The following webinar explains Re-Enrolment in OpenApply. Learn the benefits of processing re-enrolment through OpenApply, how to configure Re-Enrolment Settings, and how to send notifications and anlayse re-enrolment figures. The re-enrolment functions in OpenApply will enable you and your families to easily complete the re-enrolment process entirely online.
Presentation & Resources
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FAQs from the presentation
Q: Where can I access the OpenApply demo site?
A: You can access the OpenApply demo site at: https://demo.openapply.com
You can use the demo site to try out anything that you may not wish to edit on your own OpenApply site first, as the demo site resets every hour.
Please contact us at support@openapply.com if you require the password to access the demo site.
Q: Can you customise the re-enrolment emails and choose when to send them?
A: Yes, you can customise them via Settings > Admissions > Status & Notification. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Re-Enrolment Notification.
Click here for advice on customising re-enrolment notification emails.
You can choose when to send the emails via the Re-Enrolment Dashboard. Click here for advice on sending re-enrolment notifications.
Q: Could the re-enrolment form that goes to parents who confirm be used as the enrolment contract?
A: Yes, this is possible, and some of our schools use the re-enrolment form for this purpose. The re-enrolment form can be customised at Settings > Forms. Or you can send your existing re-enrolment contract to us (Word or PDF format) at support@openapply.com, so that we can build this form for you.
Some schools require a physical signature for the contract. In this case, we recommend to make the contract available as a PDF, so that the parents can download, print, sign and upload the contract. Please contact us at support@openapply.com if you would like further advice on this.
Q: When the parent declines re-enrolment, does the decline form appear automatically or is there a separate step to get to that form?
A: Yes, the relevant form (Confirm, Decline, or Undecided) is shown automatically, once the parent selects Yes, No or Undecided for re-enrolment, as long as those forms are enabled at Settings > Forms.
Q: How do you handle students moving between levels of the school, for example, from preschool to lower school or from lower school to middle school?
A: Moving between levels or programmes does not affect the students. Re-enrolment automatically assumes that students are moving up to the next grade.
Q: Is there any way to change the language on the parent dashboard, where it says e.g. 'click here to enrol <student name> for 2019-20'?
A: No, this is not possible to change, as it is built into the system. If you would like to clarify this for parents, we recommend to customise the intial re-enrolment notification to explain. Click here for advice on customising re-enrolment notification emails.
Q: What status does the applicant have to be in order to be in the places offered column in the enrolment analytics?
A: The Places Offered column in the enrolment analytics counts those who have the Admitted status on the 'Enrolment For' date selected in the top left of the page. The Admitted status appears green in OpenApply, and is intended to be used for those students who have been offered a place, and you are waiting for them to accept, before they enrol. Please note that the Admitted status may have been renamed to e.g. Accepted or Offered, at Settings > Admissions > Status & Notification. Click here for advice on editing statuses.
Q: If we do not see all the re-enrolment eligible students on the Re-Enrolment Dashboard, how do we address that?
A: Students with the enrolled status, who are not in your top grade (as they will be graduating) will be eligible for re-enrolment for next year, as long as they enrolled in the current or a previous acadmic year. If any students do not show as eligible for re-enrolment, navigate to the Students roster, and choose the next academic year to make sure that they are not a new student for next year. Then choose All Academic Years and filter for the top grade, to make sure that they are not in the top grade and will be graduating. Click here for advice on viewing and filtering on the Students roster.
Q: How not to send the re-enrollment form to a family that is not invited back to the school?
A: If there are specific students who you would not like to send a re-enrolment notification to, you should mark them as Decline for re-enrolment, then click Confirm Re-Enrolment to save this, before sending the initial notifications. Click here for advice on not sending re-enrolment notifications to specific students.
Q: Is there an option for an automated email to be sent to the parent when they decline re-enrolment?
A: No, this is not currently possible. However, you can filter by re-enrolment status on the Students Roster, to find those who have Declined re-enrolment. Then you could select them and send a bulk message email template. Click here for advice on viewing and filtering on the Students roster. Click here for advice on sending bulk messages.
Q: Are we able to remove the Undecided Option from the various categories?
A: No, this is not currently possible. Parents were previously able to select 'Pending', if they were undecided. The 'Undecided' status was added as a new feature, to help schools differentiate between those who had actively selected this, and those who had not responded to the re-enrolment notification at all. Once a parent selects Undecided, re-enrolment still shows as outstanding on their dashboard, so they can select Yes or No straight afterwards, or at a later date, once they are ready to decide. If you would prefer parents not to select this option, then you may wish to customise the initial and undecided re-enrolment notifications or Undecided form to explain this. Click here for advice on customising re-enrolment notification emails.
Q: Can parents still submit the re-enrolment form without paying, even if the payment option is enabled from the admin side?
A: If you enable payment on the re-enrolment form, then the parents must choose a payment method in order to submit the confirm re-enrolment form. So whether or not the parents can submit the form without paying depends on which payment methods you have enabled at Settings > Payments. Click here for advice on configuring payment methods. If you have non-electronic payment methods enabled, such as Cash, Cheque or Bank Transfer, and the parent selects one of these options, then they can confirm re-enrolment without paying, and will receive an invoice for the re-enrolment fee. If you wish to ensure that the parents pay the fee in order to confirm re-enrolment, then we recommend to only enable electronic payment methods (PayPal or Credit Card), and select the option 'Decline Form Submissions' for 'When the charge fails' at Settings > Payments. This ensures that only those that submit a successful payment can confirm re-enrolment.
Credits
This webinar was originally run on January 10, 2019.
Host: MacKenzie Hovermale, OpenApply Director
Presenter: Tom Kirby, OpenApply Support Associate