Registration and Authentication: Allow prospective students, current students, faculty, and administrative staff to create accounts and log in securely.
Role-Based Access Control: Different roles (e.g., applicants, admissions officers, faculty) have access to different system features and data.
Profile Management: Users can manage their personal information, contact details, and application status.
Application Management
Application Submission: Allow prospective students to submit applications online, including personal information, educational background, and supporting documents (e.g., transcripts, letters of recommendation).
Application Tracking: Enable applicants to track the status of their applications throughout the review process.
Document Upload: Support uploading and management of required documents and supplementary materials.
Application Review and Processing
Application Review: Allow admissions officers to review applications, including assessing submitted documents and evaluating qualifications.
Decision Making: Facilitate the process of making admission decisions, including acceptance, rejection, or placement on a waiting list.
Communication: Notify applicants of admission decisions, requests for additional information, or status updates.
Interview and Testing Management
Interview Scheduling: Schedule interviews for applicants if required, and manage the scheduling process.
Testing Coordination: Manage any required entrance exams or tests, including scheduling and tracking.
Enrollment and Registration
Acceptance and Enrollment: Allow accepted students to confirm their acceptance, complete enrollment forms, and pay any required deposits or fees.
Course Registration: Enable newly admitted students to register for courses, including selecting classes and managing their schedules.
Reporting and Analytics
Application Reports: Generate reports on application statistics, such as the number of applications, acceptance rates, and demographic information.
Admissions Metrics: Track metrics related to admissions, including time-to-decision, application trends, and yield rates.
Custom Reports: Allow users to create custom reports based on specific criteria or requirements.
Integration
Student Information System (SIS): Integrate with existing Student Information Systems for seamless data transfer and management.
Payment Systems: Integrate with payment gateways for processing application fees, deposits, and other financial transactions.
Communication Tools: Sync with email and messaging systems for notifications and correspondence.
Compliance and Security
Data Protection: Ensure compliance with data protection regulations (e.g., GDPR, FERPA) to protect student and applicant information.
Access Control: Implement role-based access control to safeguard sensitive information and ensure that only authorized users can access certain data.
Non-Functional Requirements
Performance
Response Time: Ensure that the system responds quickly to user interactions and data queries (e.g., under 2 seconds for searches and application submissions).
Scalability: The system should handle increasing numbers of applications, users, and data without performance degradation.
Reliability
Uptime: Ensure high availability of the system with minimal downtime (e.g., 99.9% uptime).
Error Handling: Implement robust error handling and recovery mechanisms to manage and recover from system failures gracefully.
Security
Data Protection: Protect sensitive data through encryption and secure storage.
Authentication and Authorization: Use secure authentication methods and enforce role-based access control.
Compliance: Adhere to relevant data protection and privacy regulations.
Usability
User Interface: Design an intuitive and user-friendly interface for applicants, administrators, and faculty.
Accessibility: Ensure the system is accessible to users with disabilities, following accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG).
Maintainability
Code Quality: Maintain high-quality, well-documented code to facilitate future updates and troubleshooting.
Documentation: Provide comprehensive documentation, including user guides and system manuals for administrators and support staff.
Availability
Backup and Recovery: Implement regular backups and establish procedures for data recovery in case of system failures.
Failover: Ensure the system has failover capabilities to handle hardware or software failures.
Portability
Cross-Platform Compatibility: Ensure the system is compatible with various devices and operating systems, including desktops, tablets, and mobile devices.
Supportability
Technical Support: Provide mechanisms for users to obtain support and resolve issues.
Error Reporting: Include functionality for users to report bugs or issues and track their resolution.
