Academic Submissions; Making Life Easier

Academic research is time consuming in and of itself at the best of times. So, the prospect of saving time to process, upload and organise hundreds of thousands of applications is surely a ‘no brainer’. With a flexible approach to how this is done, it’s worth noting how digitisation can make such a huge difference to so many in the education and academic industry. From students scrambling to meet deadlines, to administrators and reviewers attempting to correct stacks of paper, this process is something which affects all levels of study and work in an average institution. The solution to help make all of this flow better than ever is something which can be to the benefit of everybody. So, what are the steps, and how does this system work? 

How digitising submissions can be to the advantage of any academic organisation  

Submit offers a state-of-the-art service, design and different interfaces to aid the handling of these academic submissions. As first mentioned, through this system all journals, documents and assignments for review or correction would be completely backed up. Access to this online archive via a co-ordinated system would ensure that administrators, reviewers and researchers all have time saved from manual editing and processing these documents. The forms themselves would be customisable and user friendly, without complicating matters unnecessarily. This is a particularly important point, as to many hopeful users digitisation is a new concept, and could taking this overly complex step lead to confusion and a potential air of dissatisfaction? 

This is why a helpful level of guidance is necessary to make the change, and there are a number of advantages to consider in the concept of the system itself.  

The specifics include the forms (as we mentioned, not automated but fully customisable), an open platform, different levels of access, reporting and great customer support. In addition to the time saving, another noteworthy aspect is that of cutting down on printing and paper costs, as academic institutions are usually close to the top of the pile where it comes to this measurement. With the COVID-19 situation, it is far more desirable to be able to manage an online system where records and significant trails are kept and audited to refer back to, as opposed to overflowing binders and folders. 

Being able to use a range of functions and applications at different locations is also a massive advantage, and increases the positive aspect of teamwork at the same time. 

A specific case study: Limerick arts and culture 

The Institution of the Arts and Culture Centre in Limerick has worked closely with Submit to achieve this level of awareness, and has seen great success in managing its projects and applications as a result. In benefitting from the system, they have seen the submit partnership as ‘’an asset to projects and workflow, customisable and flexible’’. That is according to administrator Lizanne Jackman, who notes that the centre had been uploading the applications to ‘’an in-house file-sharing system that was not fit for purpose and required individual uploading of each application.” 

As time consuming as this itself seems, it is more so when you consider that different kinds of projects require different forms, entry databases, and require all students, adjudicators and administrative staff alike to be able to negotiate this in timely fashion. 

You can read more about this particular case here , along with others that have benefitted from this partnership.  

Another academic programme that has also given positive feedback would be the UCC based ‘Ignite’, a graduate based scheme for entrepreneurs.  Working in cooperation with both the local city and county councils, their scheme has found submit to be hugely beneficial in keeping track of applicants who would be applying to work in their start-up programme. 

The director, Eamon Curtin, has noted that they have found Submit an effective platform and ‘look forward to working with the solutions team on new cases for our start up programme,’ also citing that the company plans to utilise this partnership further in the future. 

Features of a successful academic submission system  

It is understandable that, as with any change in an education led system, there will be reservations about changing to a new platform initially.  

In this climate, every organisation across a variety of other industries in the world will have had a similar sense of hesitation about changing focus of how work is completed or carried out. 

At submit, having a clear, easy to use interface ensures that all of this format is not only accessible, but that clients can always understand the planning and layout required at every step of the way, too. By changing and processing the database of all the applications, details and additional material required, the process need no longer be so time consuming.  

It is an opportunity to save huge costs on printing, filing, as well as the additional time required for deadlines. The automation aspect helps to cut down on this subject of time wastage, and thereby accelerates the speed of completing tasks. 

The process of organisation can be explained with how folders are set to keep everything in order, where all the necessary uploads can be accessed easily. All documents and necessary files or data are found in the same place, where it is then easy to keep up to date with all the submissions as they come into the system. 

The screening process for candidates is another point that is very useful, as it helps to keep the strongest candidates interested in multiple phases. The submissions would then be able to screen and arrange the remaining applications by strength, and present the information in an understandable way. 

The scoring and tagging systems would also be convenient, as each part of the process is designed to give user-friendly levels of clarity.  

For more expanded detail on this overview,  additional information can be seen here.

Don’t hesitate to get in touch for a free trial of a system that will make such a positive difference to everyday academic life!