Entry into Virtual University Space through Web-Based e-Application

In this paper we describe a web-based information system, which serves for a first contact between a university and a prospecting student (applicant) in the admission process. We describe advantages of an involvement of the applicant into the virtual space of the university. Our e-Application system covers the whole admission process. The objective is to make the communication between the university and the applicant more effective and consequently to achieve considerable time and resource savings at the both parts. The system is designed not as a closed system for the university staff only. It enables an applicant to submit his application electronically and to observe the application’s status in the scope of the admission process. The university staff uses the system as an evidence of the applicants, as a support of the applications processing, admission process organization including management of the entrance exam. Due to the current Slovak legislation the applicant has to supplement electronic application by a printed form of the application signed by the applicant (the printed form is generated by the e-Application system). We describe successful deployment of the e-Application system at the Faculty of Informatics and Information Technologies, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava to cover 2004/2005 bachelor’s admissions and experience gathered through its operation.