An innovative solution introduced by a Student Administration team has improved the admissions process for students who most closely align with ACU’s Mission.

The Enhancing Admissions for Alternative Entry Team has been recognised with a Vice-Chancellor’s Staff Excellence Award for Service Excellence for introducing a new process, which has reduced manual processing, improved communication with applicant and ensured early offers can be made on time.

Mr Jason Bax, Vice-Chancellor Professor Greg Craven and Mrs Daphnee Devlin.

National Manager Tertiary Admissions Centre Processes Daphnee Devlin and Administrative Support Officer Tertiary Admissions Centre Jason Bax are the team behind the process.

“Admissions is very process and procedure driven,” Mrs Devlin said. “We might even be seen as a bit robotic, sitting behind a desk and ranking applicants.”
This award brings to light that we really care about our applicants and that we share the University’s values about opening the doors to education.”

The new process now means the Admissions Team has better visibility over Alternative Entry Scheme applicants and can provide more personalised communication and support.

ACU offers many Alternative Entry Schemes including the Community Achievers Program, Elite Athlete and Performer Program, Schools Recommendation Scheme, ACU Special Admissions Program, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Admissions Entry Program, Passion for Business, Passion for Law and the Schools Recommendation Program.

The new process means the broader Admissions Team can also provide agile information about applicants to the University departments who manage the various Alternative Entry Schemes.

The entry programs are run and developed by different departments across the University, but we have the admissions knowledge and resources to enhance them,” Mrs Devlin said.
“We’ve been able to demonstrate how we can use our technical knowledge to meet the University’s objectives.”

The team say the process improvement was a big win for all of Admissions.

It had been a pain point for such a long time, so it felt like such a win,” Mrs Devlin said.
“We went from taking days to look after these applicants, and knowing we weren’t delivering the best service, to condensing it to just one day.”
This was the first in a long line of continuous improvements Admissions is making to improve the applicant experience.”

The team said it was wonderful to be recognised with a Vice-Chancellor’s Staff Excellence Award.

“It’s really nice to reflect on this piece of work,” Mr Bax said. “Outside of our Admissions sphere not many people know too much about what we do and the wins we’re having.”
“It’s nice to put the focus on the great value Admissions can provide to the University.”

With more improvements planned, the team says receiving a Vice-Chancellor’s Staff Excellence Award has given them even more motivation to continue moving forward.