Success Story

RAPID ENROLMENT FOR STUDENTS AT RUNSHAW

The use of Welch Allyn scanners has become an integral part of the enrolment process at Runshaw College, near Chorley in Lancashire. The scanners have made a tremendous difference to the enrolment of new and existing students, effectively bringing order out of a potentially chaotic situation.

Runshaw College is sited on a purpose-built campus for Sixth Form Education, and offers an extensive range of facilities for its students. Its Sixth Form Center is complemented by the new Eskdale Building, which houses a Creative Arts Center. The College covers a comprehensive series of 'A' Level subjects and also runs a wide variety of vocational courses.

Each year, some 3,000 students have to go through the enrolment process. The college's previous enrolment system involved a manual procedure, which involved taking down the details and then entering them into a computer at a later stage. This proved to be a time-consuming and inefficient process.

College Spokesperson and Admissions Tutor, Jim Smith, explains: "We need to process the students as quickly as possible, for several reasons. Firstly, it enables them to be given immediate details of their timetables - a feature that was impossible under the old system. Secondly, it provides the college with the information we need for funding - at the earliest opportunity."

The college therefore adopted a system that involves the use of barcodes, and purchased six Welch Allyn SCANTEAM 2380 scanners. When a student is accepted on a course, they are given a barcode sticker that contains details such as the course subject, the year (i.e. First Year, Second Year etc), and the timetable details. The barcodes are now used in several sectors of college, including the library. Both staff and students carry a photo-ID card that carries a barcode. The software was supplied by Rubicon Systems.

On the enrolment day, the student takes the form to a Central Desk, where the barcode is decoded by passing the sticker through a Welch Allyn scanner. The details are fed directly into the college's host computer. The student is then issued with an instant timetable. The college can print off all of the day's enrolment activities at the end of the day.

Jim Smith comments: "The Welch Allyn scanners are fantastic! They have completely revolutionized a very labor-intensive and delicate process. Being able to carry out the enrolment procedure so quickly, accurately and efficiently has been beyond our wildest dreams. The scanner system has streamlined everything, cutting down on wastage of staff time, and yet boosting the levels of customer care we can provide for the students."

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