Webinar
This webinar details the product roadmap and strategy for Spring 2020. Below are some questions that were asked about the Spring 2020 product roadmap. If you have any additional questions about the roadmap, please reach out to your account manager.
Q&A
Q: For the Magnus-Veracross Integration Road Map, it states that you are working on the SSO integration for parents through the Admissions Portal. Is that the Admissions Portal 2.0 or 3.0 or both?
A: The SSO integration for parents through the Admission portal will require Admissions Portal 3.0.
Q: I am interested in the redesign of visit management in Veracross. We want to track visits as accurately as we can along with tours and keep this data to look back on LYTD.
A: That is great to hear. We will be sharing the Visit Management survey in the next 30 days.
Q: Will the new internal Recommendation Forms be available for Admissions Portal 2.0 (AP2) as well as Admissions Portal 3.0 (AP3)? Regarding AP3, we are happy to hear that multiple candidate entry is coming to inquiry forms. We also need to have the ability for families to enter multiple passports/nationalities and multiple languages for both candidates and parents. Are those features on the roadmap?
A: Yes, internal Recommendation Forms will be available for AP2 schools. It is currently possible to add multiple citizenship records (including passport info) and multiple language records for both candidates and parents from within the portal in AP3.
Q: AP3: Will recommendation forms include the ability to auto-send a receipt of form submission (including submitted text) similar to what we can do in Google Forms?
A: Yes, VC Recommendation forms support the ability to send an auto-receipt email to the Recommender, including the ability to see their form submission.
Q: Will all schools be transitioning to AP3 in 2020 Q2, or will it be an optional transition?
A: All schools are invited to move to AP3 during 2020 (subject to the availability of VC support staff/AMs/IMs) but will not be required to cutover in 2020.
Q: For AP3, will it be possible to mix Veracross data elements (e.g. Ethnicity) with Form-only elements (e.g. text prompt, "Tell us about your family's ethnic background") within a single form?
A: It is currently possible to mix System and School elements on Inquiry forms but not System forms in the portal.
Q: For Academics, will there be improved support for publishing historic documents to parents/students?
A: We’re actively working on a number of improvements to the management of academic documents in Axiom, specific details to follow later on in Q2 of this year.
Q: The roadmap is impressive, and we do appreciate it. However, the "academics" map seems mostly about data and documents. There is no mention of the LMS, gradebook, or learning at all. What should we infer from this? Is Veracross becoming more of a "back-of-house" tool or something we can look at for day-to-day use in the classroom? If academic tools are not being developed, are integrations forthcoming?
A: We are committed to making enhancements that will have the biggest positive impact for our schools through this changing landscape, which could or could not involve the LMS. For the short term, we are evaluating both schools’ immediate needs and also needs due to the uncertainty with 20-21 school year, and that includes needs related to our LMS. As we gather this information through our distance learning survey and one-on-one conversations, we are considering enhancements to the LMS. In the longer term, we will be moving the LMS to the newest tech stack, the Portals 3 platform that the current faculty and student portals are built on. During this more technical change, we will also be evaluating a number of enhancements and pursuing them as we are able. In addition to all of this, our new API will enable us to plan on integrating with other LMS providers that our schools are using.
Q: Will there be a mechanism included to "lock" PDFs of academic documents (like a PDF file attachment)?
A: More info about the future of document publishing/management will be coming later in Q2.
Q: When will the documentation for the API be available to review?
A: While there is not a set timeline for the documentation, documentation for the API should be available when it is ready for GA (General Availability) after the pilot partners launch is complete.
Q: Will there be a Veracross University "course" for API training?
A: An API course in Veracross University is planned.
Q: Why not have a vote up system for features, allowing VCX schools see what is high on development?
A: In Q4 we will be introducing a custom feedback loop that will allow you to vote on each other’s ideas when providing feedback. This will allow us to make sure that we are completing enhancements that will have the biggest business impact for you.