«Organization» Student Affairs Marketing 1303 E. University Blvd «Address», «Address» «Address» T 520-621-1575 F «Phone» «Email» Scholarship Universe Requirements Document V. 11/04/13 Student Affairs Marketing | Student Affairs Systems Group | Scholarship Universe
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
«Organization» Student Affairs Marketing
1303 E. University Blvd «Address», «Address» «Address» T 520-621-1575 F «Phone» «Email»
Scholarship Universe
Requirements Document V. 11/04/13
Student Affairs Marketing | Student Affairs Systems Group | Scholarship Universe
«Organization»
Scholarship Universe | Requirements Document 1
Part I: Application Overview
Objectives
Background
Scholarship Universe (SU) is a scholarship matching service primarily used by University of Ar-
izona Students. It prompts students to answer a series of a questions, the answers to which are
used in matching the student to scholarships for which they are eligible. Scholarship Universe
was created in 2010 thanks to a grant from the Student Services Fee Board. Since its initial
launch, it has gone through many revisions, including Phase II which add the Scholarship Uni-
verse Departmental App (SUDA). SUDA allows UA departments to administer their scholar-
ships through SU and allows students to apply for UA scholarships through SU as well.
Issues
The central issue facing the Scholarship Universe site is its inconsistency with University of Ari-
zona branding. However, given that considerable time and resources have been devoted to estab-
lishing the current brand and logo of Scholarship Universe, and that they have successfully reso-
nated with students, the SU brand and logo should not be abandoned. Therefore, the challenge
will be to update the SU site to better reflect the UA brand, while still preserving the uniqueness
of the SU logo and brand.
Another set of issues are the design and layout of the SU landing page and site in general. When
it was initially developed, mobile platforms were still an emerging technology and it was not
known, at the time, the extent to which they would be utilized now. Additionally, wide screen
displays were not as prevalent as they are today. As a result, the static design of the site does not
work very well on mobile devices nor does it take advantage of the additional space on wide-
screen monitors. We do not have the resources to manage multiple content platforms – so devel-
oping a separate site or app for iOS, Android, and widescreen displays is not an option.
Our current landing page also poses a problem to some of our users: given that the vast majority
of the Scholarship Universe site is only accessible to UA students with a valid NetID, the landing
page is a dead end for anyone who is not a UA Student. There are other users besides students
which need to be accommodated and they need a clearly identifiable place to go to find the in-
formation they’re looking for.
Finally, little consideration was taken in terms of assessment when the site was initially created.
Consequently, it is very difficult to measure SU’s impact and evaluate our performance.
«Organization»
Scholarship Universe | Requirements Document 2
Solution
The goal for Scholarship Universe is to redesign the website for better UA branding consistency,
mobile compatibility, assessment capacity, and a more open general layout. Objectives towards
this goal include:
Redesign Website Front End
The new design will better incorporate UA branding while maintaining the current Schol-
arship Universe brand and logo.
Develop a Responsive Design for the Landing Page and site
The adoption of a responsive design will allow SU to display and perform optimally
across a multitude of devices and screen resolutions, while eliminating the need to man-
age a separate content platform for each type of device. The responsive design will im-
prove user accessibility and efficiently display information regardless of screen resolu-
tion.
Improve Access for Non-UA Students
The new Landing Page will provide clear places to go for non-UA students. This will
likely require the creation of several new pages for each distinct non-student user group
(detailed below). In addition we want to add a search function to the landing page, where
anyone could search and see limited information on UA Scholarships only.
Incorporate Assessment Tools
Throughout the redesign process, we want to incorporate assessment tools and make it
easier to track usage statistics in Google Analytics. The exact details of what will be
added will depend on our Assessment Plan which is currently being developed.
Add Donor Profiles
To assist university development officers in particular, we want the ability to add donor
profiles to SU. These profiles would be visible on the landing page without having to log
in. They would perhaps include a photo of the donor, a brief bio, and information about
why they created their scholarship.
«Organization»
Scholarship Universe | Requirements Document 3
Business Process
Current
Scholarship Universe is currently used to match students to scholarships and allows students to
apply for certain UA Scholarships. The primary users of SU are University of Arizona students.
Scholarship Matching
Students answer a series of questions to complete their profile. Their profile is then used
to match them to scholarships for which they are eligible.
Applying for UA Scholarships
Students can apply for certain University of Arizona scholarships through Scholarship
Universe. During this process they can upload documents to SU as well as request a con-
fidential letter of recommendation (if required) from an outside source.
Proposed
After the redesign, Scholarship Universe will maintain the current processes above and will add
the following:
Non-UA Student Scholarship Searching
Functionality will be added to allow non-UA students to search through available (or po-
tentially available) UA Scholarships and view limited information about those scholar-
ships. These users will not be able to actually apply for the UA Scholarships nor will
they be able to view external scholarships. They may also be able to search for external
scholarships but would only see the scholarship name and blurb.
Non-UA Student login
There is demand for non-UA students to be able to log into SU and view select infor-
mation – primarily about UA Scholarships. The two primary user groups we’re con-
cerned with are potential UA students and high school counselors. Either group would be
able to use their Facebook or Google (or similar login authentication) to access the site.
If possible, we’d like to be able to collect certain demographic information from these
users via their authentication account for assessment and reporting purposes.
Public Facing UA Scholarships
We have discussed the possibility of making UA Scholarships in SU viewable by the
public. This would primarily add a benefit to those administering their scholarships
through SU, in that they’d be able to share and publicize their scholarships more easily.
In addition it would enable the scholarships to be promoted and linked to directly on var-
ious social media platforms.
«Organization»
Scholarship Universe | Requirements Document 4
User Segments
Scholarship Universe is primarily intended for University of Arizona Students, as such they are
the primary user group we are concerned with. At present, UA students are also the only ones
who can access site content beyond the login wall.
However, there are other types of users who may visit SU. This may include parents, prospec-
tive students, donors, scholarship administrators, university administrators, and the general pub-
lic. Each type of user is looking for slightly different information – but the landing page needs to
accommodate all of the above user types.
UA Students: as our primary user group, they will be on our site to look for external scholar-
ships and to apply for UA scholarships
Prospective Students: they will be in the process of applying to UA or perhaps just thinking
about it. They’ll need information on what SU is and what it could offer them if they become a
UA Student.
Parents: they may be parents of actual students or prospective students, regardless they will be
unable to access the scholarships themselves, so they need to understand who can use the site,
what it has to offer, and perhaps be directed to other UA resources they can access.
Donors: they will primarily be coming to SU because they either want to make sure their schol-
arship is in the system or they want us to add their scholarship to the system. Donors need a
clear place to go from the splash page and clear instructions on submitting a scholarship for in-
clusion in our system. This group is also likely to be the least tech savvy.
Scholarship Administrators: like donors, they’ll primarily be looking to add their scholarship
to SU or confirm that it’s in the system.
University Administrators: they may be from UA or another school. If they’re from UA,
they’re likely visiting the site because their department is using SU and they need to administer
their scholarship. They need a clear place to go where they can log in to start their work. Non-
UA university administrators will likely be visiting SU to find out more about SU, as such they
should be able to easily navigate to an overview of the key features of SU and be directed to an
interested party form/survey.
General Public: for someone who doesn’t fall into one of the above groups, we can include
them here. This group should be able to easily understand what SU is and who can use it.
«Organization»
Scholarship Universe | Requirements Document 5
User Roles and Responsibilities
Requires a conversation with SASG
Internal Users
Administrators
o Can create, edit, and manage scholarship listings.
o Can add additional admins and revoke user privileges.
o Can view and generate reports.
o Can view and edit questions/comments submitted through SU.
Content Manager (will be added)
o Can create, edit, and manage scholarship listings.
o Can view and generate reports.
o Can view and edit questions/comments submitted through SU.
External Users
Student User o Can log into SU with NetID. o Can view and search through eligible scholarships. o Can apply for UA Scholarships.
Potential (Future) Student o Can login via 3rd party credential, but has limited access. o Cannot view full information on external scholarships. o Can search and see limited information on UA scholarships.
High School Counselor o Same as Potential (Future) Student.
Parent of Current or Future Student o Can view summary of what SU is, what it does, and who can use it. o Can access limited resources relating to searching / applying for scholarships.
Donor
o Can search and see external scholarship names and blurbs.
o Can potentially edit and manage their donor profile.
«Organization»
Scholarship Universe | Requirements Document 6
Production Rollout Considerations
The Scholarship Universe website will be upgraded in three major stages: