Western Connecticut State University connects data sources

1,400

Orientation registrants processed in 10 min

10,000+

applications filled out using FormAssembly

1,600

work hours saved from implementing one form process

Overview

When Western Connecticut State University (WCSU) underwent a business process re-engineering effort five years ago, they quickly identified several pain points in their administrative processes for both students and staff. The university chose FormAssembly to help eliminate disparate data sources and outdated processes across campus.

Unnecessary burden on students and staff

Challenge

WCSU previously used paper forms to complete various administrative processes. Often, this meant that students would have to print a paper form, walk it to a separate office on campus, receive a signature, and walk the form back to its origin.

Additionally, during busy times of the year, there was “paper overload,” as Shpunt described it. Offices simply had too many forms coming in, and each new form meant more hours spent on manual data entry or processing. Unfortunately, with no digital integration, keeping up with an increasing student population and workload became harder to manage.

“FormAssembly makes it very easy to create forms, even for a non-technical person.“

Jeffrey Shpunt

Manager of Digital Strategy & Communications

Integrated, usable form data

Solution

When WCSU opted to use FormAssembly, they saw improved customer satisfaction and reduced pain points, like disparate data sources.

Aside from eliminating noticeable areas of frustration and having the ability to create user-friendly forms with little or no technical training, WCSU staff also experienced several crucial benefits made possible by certain FormAssembly features. These features include data validation, field requirements, and Google integration capabilities.

WCSU developed a streamlined admissions application form for new and incoming students. The revamped admissions form system enables the entire process to run automatically. In fact, Sphunt estimates that this one form alone has saved up to 1,600 working hours for staff who process and handle new applicants. To date, the university is just shy of 10,000 applications using the FormAssembly-powered admissions process.

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Data validation

FormAssembly’s data validation options play a key role in helping WCSU stakeholders attain the information that they need, how they need it.

“Data validation can tell respondents on the fly that we’re looking for something like a date field. This makes it easier for processing down the road,” Shpunt said.

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Required fields

WCSU has also noticed that required fields play a significant role in their ability to process form data quickly and efficiently. When certain fields aren’t marked as required, students and staff are more likely to skip over the information that university offices require. Required fields prevent the need to chase after certain individuals for missing information.

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Google Sheets integration

“There’s been a number of occasions where departments will request data from a certain data range because they can’t manage all the emails coming in,” Shpunt said.

FormAssembly’s ability to integrate with Google services provides the ability to sync form data with Google Sheets, without an additional manual data entry or spreadsheet upkeep.

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