Web-Based Prerequisite Finder

Journal of Allied Health, Spring 2004 by Tucker, Susan, Winn, Jan, Lepak, Vince

THE COLLEGE OF ALLIED HEALTH at the University of Oklahoma is one of seven colleges located on an academic health center campus and comprises five departments, including allied health sciences, communication sciences and disorders, rehabilitation sciences, nutritional sciences, and radiologie technology. In 1995, the Dean convened a Task Force on Admissions with representation from each department in the college. The Task Force was charged with conducting a thorough examination of the admissions process, beginning with the request for an application through the orientation for new students. The charge directed members of the Task Force to analyze each step in the process and each group that interfaces in the process to assess the necessity and appropriateness of each task and to determine where and when each should be completed for maximum efficiency. The goal for the college was to move to a cross-disciplinary recruitment and admissions model that was more user-friendly and efficient, yet maintained each department's autonomy.

The first area the Task Force reviewed was how an applicant learned about the college's professional programs. As a result of these discussions, the college web page was redesigned so that applicants and counselors could gain information quickly about the application process for each program and specific admissions requirements, such as grade point average, prerequisite courses, and other admission requirements. One of the most helpful tools developed by the Task Force was a web-based prerequisite finder.

Transition

The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Office of Student Affairs maintained and published a Counselor's Guidebook for many years containing the latest Oklahoma State Regents' course transfer equivalencies for all public and private higher education institutions in the state. Counselors, advisors, and prospective students used this manual as a tool to assist in preparation for application to the college. Although this document eventually became web-accessible, it was not interactive. It was updated only once per year and did not reflect the growing number of college decisions on course substitutions. The College of Allied Health faculty and staff involved in student recruitment and advisement identified the need for a more dynamic document reflecting up-to-date decisions on course equivalences and substitutions, including decisions made within the college. With increasing web access, prospective students could benefit from accessing the database themselves rather than relying solely on advisors for such information.

Development

The Task Force recognized the advantages in designing a web-based database for the college. The prerequisite finder is a web-based database using Microsoft Access. It was created over the course of 2 months by one of the college's information technology support staff with the assistance of college academic and student services staff familiar with the Oklahoma State Regents' course equivalency data and the college's internal course substitution history.

Management

Because students preparing to apply to the college may complete prerequisite courses at any institution offering equivalent courses, the database includes all accredited public and private, 2- and 4-year institutions of higher education within Oklahoma. In addition, several out-of-state institutions within the region also are included due to the frequency of inquiries from prospective students. At present, there are 60 institutions in the database (13 out-of-state).

Staff in the college's office of academic and student services update and maintain the database as new courses from existing schools and courses from out-of-state institutions are petitioned by applicants. The college's petitioning process involves content-specific committees that review courses to determine equivalency. Information from the petitioning process is used by the staff to add equivalent courses or reflect the status of nonequivalent courses in the database. Updates also are made when the State Regents modify their course equivalence decisions. It is estimated that staff update the database approximately one time per month.

Outcome

A prospective student or counselor may quickly access the finder from the college web page, then select a course by title, content, or by institution to determine if a prerequisite course would transfer from another higher education institution. This tool immediately reduced the number of telephone inquiries on prerequisites from prospective students and counselors and provided that same audience instant access to the information. It also facilitated timely dissemination of courses accepted in substitution for prerequisites. Because student requests for substitution are an ongoing process and standard mail distribution to counselors of accepted substitutions historically had resulted in confusion and mistaken advisement, the immediate use of web-based technology offered a reasonable solution. Figures 1 through 3 illustrate the prerequisite finder tool.