What is workflow automation in higher ed?

Workflow automation encodes a repeatable admissions procedure as a trigger, a set of steps and the rules between them. When a graduate application becomes complete, a workflow might notify the department's reviewer, send the applicant a confirmation and create a follow-up for the coordinator if no decision is recorded within two weeks.

Logic is what lets automation fit a university's processes. A condition can send international applicants down a branch that asks for financial documents, a switch can route by program level, and a wait step can hold a reminder until a few days before a scholarship deadline. Parallel branches let an email reach the student while a task reaches the counselor.

Workflow automation is broader than a drip campaign. A drip is the series of messages a student receives; a workflow can send those messages and also do the internal work around them, such as assigning a counselor, changing a stage, adding a note or creating a follow-up. When an office says it automated a process, it usually means workflows; when it says it nurtured a group of students, it usually means a drip.

Start with procedures that are frequent, rule-bound and still manual: acknowledging new inquiries, chasing missing transcripts, assigning counselors and moving records when a document arrives. Leave judgment calls, such as admission decisions and exceptions, to staff. Name an owner for each workflow, because at a decentralized institution an automation built by one college can reach students another college is also contacting.

How do you know a workflow is working? Review its run history after launch, check a sample of the records it touched, and test changes well before a peak period such as the weeks ahead of a priority deadline. A hypothetical example: an office that launches a transcript reminder in September finds in the run history that several runs failed on records with no email address, and adds a condition that sends those students an SMS instead.