I'd very much appreciate feedback on the "Appointee Kit". This is a brand-new system for us and we're looking for opinions and advice form those that have gone through the process.
First, some background. The reason we implemented the Appointee Kit was two fold. First, it's time to fully implement the technology and move away from "snail mail" as much as possible. The second reason is financial -- USAFA (like the other academies and the military in general) is under increasing pressure to cut costs and we are operating with significantly fewer personnel (across the board) than in the past. Going 99% online eliminates a lot of printing and postage costs, and our hope is for a much higher completion rate than in the past (we were lucky to get 70-80% on many of the items). That led to considerable delays during in-processing as the forms had to be completed and data collected on I-day and really slowed the queue. This year we don't have the personnel to man the in-processing stations at the previous levels and the delays would be even worse.
We know the primary criticism will be timing as the Appointee Kit had to be released in stages. It was literally under development as it was being released (again due to lack of funding and manpower). Fortunately that won't repeat going forward as it is now done and working. There will undoubtedly be some tweaks next year but we anticipate the entire kit being available on March 1st.
That being said, we would really appreciate any constructive inputs on how we can make the process work better for all involved (USAFA and the appointees). Please leave your comments in this thread or PM me if you'd rather the comments not be public.
Insider
First, some background. The reason we implemented the Appointee Kit was two fold. First, it's time to fully implement the technology and move away from "snail mail" as much as possible. The second reason is financial -- USAFA (like the other academies and the military in general) is under increasing pressure to cut costs and we are operating with significantly fewer personnel (across the board) than in the past. Going 99% online eliminates a lot of printing and postage costs, and our hope is for a much higher completion rate than in the past (we were lucky to get 70-80% on many of the items). That led to considerable delays during in-processing as the forms had to be completed and data collected on I-day and really slowed the queue. This year we don't have the personnel to man the in-processing stations at the previous levels and the delays would be even worse.
We know the primary criticism will be timing as the Appointee Kit had to be released in stages. It was literally under development as it was being released (again due to lack of funding and manpower). Fortunately that won't repeat going forward as it is now done and working. There will undoubtedly be some tweaks next year but we anticipate the entire kit being available on March 1st.
That being said, we would really appreciate any constructive inputs on how we can make the process work better for all involved (USAFA and the appointees). Please leave your comments in this thread or PM me if you'd rather the comments not be public.
Insider