Download the 2010-2011 Annual Report - VTAC

Key achievementsApplicant servicesSelection servicesCommunicationsTechnology services• Increased online services:VTAC continued to increase the availability ofonline options for applicants via the applicantportal MyInfo, including online irregular offersand direct email communication services.Another important initiative was theautomation of the test registration process,which allowed paid applicants to downloadtheir confirmation letters, candidate instructionsheets, and Candidate Information Booklets viathe applicant portal MyInfo rather than waitingfor mailed copies. This increased efficiencywhile simultaneously saving resources.• Streamlined email enquiry service:VTAC updated the email enquiry service forboth applicants and general enquiries to bemonitored by an internal task system. The newsystem allocated all email enquiries as tasks toensure all enquiries were resolved. In addition,applicant email enquiries were recorded andstored with their application record.• Introduced PayPal option:VTAC introduced PayPal as a second onlinepayment option in addition to payment bycredit card. PayPal enables applicants to pay bylinking either their bank account debit card orcredit card to their PayPal account• Improved telephone system:In 2010 a new telephone system wasimplemented to replace the system that hadbeen in operation for the past 12 years. Thenew system gives VTAC more programmingcontrol with the server and PABX located onsite at the VTAC office.• Increased graduate courses andimproved assessment of eligibility:VTAC continued to promote more graduatecourses and assisted institutions by assessingthe eligibility of applicants for graduate entryduring the application process.• Certificate II and III through VTAC:This year VTAC has expanded course offeringsto include Certificate II and Certificate IIIcourses from VET providers who are in theVTAC system. This allows these institutions tooffer places to applicants from a broader rangeof education/skill levels.Offers• Offers for fully paid applicants only:Only fully paid applicants were released toinstitutions for selection.• Streamlined supplementary offers:Supplementary offers provide the opportunityfor institutions to offer available tertiary placesto applicants who did not receive an offer inthe main offer rounds. The second year forsupplementary offers provided institutionsgreater flexibility and control to make morerelevant and more targeted offers to applicantsbased on information supplied in applications,such as: course preferences; fields of interest;postcodes; and, teaching methods forGraduate Entry Teaching (GET) courses.• Irregular offer forms online:The irregular offer process was transferredinto an online process. Applicants were ableto submit requests via the applicant portal,MyInfo. Selection officers were then able tocommunicate their decisions online.• Launched VTAC Social Media:This year VTAC launched online social mediacommunications with two VTAC blogs forapplicants and careers professionals. Theblogs provide real-time updates on the VTACwebsite as well as offering a subscriptionoption that allows applicants and counsellorsto access updated information via a variety ofdelivery channels such as RSS, email, Twitterand Facebook. Providing these options meansthat subscribers have more control over howand when they access the information andallows them to stay up-to-date via platformsthey are more likely to use.• Improved CourseSearch:The keyword search function on the onlineCourseSearch program was expanded makingit easier for prospective students to findcourses. The results now include courseswhere the keyword appears in the title of thecourse, the title of the award/qualification, and/or the title of any of the major studies listed forthe course.• Streamlined Majors Index:The Majors index in the VTAC Guide wasstreamlined to reduce the number of headingsand reduce multiple course listings undersimilarly worded headings. By assigningindividual major studies to a VTAC majorcategory, institutions maintain the official majorname in their course information, and VTACassists applicants to find similar courses.• Clearly-in ATAR in course entries:In response to feedback from careersprofessionals using the VTAC Guide to counselYear 12 students, VTAC has now includedthe previous year’s Clearly-in ATAR with thegeneral course information so all informationrelevant to the course can be viewed together.• Improved service desk facilities:VTAC introduced an electronic servicedesk software based on ITIL (InformationTechnology Infrastructure Library)methodology. The software, Microsoft TeamFoundation Server (TFS), replaced the existingemail and paper based service which hadbecome overburdened and difficult to track.The new software enables the service deskto monitor, allocate and test issues, bugsand technical requests made to the VTACInformation Technology Services (ITS). Theadvantages include quick tracking, approvalprocess and monitoring of complex multipletaskeddevelopments. Management of userrequests is transparent to all, but still requirescareful staff management during the busyselection period.• VTAC systems redevelopment:VTAC has initiated an IT systemredevelopment project to meet existing andfuture business processing needs with theaims of improving services for institutions andapplicants; providing greater flexibility and selfservicecapability for institutions and reducingmanual maintenance efforts. By adopting theindustry standard multi-tiered web applicationarchitecture, minimising the number ofinterfaces between different systems andenabling the business logic components tobe shared by different systems and userinterfaces, VTAC systems will be equippedwith the optimal amount of scalability whilereducing the effort and impact of any changesto be made.12 Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) Annual Report 2010-2011 13