Background: A Vision for Future Expansion
Founded in 1927, the University of Houston serves 45,000 students and has ambitious expansion plans for its upcoming centennial, including new residential and research facilities. To support this growth, the university recognized the need to modernize its admissions infrastructure. We spoke with Anthony Stott, the Admissions Team’s Applications Lead and a university veteran since 1998, to understand how the institution partnered with Smart Panda Tools to drive student mobility.
The Challenge: Manual Data Entry and Test-Optional Demands
The COVID-19 pandemic forced a rapid evolution in admissions logic. With SAT centers closed during lockdowns, the University of Houston had to pivot from standardized testing to a holistic review based on student grades in four core subjects: English, Math, Science, and Social Studies.
However, the institution faced a critical operational hurdle: their existing Optical Character Recognition (OCR) solution was ineffective at digitizing transcript data with the necessary precision. The error rates were high enough that manual data entry was judged to be faster, trapping highly skilled staff in data entry loops rather than focusing on evaluation. The University of Houston’s main challenge was to accelerate the admissions decision-making process while rapidly adapting their policies.
The Solution: Automating Evaluation with Smart Panda Tools
The University of Houston needed a solution that worked within their existing PeopleSoft environment while streamlining transcript evaluation and transfer credit processing. They sought a transparent, auditable workflow rather than a “black box” automation tool. This led them to Smart Panda Tools, a Gold Partner with PeopleSoft, to implement a suite of solutions designed to augment the Registrar’s expertise.
Using Raptor to automate student transcript evaluation, the university streamlined the entire lifecycle—from digitization and GPA calculation to secure inter-system sharing. This shifted the workflow from manual bottlenecks to transparent, verified data.
“What attracted us to Smart Panda Tools initially was Raptor. It reads every bit of data from transcripts, and from all kinds of different formats. The accuracy rate is so impressive, and you can make any fixes within a couple clicks.”
To manage complex policy changes, the university implemented Equate to modernize transfer credit logic. This tool allowed the team to move away from rigid manual maintenance to a system that dynamically builds and manages complex transfer rules.
“Equate was a big value add with how it helps you build and maintain transfer credit rules. The way it dynamically builds rules is really impressive, Smart Panda Tools was able to simplify that whole process.”
Finally, to support prospective students directly, the university utilized Gateway to deploy a self-service student portal. This allows applicants to upload provisional grades and transcripts directly, giving them agency in identifying which universities might be the best academic fit.
Operational Results: Reducing Decision Time by One Week
By integrating the Smart Panda Tools Suite, the University of Houston significantly reduced the administrative friction required to admit and enroll students. Rather than replacing the staff, the technology elevated their role, allowing for faster turnaround times even during peak volume.
“Implementing Smart Panda Tools’ suite has really reduced the time needed to make decisions on student applications. Evaluating student transcripts and credit transfers, calculating student GPAs and categorizing GPA types, and informing the students on our decision has gotten so much faster. I’d be willing to bet that decision-making time has been reduced by at least a week.
This speed had a tangible impact on stability. When the institution hosted a state-mandated “free application fee week,” the number of applications surged. Despite this pressure, the staff and systems were never overwhelmed.
“For a whole week, the number of applications we received increased by a huge margin. We were batch processing around 500 transcripts each day.”
Strategic Impact: Record Enrollment and Student Mobility
Ultimately, the partnership between the University of Houston and Smart Panda Tools ensures students receive decisions sooner so they can plan their academic journeys with confidence.
“I think that if you can make tools to solve staff problems, that can only benefit the students. If the staff can automate transcript evaluation and make decisions faster, it also means that the students get a faster turnaround time. Faster admissions decisions help students plan out their learning journeys faster too.”
When asked what advice he would give to schools considering this infrastructure, Anthony stated:
“Do it. I’ve been a Smart Panda Tools reference for a few institutions now, and I can only speak positively because they’re so effective and responsive. The service is fast and personalized, and the whole suite just really helps improve all our processing and decision making.”
The university recently processed its largest-ever incoming freshman class.
We’re having some pretty record enrollment at the University of Houston right now too. We just processed our biggest ever incoming freshman class with over 6,000 applicants and Smart Panda Tools definitely helped us achieve that. It all comes down to getting transcripts evaluated and students enrolled– to make data-driven decisions quickly and reliably.
—Anthony Stott Admissions Applications Lead, University of Houston