Blogs

To my colleagues in the Higher Education User Group: Happy January!

Each year I hope that for a gentle re-entry into the first workweek of the year.  However, that hope has never been realized.  With HEUG's announcement to broaden member services to a Vendor Inclusive model, this year was no exception.  What exciting news - especially for the Customer Experience Advisory Group. 

On the heels of the announcement, HEUG has extended their deadline for submitting presentation proposals for the Alliance Conference, and they are eagerly seeking presentations that tell the story of Salesforce and Workday at our institutions!  For those who may have been undecided about presenting at Alliance (March 15 - 18), now is a chance to fulfill your New Year's resolution (and maybe a professional development objective) to share your experiences with others, sharpen your oratory skills, or just do something outside of your comfort zone.  In any case, you'll have a chance to share the stage (virtually of course) with an all-star slate of CX presenters including:

• Power Apps Platform and Microsoft Dynamics: Case Study in Co-Creation, by Bridget Mathie - University of New South Wales
  
  The COVID pandemic compounded the nature and volume of requests for Student Financial Assistance. The University of New South Wales provided resources to students in need, but administrators needed a way to manage the increased volume and complexity, while reducing cycle-times. With the help of Microsoft, the institution used the Microsoft Power Apps platform to develop a contemporary set of applications to serve the needs of students and staff.  Importantly, the new applications also integrated with the institution's Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
  
  
• Building a Chatbot from Home in Just Six Weeks, by Janneke de Kam and Mark Van der Molen - University of Amsterdam
  
  The University of Amsterdam will showcase how they created a Chatbot for their users. The presenters will show how multi-disciplinary teams established a project, adhered to project management principles and user testing best practices to create a Chatbot in a very limited amount of time.
  
  
• Student Engagement in the Cloud: Migrating from PeopleSoft CRM to Oracle CX Cloud by James Imgraben - University of South Australia
  
  The Student Engagement Unit (SEU) at the University of South Australia faced the challenge of an end-of-life CRM, (Oracle PeopleSoft CRM for Higher Education). After initial investigation for a suitable replacement, the Oracle Engagement Cloud stood out as a suitable fit. The teams and services within SEU released the project in September 2020.  The presentation will highlight the entire project journey with a specific focus on how SEU are exist within the Oracle CX Suite of Oracle Engagement Cloud, Oracle Policy Automation, Oracle Marketing Cloud and Oracle Service Cloud.
  
  
• Maintaining Communication with Students and Disseminating Important Information, by Delane Swank - Los Rios Community College District
  
  Los Rios Community College District will share their experience of maintaining communication with students during the COVID pandemic.  Converting quickly to a fully online environment presented numerous challenges to staff and students, but Los Rios adapted to provide timely communication updates about enrollment/drop dates and new resources and services, such as Chromebook loans and the opportunities for free/reduced internet.
  
  
• Identifying Students at Risk, by Daniel Chalker - University of Southern Queensland
  
  In mid-2019, the University of Southern Queensland embarked upon a new approach to handling students identified as potentially requiring additional assistance with their studies.  Using a combination of Oracle Intelligent Advisor and Oracle Service Cloud, information is now tracked centrally with a built-in referral network, allowing student issues to be escalated at the appropriate time to experts across the university.
  
  
• Customer Experience:  Why Higher Ed Institutions Should Care, by John Sauceda - Moody Bible Institute
  
  Education can no longer be seen as a commodity.  Today's students require a customized experience to meet their individual needs.  This session will focus on why we should care about meeting expectations at the individual level and how that will shape the future for the institution.
  
  
• Preparing and progressing student success, by Máirtín (Marty) Antaine Mag Uidhir - University of Newcastle
  
  The University of Newcastle uses technology to help students plan and track their preparation and progress, and develop planning skills and resilience.  These efforts have instilled in students a sense of ownership in their success in higher education. Strategy, method, and technology were important factors in the University of Newcastle's promising results and overall success.

If that's not enough Customer Experience knowledge sharing, esteemed CX Advisory Group members John Seuceda and Lorne Henne will host a Birds of a Feather Session.  Lastly, I'll be the conversation starter and silence breaker for the Community Mingle Session (also known as the coffee/cocktail hour) where we'll talk about the peaks and valleys of CRM journeys.