Making the Case for Student Lifecycle Management |
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Thursday, 26 July 2007 19:00 |
In today's increasingly competitive higher education environment, we
face rising demands to attract and keep the best students, improve the
quality of education, and keep costs down. These are lofty goals, but
they are attainable if institutions learn to examine their business
processes and leverage technology to manage the entire student
lifecycle -- helping improve service to students, from recruitment
through graduation and beyond. If higher education institutions do not
embrace this concept and start nurturing these valuable relationships,
they risk disconnection from students and the loss of competitive edge.
California State University: Examining the Student Lifecycle to Accelerate Time to Graduation
A few years ago, the California State University (CSU) began to address
the issue of time to graduation. The system's four-year graduation rate
was only 24.5 percent, and 76 percent of our students were taking six
or more years to graduate. While some of the CSU's students
intentionally took more than six years to graduate, we wanted to
provide students the opportunity to graduate in a reasonable timeframe.
Some of the factors hindering timely graduation were the lack of
availability of the right courses at the right times, limited
understanding of graduation requirements, or lack of an academic plan.
We sought ways to improve students' paths to a degree.
The
university began an initiative to better manage student relationships
from "cradle to grave." Our Campus Actions for Facilitating Graduation
initiative sought to improve time to graduation through a variety of
efforts including providing students with clear, efficient, and
well-supported pathways to graduation; increasing efficiency in
academic programs; providing tools to help students identify and track
their paths to graduation; enhancing advising tools; and establishing
common monitoring and feedback processes.
Technology Is an Important Tool in Student Lifecycle Management
Early
on, we realized that technology would add to our success. It is
possible to manage the entire student lifecycle without technology, but
it is much less efficient. Student lifecycle management (SLM) software
significantly reduces time spent on gathering information because it
consolidates and automates information systems so that faculty, staff,
and advisors can obtain student information right away -- where
previously they needed to consult multiple information sources,
including paper files in many cases. This frees up time, allowing staff
to focus on education-related responsibilities.
The CSU is in the process of implementing Oracle's PeopleSoft
Enterprise Campus Solutions across our 23 campuses as one tool to
assist in facilitating graduation. As a part of the CSU's Common
Management System (CMS), the software provides functions that give
insight into student information necessary for the program's success.
Our staff can obtain student records on demand -- for example, when an
advisor meets with a student, she/he can log in to one secure source
and instantly pull up the student's transcripts, current schedule,
financial records, etc.
And through self-service functions, students can access similar
information through a secure online portal -- for example, to register,
add or drop classes, make payments, or check grades. These self-service
functions help students engage in their own lifecycle management and
take ownership of their graduation path. So far, we have completed full
Campus Solutions implementations at 10 campuses and we expect to
complete three more this coming fall.
As
we have implemented our initiative to facilitate graduation--which
includes many efforts in addition to our use of technology--we have
found that students are progressing through the university system more
quickly. This will benefit students and parents directly through cost
reductions due to faster graduation times, and we anticipate that more
students will be able to take advantage of educational opportunities in
California.
By helping students take control of their student
lifecycles, we can provide higher quality service that enables a
smooth, accommodating process from recruitment, to enrollment, to
graduation. These students turn into satisfied graduates and alumni who
support the university and come back for graduate degrees. Ultimately,
this overall effort helps the CSU maintain a competitive advantage by
demonstrating that we can offer a clear path to graduation and provide
the best possible education at an optimal cost.
Recommendations for Making the Move to SLM
The
benefits the CSU has achieved through SLM technology are well worth the
time and financial investment. Institutions considering SLM initiatives
should carefully evaluate technology solutions available today.
Identify your "must have" functionality--self-service tools were one
important item for us--and make sure it is included. And make sure the
technology is flexible and scalable to accommodate future needs.
Based
on our success, we would recommend that all institutions consider
implementing SLM initiatives backed by technology to improve service to
students. The key is to start now. Institutions who do not address the
need to better manage the student lifecycle will risk losing students
to institutions that do. By carefully evaluating and implementing SLM
technology, institutions can help improve student relationship
management and establish their institution as not only a source for
high-quality education, but also a partner in the student experience.
Mike McLean is the senior director of Information and Applications Services at the California State University.
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