The new CCCApply Administrator 2.0 is primarily an upgrade to the current CCCApply Administrator (Admin 1.0), with a new look & feel and enhanced user navigation across administration of all three integrated CCCApply applications (Standard, Promise Grant (BOG), and International). The technology has been upgraded from a PHP application to a java-based, spring boot platform, with a React user interface, which has allowed us to fix many of the bugs and issues with the older system and implement a handful of new features to the existing admin feature functionality. The new system is designed to scale as new features and integrated services are added to the tool. Additional enhancements and new features are planned for future releases.
Pilot Migration & System Shut Down
However, the critical distinction to understand is that this new system - including the new CCC Administrator platform and gateway - will completely replace the current Admin 1.0 application. The two administrators (Admin 1.0 and 2.0) cannot run in parallel; only one database can be talking to the CCCApply applications in each environment at one time. Once the new system is deployed to the Pilot environment, the current Pilot Admin 1.0 will be shut down. The Tech Center support services team will work with a set of pilot colleges to ensure migration, implementation, and user acceptance testing (UAT) is successful before working with every college individually to ensure access and migration is complete. After colleges have completely and successfully transitioned to the new service in the Pilot environment, we will move forward with the production migration and release, and Admin 1.0 will be shut down completely.
Feature Parity
To ensure a successful migration and implementation of college data and user accounts for all 110 colleges currently using CCCApply, our primary objective for this initial release is to roll out the new CCCApply Administrator 2.0 tool with minimal changes to the existing features and functionality and transition users to the tool through the new CCC Administrator gateway using their existing college or district user accounts, thereby enabling single sign-on (SSO) authentication to the current and future CCCTC admin applications via one single point-of-entry.
This means that your current Pilot and Production user accounts won't change, but the URLs you'll use to get to them will. See "What features are new or have changed in the new Administrator 2.0 system" below for more details.
Ninety percent (90%) of the development requirements for this upgrade is feature parity, which means the majority of the features are exactly the same and function the same way as they do today in the current Admin 1.0 tool. However, there are a few new features - which are discussed below - and several important changes to note.
Let's break it down like this: 1) Which features and functionality appear exactly the same in the new Administrator 2.0?, and 2) What features are new or have changed in the new Administrator 2.0 system?
What features and functionality are exactly the same in the new CCCApply Administrator 2.0?
As outlined above, the majority of the feature modules, services, utilities, and user experience will be exactly the same in the new CCCApply Administrator 2.0 upgrade. This includes the back-end database structure and all the admin data fields, the APIs, and for the most part, the user interface behaves very similar to what you are used to today in Admin 1.0. The Administrator will still integrate with the CCCApply applications (CCCApply Standard, International and the CC Promise Grant (BOG) applications) and authorized college staff will continue to configure your custom, college-specific data settings within this tool. This integration between the CCCApply Administrator and the student-facing CCCApply applications will continue to be managed, and kept up-to-date, in order for students to submit their CCCApply admissions- and financial aid applications to your college.
Authorized User Functionality
Authorized users must still have a user account to authenticate into the Administrator, and will continue to provision which applications the user has permission to manage.
Applications
The applications that can be managed in the new CCCApply Administrator 2.0 are:
- CCCApply Standard Application
- CCCApply International Application
- CC Promise Grant (BOG) Application
Application Modules
CCCApply Standard Application:
- Terms
- Majors
- Rules & Messages
- Supplemental Questions
- Reset Downloads
- College & District Information
CCCApply International Application:
- Terms
- Majors
- Rules & Messages
- Supplemental Questions
- English Proficiency Requirements
- Reset Downloads
- College & District Information
CC Promise Grant (BOG) Application:
- Rules & Messages
- Reset Downloads
- College & District Information
- 90% feature parity upgrade to legacy administrator (Admin1)
- 10% NEW features:
- New Spam Filter User Interface
- New Major Category Filter (Majors Module)
- New Ed Goal Alignment Filter (Moved to Phase 2 as of 6.20.18)
- Integration with the CCC Administrator (CAP)
- Getting to the CCCApply Administrator 2.0 has changed; new URL, landing page, and step to launch application
- Launch Applications Menu
- System Administration:
- Roles Management (Phase 2)
- Access Permissions Management (Phase 2)
- User Management
- CCCApply Administrator is no longer a stand-alone Admin tool, it is now an integrated application within the new CCC Administrator (CAP) system, including:
- User Accounts - all user accounts for CCCApply Administrator are created and managed in the CCC Administrator system
What features are new or have changed in the new CCCApply Administrator 2.0?
What is the CCCApply Administrator?
The CCCApply Administrator is the back-end admin configuration tool for (Standard, International, and CC Promise Grant/BOG), and the current version - known as Admin1 - has been in production since 2012 and used by all 109 CCCApply colleges.
This tool is integral for maintaining custom college Terms, Majors, custom Email Rules & Messages, Supplemental Questions and other required and optional settings integrated with the CCCApply applications.
NEW FEATURES IN CCCApply Administrator 2.0
Two new filters have been added to the Majors modules that will allow colleges to filter the display of their majors in the CCCApply Standard & International admission applications using custom-defined categories or using education goals on the Enrollment page. However, only the Major Category filter will be released in this release.
The Major Category Filter
The Major Category filter allows colleges to create and align custom categories to their list of Majors or Programs of Study. Categories are created in the Add or Edit Major modal, or can be imported using the Import Majors function.
Important: This new filter is optional. Colleges do not have to implement the Major Category filter.
To implement this new filter, a new data field was added to the Majors database table: <major_category>. The new data field will function similarly to the way supplemental questions work, allowing colleges to define the values for the create one or more category values that can then be used to sort or group the display of new or existing majors in the student-facing application.
Many colleges have requested the ability to display their Majors offerings in CCCApply as “Meta-majors” - which are collections of academic majors that have related courses, programs, degrees, and certificates. The intent of using Meta-majors is to help the student choose a degree or program of study based on their interests, knowledge, skills, and abilities. The Major Category filter will enable the colleges to create these custom Meta-major categories.
The Ed Goal Alignment Filter
The Ed Goal alignment filter allows colleges to align their majors and programs to one or more pre-existing <edu_goals> field options (determined by the CCC Chancellor’s Office) in order to filter the display of their majors based on the education goal selected by the student.
In other words, if a student selects an education goal of “Obtain a two-year degree without transfer” then only the majors or programs that are associated with a two-year associates degree will be displayed in the “Intended Major or Program of Study” dropdown menu in the Application.
To implement the new Ed Goal Alignment filter, colleges will need to go through all their existing majors and programs of study and determine which Education Goal each aligns to. They can do this manually, individually, by opening each Major (select Edit Major icon) and checking one or more education goals in the Education Goal box at the bottom of the modal, that the major aligns to.
IMPORTANT
The Ed Goal Alignment filter is being developed for a future release. Like the Major Category filter, this filter is also optional; colleges do not have to implement this filter. However, this may not be 100% clear to the college initially when they add or edit a new Major in the Administrator 2.0. Onscreen instructions are minimal in this first release, as we will allow colleges and the CCCApply Steering Committee to drive changes based on usability feedback.
SPAM Filter User Interface
The most significant feature being added to the CCCApply Administrator 2.0 is the user interface for the new Spam Filter web service being added to the CCCApply Standard Application submitted application pipeline.
The Spam Filter User Interface is the
The purpose of the Spam Filter web service is to identify fraudulent applications coming into our system through CCCApply and prevent them from being passed to and processed by our colleges as legitimate applications.
Prior to development, a year-long research study was conducted by Infiniti’s machine learning data analysts to better understand the mass influx of fraudulent applications being reported by colleges. To support the research study, a small pilot project with four colleges commenced to gather data and explore motives and tools used by spammers.