UGRD Appeals_BPG_040622
- Shelley PeraltaLeyva
Analytics
OnBase Appeals Process
Overview
In an effort to automate the appeals process, this guide has been created to provide instructions on processing an appeal for a student using a Unity Form and staff processing appeals using the OnBase Unity Client. This documentation will describe each step of the process including the email content that is being sent to the student throughout the appeal process. This process will not function perfectly, so some appeal exceptions will have to be processed outside of OnBase.
Appeals Form Submission – Student
Students must submit an appeal via an OnBase form. There will be a URL posted on the website or it will be included in a MySJSU message.
Student will submit the appeals form.
The SJSUID, First Name, Last Name and Email Address are required fields. These fields will not auto-fill. The student must fill in each field.
Once the SJSUID is filled in and the student tabs to the next field, the student’s information will autofill in the Administration section of the form. These fields are NOT viewable by the student. This is internal information that is used to process the appeal.
Once the student fills out the top of the form, they will then select the type of appeal they are submitting.
Then, the student must write a written statement explaining the reason for their appeal. This is a required field.
Once the written statement is complete, the student attaches their proof/supporting documents.
The next step is to initial in the box provided to acknowledging the following bullets:
The last step is for the student to click the checkbox acknowledging the statement below:
Click Submit. Again, the Administration section of the form is not visible to the student. This is for internal staff and processing only.
After submission, the student will receive an email confirming their appeal was received. The email will be sent to the email address the student entered on the form.
Subject: Your SJSU admissions appeal has been received
To: Email address entered on form, EMAIL_ADDR
Body:
Dear FIRST_NAME,
SJSU has received your appeal and will be reviewing it to confirm that all necessary documents are received and your appeal is complete within the appeal deadline you were given. You should hear back from an SJSU Admissions representative within three weeks upon SJSU’s receipt of your completed appeal.
Thank you,
San José State University
Office of Undergraduate Admissions
OnBase UG Appeals Life Cycle
Student Autofill
The student autofill process is an action that fills in all student-related data for easier indexing. It is triggered after the SJSUID is populated. The student autofill attempts to find a student in the database that matches by the SJSUID. If an SJSUID is found, the fields in the Administration section are set. These fields are NOT viewable by the student. This is internal information that is used to process the appeal. See Snapshot below.
If the SJSUID that is entered in the form by the student is not matched, the Appeals form gets sent to the UG Unmatched ID queue. The UG Unmatched ID queue must be managed by staff. In order to process the appeals in the Unmatched ID queue, you will need to re-index the document with a valid EMPLID.
If there is a matching SJSUID, the form is moved to the UG Review queue. The Approval Status will be set to ‘Awaiting Review’.
UG Appeals -> UG Review
From the UG Review queue, the operations team will begin to verify that all transcripts are in OnBase and ensure all supporting documentation is attached to the appeal form. Once all transcripts and documents are located, the file is considered Complete. The evaluations team will only process complete files.
The operations team will have different ad hoc tasks when preparing the appeals files (Complete, Expired, Canceled). See below.
UG Appeal Complete
If the Appeal form has valid documentation and/or proof attached and a fully written statement, the operations team will confirm that all transcripts and test scores are available for evaluation. Once the file is complete, the appeal will be considered Complete. The Approval Status will be set to ‘Complete’ and the appeal will then move to the UG Approval queue.
The student does not receive an email when the appeal packet is complete and moved into the UG Approval queue.
Duplicate/Cancelled Appeal
A student is allowed to submit 1 appeal per term. Therefore, if an appeal is submitted and there is an existing appeal for the current term and same student, the form will be ‘Cancelled’. The Approval Status will be set to ‘CANCELLED – DUPLICATE’ and the form will exit workflow.
An email notification will be sent to the student.
Subject: Your SJSU admissions appeal has been cancelled
To: Email address entered on form, EMAIL_ADDR
Body:
Dear FIRST_NAME,
SJSU will only accept one appeal per academic term. Our records indicate that you have already submitted an appeal for this term. You must apply for the next available term via Cal State Apply. https://calstate.edu/apply
Thank you,
San José State University
Office of Undergraduate Admissions
UG Expire Appeal
When a UG Appeal Form is submitted, the system sets an Expiration Date for the form, which is 20 business days after the students last action date. This is assuming that the last action that took place for a student submitting an appeal was the DENY action.
Appeals must be completed by the student and received by the Office of Admissions within 15 business days from the date of the "missed deadline" or "denied" notification from the Office of Admissions.
If all transcripts and/or neccessary documentation related to the appeal is not submitted prior to the Expiration Date, the operations team will “UG Expire Appeal”. The UG Expire Appeal ad hoc task will trigger a pop-up window, so the operations team can add a short comment stating why the appeal has ‘Expired’.
The approval status will be updated to ‘Expired’ and an email will be sent to the student, including the brief comment from the operations team member. See email text below.
Subject: SJSU Admissions - Appeal Decision
To: Email address entered on form, EMAIL_ADDR
Body:
Dear FIRST_NAME,
SJSU has received your appeal request. Your appeal will not be reviewed because all required appeal documents were not received by the appeal deadline.
Please note that you may only submit one appeal per academic term, so no further appeals will be considered for this term.
Thank you,
San José State University
Office of Undergraduate Admissions
UG Request Document
TEST:During the review of the appeals form, the operations team can hold for an additional checklist item (i.e. transcript, test score). In this situation, the UG Request Document ad hoc task should be used. This will set the Approval Status to ‘Pending Document’ and then prompt the user for a brief description of what is needed to complete the appeal request.
The UG Request Document ad hoc task will save the form, but it will reside in the UG Review queue until the student’s appeal file is complete.
An email will be sent to the student. The email will include a brief description of the documents that are still needed for a complete appeal.
New Document Status
If a student has an appeal with the status of ‘Pending Document’ and a new document enters the system matching the SJSUID, the Approval Status will be set as ‘New Document’. This function is for filtering purposes. Staff can prioritize those appeals with recently received documents.
UG Appeals -> UG Approval
From the UG Approval queue, the evaluations team will begin to evaluate the appeal request and all supporting documents. The evaluations team will determine whether to
approve, deny, expire, close, cancel the appeal, request additional documentation or return to the review queue.
UG Approve Appeal
Once an appeal enters the Approval queue, the evaluator will review the documentation and written statement to decide whether the appeal should get Approved or Denied. If the evaluator believes the appeal renders an approval, they will use the UG Approve Appeal ad hoc task. See above.
When the appeal is approved, the form is saved, the Approval Status will be set to APPROVED.
The appeal form will be saved and stay in the UG Appeal Approval queue until an Admission decision is made and the form is Closed.
An email will be sent to the student:
Subject: SJSU Admissions Appeal Decision
To: Email address entered on form, EMAIL_ADDR
Body:
Dear FIRST_NAME,
SJSU has received your appeal request and your appeal has been reviewed. Your file is in the queue for application review. Please continue to monitor your MySJSU account for updates to your file. As a reminder, you may only submit one appeal per academic term so no further appeals will be considered for this term.
You can check your application status on your MySJSU (account) Student Center under ‘Admissions’.
Thank you,
UG Request Document
During the evaluation, the evaluations team can hold for an additional checklist item (i.e. transcript, test score). In this situation, the UG Request Document ad hoc task should be used. This will set the Approval Status to ‘Pending Document’ and then prompt the user for a brief description of what is needed to complete the appeal request.
The UG Request Document ad hoc task will save the form, but it will reside in the UG Approvals queue until all requested documents are submitted.
An email will be sent to the student. The email will include a brief description of the documents that are still needed for a complete appeal.
Subject: SJSU Appeal Information Needed
To: Email address entered on form, EMAIL_ADDR
Body:
Dear FIRST_NAME,
SJSU has received your appeal request. We require additional information from you to complete your appeal.
[Submit a Final Transcript for Foothill College.]
Please take the immediate action requested.
Thank you,
UG Deny Appeal
Once an appeal enters the Approval queue, the evaluator will review the documentation and written statement to decide whether the appeal should get Approved or Denied. If the evaluator does not believe the appeal packet does not render an approval, they will use the UG Deny Appeal ad hoc task.
When the appeal is denied, a pop-up will ask for a Brief Comment that will get sent in the email.
The Approval Status will be set to DENIED and exit the workflow.
The email sent to the student will include:
Subject: SJSU Admissions - Appeal Decision
To: Email address entered on form, EMAIL_ADDR
Body:
Dear FIRST_NAME,
SJSU has received your appeal request and your appeal has been denied. Please note that you may only submit one appeal per academic term, so no further appeals will be considered for this term. The reason for denial was:
[Denial Reason]
You must apply for the next available term via Cal State Apply: https://calstate.edu/apply
If you have any questions, please contact us at eval@sjsu.edu
Thank you,
UG Return to Review
Once an appeal request is complete, the appeal will move to the UG Approval queue. However, if the file is reviewed and there is missing needed documentation, the evaluator can use the UG Return to Review ad hoc task.
A pop-up will be provided for the evaluator to include a brief comment describing why the form is being returned to the UG Review queue.
The Approval Status will be set to RETURNED TO REVIEW.
UG Expire Appeal
When a UG Appeal Form is submitted, the system sets an Expiration Date for the form, which is 20 business days after the students last action date. This is assuming that the last action that took place for a student submitting an appeal was the DENY action.
Appeals must be completed by the student and received by the Office of Admissions within 15 business days from the date of the "missed deadline" or "denied" notification from the Office of Admissions.
If all transcripts and/or necessary documentation related to the appeal is not submitted prior to the Expiration Date, the operations team will “UG Expire Appeal”. The UG Expire Appeal ad hoc task will trigger a pop-up window, so the evaluations team can add a short comment stating why the appeal has ‘Expired’.
The approval status will be updated to ‘Expired’ and an email will be sent to the student, including the brief comment from the operations team member. See email text below.
Subject: SJSU Appeal Expired
To: Email address entered on form, EMAIL_ADDR
Body:
Dear FIRST_NAME,
SJSU has received your appeal request. Your appeal will not be reviewed because all required appeal documents were not received by the appeal deadline.
Please note that you may only submit one appeal per academic term, so no further appeals will be considered for this term.
Thank you,
San José State University
Office of Undergraduate Admissions
UG Cancel Appeal (Intent to Enroll)
Some students miss the Intent to Enroll deadline and submit an appeal. However, Admissions usually allows extra time for these to come in, so they choose to not process an appeal within the first week.
In this scenario, appeals are CANCELLED by using the UG Cancel Appeal (Intent to Enroll) ad hoc task.
When an ITE appeal form is Cancelled, the Approval Status will be set to CANCELLED - ITE DEADLINE.
A brief comment will be required and the form will exit the workflow.
Email will not be sent to the student via OnBase. An email will be sent to nextsteps@sjsu.edu.
UG Close Appeal
Once an appeal has been Approved, the student’s file was re-evaluated and a decision has been made to either Admit or Deny. Then, the appeals must get closed.
UG Close Appeal will exit the form from the UG Approval queue and set the Approval Status to APPROVED AND CLOSED.
The evaluator will have already been in communication with the student outside of OnBase, so no email will be sent via the Appeal workflow.