Cirrus Solutions for Streamlining Admissions Access

Cirrus Solutions for

Streamlining Admissions Access 

3 Ways to Streamline:  

1) Improve Single Sign-On 2) Enable Social Logins 3) Provide an Organization Branded Hosted Identity

Summary

Many Cirrus Identity customers have streamlined admissions access for prospects, applicants, admits and parents/sponsors by improving Single Sign-On and/or supporting Social Login or an Organization Branded ID that is externally hosted by Cirrus.

Business Challenge

Prospects, applicants, admits and guardians need access to a number of applications during the admission process before they officially accept an offer and enroll as a student.  Some of these applications are:

• The CommonApp or a system-wide application system
• An admissions application such as Slate, Salesforce/EnrollmentRx
• Financial aid applications, such as CampusLogic, AcademicWorks/Blackbaud Grant Tracker and/or Parchment
• Housing applications, such as StarRez
• Orientation programs, such as VisualZen
• And more!

The admissions processes at many universities require the creation of new user accounts in multiple systems which necessitates extensive service desk support.  Complicated SSO environments that allow both the institution and applicant identity providers are another solution, but they are hard to troubleshoot, costly to administer and add institutional risk.

Cirrus Solutions:

Option #1:  Improve Admissions Single Sign-On

Enable Slate or Salesforce as a SAML Identity Provider for Access to CampusLogic, AcademicWorks/Blackbaud, Campus Solutions, Banner, Workday, StarRez, VisualZen & Others

User Experience

Admissions systems typically have two primary audiences: 1)  “external” users, like prospects, applicants and guardians who create an account (username and password) within Slate or Salesforce, and 2) Users with institutional accounts, like students, faculty and staff. External and internal users can access all the required financial aid, housing, event or billing applications with one login/discovery screen. 

Impacts

Admissions Single Sign-On Architecture

• Slate provides the ability to use accounts as a CAS Identity Provider
• The Cirrus Bridge  translates CAS assertions to SAML and converts Slate into a SAML Identity Provider. This allows Slate Login to be selected in a discovery login screen.
• Salesforce provides the ability to use the accounts as a SAML Identity Provider
• The Cirrus Identity Provider Proxy allows services that can only support one Identity Provider (IdP), like many financial aid solutions, to connect to multiple IdPs when needed
• The Cirrus Discovery presents multiple Identity Providers on one login screen

Option #2 - Enable Social Login for Admissions

Allow Prospects, Applicants, Parents/Guardians to use their Google, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Facebook or Amazon accounts to access Admissions systems:  

User Experience

Prospects, applicants, parents/sponsors can use a social login account to access all the required financial aid, housing, event or billing applications with one login/discovery screen. This screen can also include the campus single sign-on service, providing seamless transition once applicants accept admissions and enroll.

Impacts

Admissions Social Login Architecture

• The Cirrus Identity Gateway allows prospects, applicants and parents/sponsors to use a social login account they already have and know to access the required Admissions systems.
• The Cirrus Identity Account Linking service creates a link between the social login and the organization’s other identifiers and attributes.  This allows applicants to log in using a social identity, then transition to an institution ID once they enroll, and then transition back to social logins as alumni - seamless access through the entire lifecycle!
• The Cirrus Identity Provider Proxy allows services that can only support one Identity Provider (IdP) to connect to multiple IdPs when needed.
• The Cirrus Discovery presents multiple Identity Providers on one login screen.

Option #3 - Enable Hosted OrgBrandedID for Admissions

Allow Prospects, Applicants, Parents/Guardians to use an account hosted by Cirrus and branded to your organization to access Admissions systems:  

User Experience

Prospects, applicants, parents/sponsors can use a Cirrus hosted external identity that is branded to your organization to access all the required financial aid, housing, event or billing applications with one login/discovery screen. This solution can be used with social login as an alternative for users who prefer an institution-branded account.

Impacts

Admissions Organization BrandedID Architecture

• The Cirrus Identity OrgBrandedID (External Identity Provider) allows prospects, applicants and parents/sponsors to create login accounts they can use for accessing Admissions systems. These accounts are hosted by Cirrus Identity and maintained outside the primary campus identity management system.
• The Cirrus Identity Account Linking creates a link between the OrgBrandedID and the organization’s other identifiers and attributes.  This supports  a seamless login experience for applicants using an OrgBrandedID who become students and transition to using an institution ID, and then transition back to an OrgBrandedID or social login as alumni - the entire lifecycle!
• The Cirrus Identity Provider Proxy allows services that can only support one Identity Provider (IdP) to connect to multiple IdPs when needed.
• The Cirrus Discovery presents multiple Identity Providers on one login screen.

Software Integrations

The Common Application, Slate, Salesforce, Ellucian Banner, PeopleSoft Campus Solutions, Workday Student, Blackbaud Grant Tracking, CampusLogic, Parchment, VisualZen, StarRez

Cirrus Customers with Admissions Solutions

Cirrus has helped over eight campuses streamline their admissions access challenges.  We would be happy to share how we helped!