University of Wollongong deploys dozens of enterprise apps

The University of Wollongong has deployed 32 apps using a 'low-code development' platform it adopted in March last year.

Chief information officer Fiona Rankin told iTnews the apps came under the umbrella of a business process management program of work.

The proliferation has been aided in part by the establishment of a 'citizen developer' model of work, where faculties and other university units can create apps themselves, in many cases to replace outdated spreadsheet-based tools.

Last week, UOW showcased one of the 32 apps, called international online student mobility, which makes the experience of interacting with the university easier for international students.

The app allows students to apply for a place at the university and to receive notifications of actions like faculty approvals.

Once approved, students can also add new subjects or submit course preferences, keep track of their study, and manage fees, payments and grants through the app.

The university can also process applications a lot faster since the entire end-to-end process is now online.

“Overall, the new process saves the team several days to a week in data entry work, which means they are able to contact the students regarding the next steps in their application much earlier than with [the] previous process,” Rankin said.

Payments are now processed same day compared to taking up to a fortnight under legacy processes.

Rankin said it was important to modernise the process, as it is often the first interaction international students have with the university.

“It was important to us that during this first interaction we were presenting ourselves as modern and efficient by making the process completely online and as simple and fast as possible,” she said.

Following a tender process, the university partnered with Appian for the software underpinning the business process management initiative.