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ApplyTexas help desk reports high ticket volume since cutover; THECB adds system-status page and communications plan
Summary
THECB help-desk manager said the team has handled more than 48,440 tickets since the July 7, 2024 cutover and has completed 46,144; staff introduced a public system-status page and reiterated lunch-and-learn webinars to improve communication.
Ann Marie Scarborough, the Education Technology Program Manager at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, told the advisory committee that the ApplyTexas Help Desk has received a large volume of support requests since the redesigned system launched and that staff have begun process changes to meet a 5-business-day triage goal.
Scarborough said the help desk has received more than 48,440 tickets since the ApplyTexas cutover on July 7, 2024, and has completed more than 46,144 of those tickets. She acknowledged the help desk has not always met its five-business-day triage goal and described several targeted process improvements intended to improve response consistency and transparency. She encouraged institutions to continue using the help-desk workflow and to follow up on outstanding cases by replying to the specific ticket so agents can resume work on a case.
Scarborough also demonstrated a new ApplyTexas “system status” section on the redesigned ApplyTexas website that will post outage notices and short-term updates, and she said the team will continue to host post-maintenance “lunch-and-learn” webinars open to all stakeholders; recordings and update notes will be emailed after each maintenance window. She asked institutions to submit enhancement requests using the ApplyTexas change-request form, which the product team manages; Scarborough said help-desk staff cannot accept or track change requests directly through the ticketing queue.
Committee members asked for clarification about where the change-request form would live; Claudette Jenks, director of strategic initiatives and partnerships, said the team plans to add the change-request form to the admin portal in a future sprint and will email the form to stakeholders until that work is live. Scarborough asked institutions with ticket-specific questions to respond to the ticket rather than raise the issue in general meeting chat so agents can follow up.
Scarborough said some tickets remain “in progress” because the issue requires technical investigation or is scheduled for an upcoming maintenance update; she listed examples such as EDI file issues, quick-and-easy application logic and Texas residency logic as items that may require extended technical review.
