − AMS Project and implementation − Loss of Executive Director − Extended medical leave of a senior manager • Plans in place to have current management team pick up planning work. − Needed for next budget and operational planning

Organizational Structure • AMS has substantially altered work processes. − Development work on value added tools is not complete − New functionality added (single applicant) has added new work. − Standardization across departments will allow for some restructuring

New Partnerships • Education is at the provincial government in Canada. • Ontario has made very significant changes to the financial support given to postsecondary students. • Application centres have supported this initiative with major system changes. • Implementation of this is happening this cycle.

Questions or Comments? Valerie Boyd Acting Executive Director boyd@ouac. on. ca Trudy Sykes Director of Operations sykes@ouac. on. ca