We have a number of Washington colleges using Customer Relationship Management Tools. They are:
Bellevue College - iModules
Cascadia College - Microsoft Dynamics
Columbia Basin College - AZORUS
Everett Community College - AZORUS
Lower Columia College - AZORUS
Peninsula College - AZORUS
Tacoma Community College - AZORUS
Each college is working hard to use their vendor-based product for increased productivity and increased student relationship information management, as-well-as increased retention and completion rates. But a number of college have found that adding a CRM also causes student services business practices and staffing to be rethought. This can be a massive amount of change all at once, that can seem overwhelming.
Sister colleges are collaborating by sharing experiences of both the installation and ongoing business model reconfigurations that the new software seems to beckon.
For many, it is an entire shift in thinking and some have wondered if the old pen and paper methods aren't easier and less costly...especially for small colleges.
But what happens when a system-wide license might be purchased? And at no additional cost to the colleges except for a one-time installation set-up fee. And how will this come into play with WA State facing a 5.2 deficit in state funding in a state that requires a balanced budget? And how does this push-and-pull work with a high need to serve students better (read more personally) and more efficiently, both in terms of costs and staff time? If it does force us to reconfigure, might that reconfiguration be around all new student-centered business practices that a system-wide CRM would require?
I found 2 articles (below) by Linda Briggs that speak to "Implementing a customer relationship management (CRM) solution can require "difficult or even painful behavioral challenges" for administrators in higher education, according to Nicole Engelbert, a lead analyst with research and analysis firm Datamonitor. "It means re-orienting yourself to your students. That can be tough, so you need to be ready for that.""
I hope that they are helpful to you as you investigate CRM.
10/2/2008, http://www.campustechnology.com/article.aspx?aid=68117
11/20/2008, http://www.campustechnology.com/article.aspx?aid=69332
Friday, November 21, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comments:
Just to add, the State of Washington has an optional use contract with Azorus thereby allowing interested community colleges to acquire the Azorus CRM.
CRM is a journey; not the destination. Schools that embark on this journey must understand that the CRM they install will be quite different a year from now. As their sophistication with the benefits and process changes grows, so too will their use of the platform.
Post a Comment