The Primary Contact person is the point person for the school and the person with whom we will communicate. The Primary Contact can be anyone the school designates, regardless of title or position. However, if the school has elected to become a full electronic partner, this person's responsibilities will include the authority to establish and to verify the school's grading profile that will be used to evaluate applicants from your school. The Primary Contact person also reviews the electronic profile annually.

The Primary Contact person is also responsible for submitting names and email addresses of other staff who need access to the Web Counselor system, if any. The Primary Contact should keep in contact with the local campus admissions officer or admissions representative for the school's geographic region to troubleshoot, to train staff, and to provide feedback on the WCS.

Because this is a highly secure system, each counselor or staff member who uses the WCS is required to establish a Friends of Penn State account. After a school becomes an Electronic Partner, the Primary Contact person is authorized to grant access for other staff to create accounts. A temporary access account and a code are sent via email to each newly added staff member giving them access to create an account and to establish a password and a secret question. This information is completely confidential and secure.

After logging into the site, counselors will only see links relative to information based on their level of participation in the Web Counselor System.

• The "Web Applicants" link provides a list of all applicants who have completed a Web application. This interactive list is used to complete the online counselor form.
• The "Paper Applicants" link provides a list of all applicants who have submitted paper applications. This is not an interactive list, but can be used for reference to contact students who might need a traditional counselor page completed.
• The "Applicant Status" link provides a list of all students who have applied to Penn State, regardless of the type (Web or paper) of application. This interactive list provides up-to-date information for each student.
• The "Graduation Verification" link lists current seniors or students who recently attended your school for whom we have not yet received graduation verification. Selecting a student on this interactive list prompts the counselor with a series of questions to verify that the student has graduated from high school or to update the student's record.

After clicking on the Web Applicants link, the counselor sees two lists. Full partners have access to complete the information needed for the student’s evaluation.

On the left are the students who need some type of action by the counselor. By clicking on the student's name, several questions will be displayed for the counselor to answer. Depending on the submitted profile, we will ask for the weighted or unweighted grade point average, the weighted or unweighted class rank, the date the applicant entered your school, and anticipated graduation date. Counselors also have the ability to tell us about any special circumstances affecting the student that are important to the evaluation of his/her application.

Once the student’s credentials have been submitted, a personalized fax cover sheet is printed by the counselor. The cover sheet and transcript are then faxed to a dedicated 800-number fax and there is no need to follow up with a transcript via U.S. Mail.

Again, electronic submission of credentials is only available for those students from full partner high schools who have completed a Web application.

Penn State prefers that students submit Web applications. Over 90% of applicants use the Penn State Web application. We expect that as EP schools see the ease with which counselor information can be submitted electronically and the benefit to the student, counselors will become full partners and actively encourage electronic applications.

Should a student complete the paper application, the counselor information page must be completed using the traditional paper format. The student should provide the counselor with the paper counselor page; a transcript and the counselor information page must be mailed to Undergraduate Admissions. The 800 fax line may not be used for submitting data for paper applicants.

We hope that all counselors and staff responsible for students’ college applications will use this system. We expect that full electronic partners will use this system to submit student data. Before deciding whether to become a full partner, you should determine if this will work for all staff.

Each participating Pennsylvania school has a local Penn State campus representative who will act as the contact person for training and troubleshooting. Out-of-state schools will work with the admissions counselor for that geographic area.

Penn State takes great pride in being able to move into a highly technological realm while creating a personalized experience for our applicants. Our staff is committed to continuing one-to-one contact with both families and counselors whenever possible. Through our outstanding campus visit program, telephone and e-mail access for students and counselors, representation at college fairs across the nation, and high school visits, Penn State staff are able to connect with students and answer questions about what the University has to offer.

This new system is simply a means to collect the data necessary to make an admissions decision. Our efforts are driven by requests from counselors and students alike to make the application process more efficient.