Digital platform for holding admission campaigns of the Southern Federal University
About the Client and the University
We were approached by the Southern Federal University. A university with a hundred-year history, an innovative IT space that offers technical and humanitarian training for qualified professionals.
Client’s Goals
Previously, admission campaigns at SFedU were held in person: applicants had to come to the university and personally submit documents. Managers entered the data of future manually, using 1C software, and sent it to Russian information systems (IS).
To simplify the submission of documents and attract students from other regions of the Russian Federation, SFedU decided to convert the admission procedure to an online format and automate all processes. That was an important step in maintaining technological leadership among other educational institutions in the southern region.
Client’s Tasks
To develop a service for submitting documents, we plunged into the process of conducting the university admission campaign. Our team studied the target audience and similar systems on the market, and after that we came up with the following ideas:
- create an intuitive and well-laid-out UX/UI design for applicants and develop a one-stop solution for submitting applications and requests for admission;
- simplify the work of representatives of the SFedU Admissions Committee and prepare a convenient tool for working with applications.
The digital platform solves several important tasks at once:
- reduces paperwork;
- improves the accuracy when submitting applications;
- quickly generates reports and calculates statistical indicators to improve the service.
Problem Solving
In 2022, the government changed the rules of the federal admission campaign shortly before the start. In response to the requirements of ministries and departments, the team, within a short time, did the following:
- formed a system for submitting applications, consents, and other documents for applicants;
- accelerated and automated the process of checking information from potential students;
- automated the creation and updating of enrollment competition lists;
- made automatic order formation for enrollment and expulsion of applicants;
- developed the automatic addition of information about applicants from the “Gosuslugi” service;
- created an automatic upload of applicants' data to the FGIS SFC.
Digital Platform Design
The users of the digital platform fall into three groups: applicants, parents, and admissions managers. Therefore, there is a need for a clear interface that would allow applicants and their parents to submit all the necessary documents and fill in all the necessary data accurately. At the same time, managers also need to be taken care of their work has to be simplified and automated.
SFedU employees have to view tens of thousands of applications, most of the application fields are of the same type and with a lot of text. To minimize the risk of making mistakes, we decided:
- mark information blocks that need to be checked especially carefully;
- indicate the sections which require additional verification because the applicant has made some changes to the information.
The digital platform helped to achieve the main goal as the applicants understood the procedure, quickly filled out the applications and received feedback, and the managers effectively and accurately performed their work.
Integrations and Technologies
The digital platform has to work smoothly with other services, so it required several integrations.
- Superservice Gosuslugi, a single window service through which applicants submit their applications to universities. Thanks to the integration, more than 50,000 applications were processed.
- FGIS SFC, a service of Rosobrnadzor, where applicants' data is transferred.
- Moodle, a system on which entrance examinations are conducted.
- 1C, a system for accounting and data structuring.
We also used some helpful cloud solutions and microservices. With their help, you can:
- quickly scale and process a large number of applications at the time of maximum system load;
- use several technologies at once in one digital solution;
- quickly and efficiently update an IT product;
- speed up the development due to microinstructions;
- develop high fault tolerance 24/7.
Limitations and Challenges
The digital system was developed and implemented in a very short time despite the scale and complexity of the project. The work was complicated by a variety of factors: changing legislation and state requirements, combined with a fixed deadline. But the work was completed on time, and the admission campaign at the university was concluded successfully.
Russian IS
Data Mapping
Results
In a short time, we and SFedU experts created a comprehensive and convenient platform for applicants. The digital solution helped to automate the admission process and increase the employee efficiency. The 2022 admission campaign was successful and covered a much larger number of applicants due to remote application opportunities. The implemented platform is flexible, customizable, easily scalable, and easier to maintain than 1C. Thanks to the fruitful joint work with the Southern Federal University:
- applicants can apply, track their status, attach documents, take entrance exams and make the necessary changes;
- applications can be checked and changed by managers through their personal accounts;
- the system smoothly exports and imports data from Gosuslugi;
- applications are exported to the state information system FGIS SFC;
- competitive lists, enrollment and expulsion orders are generated automatically.