Higher Ed

The University of Florida College of Pharmacy Uses FormAssembly to Exceed Expectations for Student Processes

Brian Karcinski,

Salesforce Solution Architect

CASE STUDY SNAPSHOT

The University of Florida’s College of Pharmacy spearheaded an initiative to modernize the process of collecting admission information from students. From prefilling program acceptance forms to collecting administrative fees, the UF College of Pharmacy uses FormAssembly features in a number of creative ways. Outside of the UF College of Pharmacy, the University of Florida Welcome Center implements FormAssembly and Salesforce to schedule and manage 20,000 campus tours per year. The school has found great success in using FormAssembly and the Salesforce Connector to update their student data in real time. Keep reading to find out how FormAssembly is helping the UF College of Pharmacy become completely student-centric in their approach to higher education.

ABOUT THE COLLEGE OF PHARMACY AT UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

The College of Pharmacy at the University of Florida has an outstanding history and reputation. According to U.S. News & World Report rankings compiled on the university’s website, the school is ranked as the number one pharmacy program in the state, and it lands in the Top 10 for pharmacy programs nationwide. Students can attend any of three state campuses, including Gainesville, Jacksonville, and Orlando. The college offers three degrees (Pharm.D., Ph.D., and M.S.) and also offers a robust online program. Alumni numbers exceed 12,000 individuals, dispersed across the United States and throughout several continents.

The numbers

60%

Reduction in the time needed for students to submit forms (from 5 min. to 2 min.)

1

Central location for data versus 4 databases

120

FormAssembly forms created

The Need

Old Processes

In order to compete with peers and get the top quality students and rise in the rankings, you have to bring in the best possible class that you can. With that, the administrators realized that they could not keep using the same old processes

As times and technology have changed, student expectations have also evolved. Whereas old ways of collecting data were not always in line with the modern expectations of tech-savvy students, FormAssembly products are now helping the College of Pharmacy achieve its long-range mission to better serve students and staff.

For example, University staff acknowledged that old data collecting methods were tedious and required students to input similar information in more than one location. In some cases, admitted students had to enter information that the University already knew.

“When you’re asking student what campus they’re on, that doesn’t instill confidence in the student or the applicant,” Karcinski said.

Using FormAssembly, the college was not only able to operate more efficiently, but they were able to save time and hassle as they accepted new students to the highly competitive program.

The Solution

A Student-Centric Experience

My initial goal was improving applicant experience, and what comes along with that is a much easier process for the staff as well

FormAssembly helped trim down the time a student needed to submit their information from 5 minutes to 2 minutes, a change of 60%. Moreover, information went from being stored in four databases to being located in one central location in Salesforce. While the previous system provided limited exposure, the new process allowed a much more visible flow of information. The top benefits of the new process include:

Less Data Entry for Students

Student are only asked to submit information if it is not already stored in Salesforce. This eliminates redundant questions and repetitive steps. Additionally, the new form populates different questions based on whether a student accepts or declines admission.

Streamlined Process

With the new system, forms are easily embedded into the university website, which provides a “clean experience” and easy navigation to other resources.

Centralized Location for Student Information in Salesforce

Real-time information is now mapped to Salesforce where a communication record and analytics on completed steps are also conveniently stored. Previously, staff members would pass around spreadsheets, slowing down the ability to quickly gather and remember important information about incoming students.

Use Cases

Offer Acceptance Process Forms

Offer Acceptance Process Forms provide customized URLs with prefilled data for incoming students.

The UF College of Pharmacy uses FormAssembly, in conjunction with their existing Salesforce records, to make the admissions process personalized for each incoming student. This new process provides a customized URL within an acceptance letter that directs each student to a prefilled FormAssembly decision form. Previously, school administrators used a mail merge system that did not include a personalized link.

The enrollment decision form directs students to a customized form that has their information pre-populated from Salesforce, using the FormAssembly Prefill Connector. Within the form, students are able to confirm their enrollment decision and personal information, accept the requirements for admission, provide the phonetic pronunciation of their names, and supply their t-shirt size.

The new method provides convenience, speed, and flexibility, as students are able to confirm their enrollment from anywhere.

“There were forms that the person had to physically fill out when they came in. They were doing this on a laptop. You’d come to your interview and then have to wait in line to fill out this additional form, which collected t-shirt size and phonetic pronunciation of your name,” Karcinski said of the previous process.

As students no longer have to be physically present, the university is able to save valuable time for both students and staff members.

Seat Deposit Payment

Seat Deposit Payment Forms create a simple, automated process with payment data accessible in real-time.

The UF College of Pharmacy uses a second FormAssembly form (the seat deposit form), which is phase two of their enrollment confirmation process. Students are required to pay a seat deposit fee to reserve their slot in the incoming class. Previously, confirmation for a paid deposit would go into a separate database. Staff members had to look up if a certain student had paid, and then record that information separately.

“Now when someone pays, it’s all automatic,” Karcinski said.

There’s now centralized, real-time information for staff to access in Salesforce.

Campus Tour Calendar, UF Welcome Center

The Campus Tour Calendar syncs with Visualforce to manage all attendees for daily campus tours.

As a result of Karcinski’s experience with FormAssembly, he realized that there were other creative applications of the product that extended beyond the scope of the College of Pharmacy. For instance, the University of Florida Welcome Center now uses FormAssembly to schedule and streamline their campus tours.

“The calendar is a Visualforce page that reflects the tour dates that are set up in the Salesforce instance on the calendar. We’re dynamically pre-filling those tours as they’re selected into one FormAssembly form,” Karcinski said.

The calendar contains 60 tour dates, with two tours per day. In roughly eight to nine months, the university has received over 15,000 form submissions for new tours. Karcinski said that the calendar usage is “the most robust or large-scale project that we have,” and looks forward to watching it grow for future use.

What’s Next?

Having been a FormAssembly customer for almost three years, Brian hopes to see the product expand as the UF College of Pharmacy grows. He has created about 120 forms for the university and hopes to see more large plans unfold. Undoubtedly, the University of Florida College of Pharmacy is paving the way for institutions of higher education hoping to modernize their processes and provide better service to students and staff.

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