This award program is designed to recognize, reward and share university achievements in improving the quality of, and reducing the cost of, academic administration in the following areas: admissions, registration, examinations, scheduling, transcripts, systems, records, calendars, scholarships and awards, secondary school liaison, and other activities or undertakings that may be deemed appropriate by OURA.
One innovation award will be available every second year, or at the discretion of the OURA Executive, and is valued at $5,000 to be given to fund a student scholarship at the winning institution.
The following information is required for nomination:
- Quality impact: The extent of the impact of improvements in quality of service as seen by the end user, or in working conditions as seen by staff.
- Productivity impact: The extent of the impact of the improvements in productivity. The size of the institution will be taken into account where the improvements generate financial savings or increased revenue.
- Involvement: The extent of the involvement of the entire institutional community. Consultation beforehand with staff and users, faculty and students, and broad acceptance of the changes will be taken into account.
Congratulations to all the winners!
2011 – University of Waterloo
The recipient of the the OURA Innovation Award was the University of Waterloo who developed a graduate admission system. The system facilitates a paperless application management process and provides online services to applicants, referees, reviewers, departments, Faculties and the Graduate Studies to improve timelines for decisions, offers and responses.
Some key components of the system include:
- electronic document management
- electronic reference letters
- online applications for department evaluation
- online recommendations for admission
- harmonized offer of admission
2010 – Brock University
Brock’s Office of the Registrar won for its Electronic Academic Calendar Submission/Revision Project. The Office of the Registrar, in partnership with ITS/Web Development, developed a web-based system to facilitate the Undergraduate and Graduate Academic Calendar Revision Submission process. This project improves the annual process by which the academic calendar is developed and produced, and improves efficiency, productivity and cost savings. The first year of implementation, collaboration and support from the academic units and the undergraduate program committee have contributed to a successful launch of phase one.
The award was accepted by Barb Davis, Registrar, and Gloria Gallagher, Associate Registrar, during the OURA Annual Conference held March 1 to 3 in Toronto. The two also presented a conference session on the project and will make a similar presentation at the Association of Registrars of the Universities and Colleges of Canada Conference in June. “I would like to acknowledge the exceptional work of both Mwinchande Chande in the Office of the Registrar and Geoff Martin in ITS, and to thank members of UPC and everyone in the academic units for their support and enthusiasm in embracing this project,” Davis said. “It is very much a community effort.”