Functional Scope

The admissions functional area will focus on the evaluation of and admissions decisions for applicants to UBC programs. To apply, learners must submit a completed application, along with transcripts, test scores and other supporting documents. This process will be supported by Education Planner BC (EPBC), not by internal UBC systems. The application review procedure, which will be supported by the IRP Student, involves assessing the applicant’s pre-requisites, calculating his or her admission averages/GPAs and evaluating his or her external test scores and non-academic criteria (such as essays, interviews, auditions and portfolios), after which the applicant is admitted or refused and an admission offer is created or rescinded as appropriate. Admitted learners must formally accept or decline their offer of admission. The admissions area will also support the request, evaluation and processing of deferrals and appeals; current UBC learners' applications for a change of program or campus; and applications for readmission from former learners who have been away from the University for an extended period.

The IRP Student will enable the management of outcomes for established forms of assessment (e.g. exam, quiz, assignment, competency, practicum), emerging assessments (e.g. performance, badge) and graduate program assessments (thesis and dissertation) through both integration with an external gradebook functionality and direct outcome entry; the system will also support the communication of outcomes to learners and the management of exceptions and appeals.

The renewed system will support configuration of organizational units, academic cycles and learning opportunities, such as programs, pathways and courses, and will allow UBC to respond expediently to ever-evolving cross-campus and external relationships that result in new models of curriculum development and delivery.

Through the enrolment process, learners confirm their commitment to continue their studies at UBC for the upcoming academic period. Through the new Student Foundation Ecosystem, the University will ask learners annually to confirm their intention to enrol for the next academic cycle, update their personal information and pay any deposits necessary to reserve their seat and enable them to register. During the enrolment period, learners will be able to declare or apply for their chosen program of study.

The IRP Student will support various graduation activities, encompassing the procedures surrounding the life cycle of graduation, including processing the learner’s application to graduate and conferring credentials.

This area of IRP Student will enable the management of learner data, including biographic data such as names (given and preferred), gender, contact details and citizenship. It will also support management of official transcripts; holds; statuses (on leave, etc.) and supporting processes (e.g. leave of absence); third-party authorizations; and learner associations with individuals/groups at UBC, such as enrolment services professionals, academic advisors and supervisory committees.

As part of the Student Foundation Ecosystem, the learner financial support area will support the end-to-end management of awards and the administration of government and institutional (UBC) loans. Staff processes handled will include creating and maintaining awards, managing award budgets, setting up and assessing award applications, adjudicating and assigning award recipients, managing award offers and disbursing award funding. Staff will also be supported in the processing of Canadian and US government loans (e.g. confirmation of enrolment, financial need assessment) and the administration of UBC loans/advances. The system will allow learners to apply for awards and loans, track the status of their applications and accept their award offers online.

The progression function of the IRP Student will identify milestones that each learner must achieve to successfully complete their program of study. These milestones range from promotion from one academic year to the next, including determination of a learner’s academic standing and eligibility for the next promotion level, to mastering a particular set of competencies/skills, to thesis submission within a graduate program. Current and past academic performance and progression can also be applied to alternate programs so that learners and advisors may evaluate other program options.

Through the upgraded system, learner and administrator processes related to registration, waitlists, prerequisites, credit limits and similar functions and issues will be supported. The IRP Student will embed automated curriculum requirements and regulations to minimize the handling of exceptions. Learners will have the capacity to use program planning outputs to complete their registration; alternatively, they can search for and view learning instance details and availability, and then register in real time. Administrators will be able to perform related registration and waitlist administrative tasks, including processing exception (e.g. prerequisite) requests and approvals and registration on behalf of learners. The system will also enable communication with learners and other administrative staff and faculty to resolve issues.

The new Student Foundation Ecosystem will integrate processes associated with scheduling learning instances (e.g. courses) and learning activities (e.g. exams). Learning instance scheduling functions that will be supported include managing teaching assignments; maintaining applicable learning instance information; and creating and managing sections and assigning days, times, locations and primary instructors. Learning activity scheduling functions that will be supported include the following: setting dates for exam periods; creating and maintaining exam requests; generating, finalizing and publishing exam schedules; scheduling invigilation; and scheduling deferred, supplemental and distance education exam requests.

Transfer credits from an exchange program or from other postsecondary institutions result in learning instances in a learner’s record that can be utilized throughout the learning life cycle as input toward requirements and regulations associated with admissions, program planning, progression, registration and other relevant areas. These functions will be handled through the new student system.