Faster Admissions Replace Hand-Keyed Transcripts at the University of Houston-Downtown

The University of Houston-Downtown serves more than 10,000 students from the heart of Houston, and every applicant's path to an admissions decision runs through a transcript. Many of those transcripts arrive as PDFs, and UHD's imaging system was supposed to turn them into data staff could evaluate.

It didn't. The system made so many errors that the team tested it against the slowest option they had. "We actually did a test with our old imaging system, and it was more efficient to manually input transcript information because of all the errors," said Anthony Stott, Application Lead at UHD. "When we discovered that our process was slower than manual entry, we knew it was time to explore a solution."

Manual entry couldn't keep pace either. Evaluation fell weeks behind, and admissions decisions waited on data that wasn't in the system yet. "We couldn't turn around admissions decisions in the time that we felt was sufficient because we didn't have the data in our system to start evaluation," said Lisa Lyle, Assistant Registrar of Articulation & Matriculation.

When students are weighing several schools, that wait has a cost. "If we can't get an admissions decision to the student, we are at a disadvantage compared to other institutions the student might be considering," Lyle said.

The imaging test settled that automation only helps if it gets the data right. That lesson shaped a short, practical list of requirements.

Accuracy on PDF transcripts. PDFs made up a big part of UHD's incoming volume, so optical character recognition (OCR) had to be both available and dependable. "We were looking for a reliable OCR technology because we receive a lot of PDF transcripts," Lyle said.

A fit with the systems UHD already ran. The team wanted a tool that would work with their student information system from day one over a custom build. "We wanted an out-of-the-box solution that integrated well with our existing system," said Joshua Wood, Functional Technical Support Analyst at UHD. "Knowing that [Data Automation, powered by Raptor] integrated with PeopleSoft and Parchment made the decision a lot easier."

Stott came into the project wary of taking on a new system but ended up surprised at how fast it came together. "It didn't take more than a few months to implement this solution, including some customizable features we asked for," he said.

The team built the connection in two phases:

1. Set up an SFTP connection between Parchment Receive Premium and Data Automation, powered by Raptor.

2. Load the transcript data from Data Automation into PeopleSoft.

The Parchment and Raptor teams stayed close through both phases, and that responsiveness stuck with Lyle. "Throughout the process, anytime we needed to talk, they made themselves available. If we had questions, they were right there. That type of attention is so valuable," she said.

Before Parchment Receive Premium and Data Automation, UHD ran weeks behind on evaluation with no way to clear the pile. Since going live, the team has processed more than 30,000 transcripts without manual intervention, and admissions decisions now reach students a week sooner.

The process that once lost to hand entry now moves PDF transcripts into PeopleSoft on its own, and UHD can compete for the students it wants to serve. "This project has allowed us to make admissions decisions faster, which provides better service to our prospective students and makes us more competitive," Lyle said.