AACRAO Technology 2016: ERPs, CRMs, ECM and Extending the transcript
What will come next for Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERPs)? The answer may change the technological landscape of higher education.
“There are really two groups considering this question. Some campuses didn’t join the ERP surge around the turn of the century--they’re using old mainframes with a web front end, but now they’re recognizing that the old architecture has no freedom in terms of data mining and flexibility,” said Mark McConahay, Director of the AACRAO Tech/Transfer Conference and Associate Vice Provost and Registrar at Indiana University.
“For others of us, our whole ERP is twelve years old,” McConahay added. “We’re looking at the new platforms and making decisions about whether to spend money to maintain and support the old system. What will allow us freedom and nimbleness in the future? These are really questions about how we run our institutions.”
Following up on the positive feedback for the Extended Transcript track at last year’s Tech/Transfer Conference, AACRAO is developing a track for this year’s conference on the Future of the ERP. As new approaches emerge—such as cloud services, advanced CRM applications, data warehouses and predictive analytics—institutions are faced with an increasingly complex set of choices for delivering services to their students.
“This is changing the game in terms of how we think of systems of record. Now the question is: Is it more than a system of record?” McConahay said. “For example, if I’m on a cloud service and sharing my repository with 50 other institutions all teaching physics, imagine the data mining that can occur, given the amount of information that’s there and—to some extent—standardized.”
As part of the track, three of the leading ERP vendors will be joining the conference for a plenary session.
“The track will help frame the current ERP landscape and identify the key issues and considerations for enrollment professionals as they evaluate the best approaches for their institutions,” said AACRAO Executive Director Mike Reilly. “And like the Extended Transcript track, participants in the Future of the ERP will contribute to the guidance shared with AACRAO members after the conference.”
Other hot topics to be addressed at multiple sessions include: right-sizing for devices/being mobile-ready, electronic content management (ECM), customer relationship management (CRM), and further exploration of the comprehensive student record track that was so successful at last year’s conference.
AACRAO Transfer 2016: Transfer Student Bill of Rights, Reverse Transfer and articulation databases
Fifteen years ago, AACRAO collaborated with ACE and CHEA to develop the Joint Statement on the Transfer and Award of Credit. A lot has changed in 15 years.
At the 2016 Conference, attendees will have the opportunity to review the Joint Statement and help create a plan to update the statement over the next year—including the possibility of developing a “Transfer Student Bill of Rights.” There will be sessions and a roundtable devoted to the discussion.
“We’ve talked about building a framework articulating the rights of transfer students,” said Seth Kamen, Transfer Track Coordinator for the conference and Articulation, Transfer and Academic Services Manager at Montgomery College. “How can we make a step by step seamless transfer from institution to institution? This is the beginning of that conversation. The hope is to flesh it out over the next year, have a draft for further discussion at the Annual Meeting and possibly present a final product at next year’s Tech/Transfer Conference.”
The conference will also have substantial coverage of how to manage and facilitate transfer credit evaluation.
“If you’re looking to streamline or build a process for evaluating transfer credit or build a database, there will be a number of sessions on how to do that—even in a low-tech environment,” Kamen said. “The focus will really be hands-on—the skills and resources you need to do the job.”
Reverse credit will also be covered in a substantial number of sessions, as it is both a Transfer and Technology issue, as will the development of articulation, credit and data systems.
Registration is open for the 2016 Technology & Transfer Conference--July 10-12, 2016, in Anaheim, CA. Register by June 10 to secure reduced registration fees.
Budget concerns? Our template justification letter may help you secure funding for conference attendance.