5 Ways AI Will Impact Application Management

The 5 Ways AI Will Transform Scholarship Management in 2024

1. Intelligent Automation

Opportunity recommendation and matching

Mission driven organizations manage quite a few competitive submission based programs such as awards, grants, scholarships, fellowships and abstracts that have a wide range of criteria, eligibility, and requirements. Often, applicants may not be aware of the opportunities available to them resulting in underapplied programs or applicants applying for everything, and anything, resulting in wasted time and energy from both the applicant and program provider.

• Leverage applicant opportunity recommendation and matching tools that based on data provided by the applicant, presents opportunities, categories, awards, scholarships, grants, etc that align.
• Conduct real-time eligibility and requirement checks bases on content submitted by the applicant.
  • Applicants that are not eligible no longer waste time and energy submitting for an opportunity they are ineligible for.
  • Organizations and program managers are no longer waste time and energy vetting applications that should not be included.

Create a personalized experience

Capturing essential information from applicants equips program managers with the data necessary to create a personalized experience that enhances the applicant experience and strengthens data integrity.

• When an applicant goes through the opportunity recommendation and matching process we can begin crafting custom questions relevant to the scholarship opportunity.
• Example: An applicant pursuing a path in surgical oncology may have different application questions, deliverables, deadlines, and review committees than an applicant applying for a career in the arts.

For award programs, create a dual nominator/nominee experience

Leverage a dual process where the nominator starts the submission by inputting who they are, who they are nominating, and why and then let the nominee finish the form by answering more personal questions about themselves. 

• Nominator and Nominee Information: Start by collecting basic details from the nominator and about the nominee, including names, contacts, and their relationship.
• Essays and Statements: Include prompts for nominators to explain why the nominee is deserving, focusing on specific achievements or impacts.
• Supporting Documents: Provide an option for uploading documents like recommendation letters or work samples that substantiate the nomination.
• Nominee Participation and Confirmation: Implement a system where nominees are notified to complete their part of the form, ensuring a collaborative and thorough nomination process. Confirm submissions via email to both parties.

This streamlined approach focuses on the essential elements while ensuring a comprehensive and collaborative nomination process.

Create a personalized experience for reference collections

Often an afterthought, yet critical to get right, is the collection of references. When an external variable such as references is added to the award nomination application and selection process we must ensure this too follows both proper protocol for data security, but also best practices.

Avoid reference letters:

• Historically references were collected in a letter format but this is now an outdated and risky method.
• Letters create a barrier for references.
  • Hard to write
  • Takes time and effort
  • Multi-step to create, write, and send back.
  • Not all references are created equal – some are better written than others, some had more time put into it, etc. Is this a fair representation of the scholarship applicant?
  • Hard to blind PII in a letter.

Leverage reference templates:

• Outline 3-5 questions that each reference should answer.
• Lowers the time and effort barrier for references.
• Creates data consistency amongst all applicants.
• Creates consistency in the review process with defined data sets.

Use Reviewrs automated reference collection process:

• Award nominees or nominators will enter the name and email of the reference
• Triggers an email notification to reference
• Reference clicks on a link that brings them to a reference template
• Reference simply fills out the template with the ability to save, log out, and work at their own pace.
• Visibility to both award program managers as well as to applicants on the progress of references.
• Actual reference content can be blinded from the applicant.
• Upon submission, the reference template is automatically attached to the applicant profile.
• Reference data can be blinded more easily by the review team.

Eligibility screening and qualification

In a world of competitive applications, program managers are looking for ways to narrow down the initial applicant pool to a smaller number for a more indepth and thorough review.

• Automatically allow candidates to proceed, or not, based on program eligibility. This ensures only those that match the requirement may proceed.
• Set clear requirements for deliverables and only allow completed applications to proceed that have those deliverables added.
  • Allow candidates to access application information, add deliverables, and return as often as they desire before fully submitting.
  • Once ready to submit, check for completion preventing anyone that is missing a requirement from entering the completed que.
• Auto-rank candidates based on applicant profile information such as GPA, volunteer hours, etc.

Reviewr’s intelligent automation in action