🤖 AI Summary
This work addresses the inefficiencies of Rowan University’s manual course placement and registration process, which became increasingly unsustainable amid a 57% decade-long increase in incoming student enrollment. To overcome this challenge, the authors developed the institution’s first end-to-end automated system that integrates multi-source data—including the Banner Student Information System and academic advisor-maintained Google Sheets—to intelligently group students by major, automatically assign primary and secondary courses, validate real-time capacity and scheduling constraints, and execute bulk registrations. Leveraging the Banner API, cross-platform data integration, and custom registration scripts, the system successfully enrolled over 3,500 new students, saving more than 350 staff hours annually, substantially reducing error rates, and enhancing operational efficiency and resource allocation—thereby enabling administrative personnel to focus on strategic academic advising.
📝 Abstract
This implementation report explores Rowan University's effort to automate the process of freshman course placement and registration. Historically, Freshman Instructional Guides (FIGS) at Rowan was manually executed, requiring significant time from Testing Services, University Advising, and the Registrar's Office to evaluate placement needs and assign students to courses. Given the 57% surge in first-time degree-seeking student enrollment over a decade, the manual processes became increasingly unsustainable. In response, a cross-departmental team developed a comprehensive automated process to integrate data from Banner (Student Information System), Google Sheets maintained by Advising, and other sources. This automated process classifies students based on program groupings, determines primary and secondary course placements, checks for real-time availability and constraints in Banner, and completes course registration for freshmen in bulk. The resulting system processed over 3500 incoming students with over 350 hours in annual time savings, reduced the potential for human error, and enabled staff to shift focus from administrative work to strategic advising. This report outlines the implementation context, design architecture, technical integration, assessment methods, lessons learned, and practical implications for institutions with similar challenges.