Efficient student administration is vital to the success of higher education institutions, especially where student experience is concerned. Managing student administration is often a complex process spanning various departments and operations, which adds to the complexity of student management. Higher education institutions are turning to student management solutions like ITS Integrator to help simplify these processes and maximise efficiency. Let’s look at how this innovative software is changing the education industry as we know it.
The Complex World of Student Administration
Managing student-related processes and student administration across multiple departments in higher education institutions can be complex due to various factors. These complexities arise from the decentralised nature of many universities and the diverse needs of students. Here are some of the key challenges and complexities involved:
- Diverse Processes – Higher education institutions typically comprise various departments with unique processes and requirements. These departments include admissions, registrar’s office, financial aid, academic advising, student affairs, and more. Coordinating these diverse processes can be challenging.
- Data Integration – Student data is generated and stored in various systems across departments. Ensuring that this data is integrated and accessible when needed can be complex. Data silos can lead to inefficiencies and data discrepancies.
- Communication and Coordination – Effective department communication and coordination are essential for seamless student management. Departments may have different communication channels and systems, making it difficult to share information and collaborate.
- Technology Integration – Many institutions use different software and technology systems for managing student-related processes. Integrating these systems to work together cohesively can be a technical challenge.
- Resource Allocation – Allocating resources, such as staff, funding, and facilities, across various departments can be challenging, especially when departments have different needs and priorities.
- Academic Advising and Progress Tracking – Advising students and tracking their academic progress across departments is essential for student success. Coordinating this effort can be complex, particularly when students change majors or programs.
- Reporting and Analytics – Generating comprehensive reports and analytics to track student progress and institutional performance can be complex when data is dispersed across various systems.
To address these complexities, institutions may invest in integrated student management systems, like ITS Integrator, and adopt standardised processes and communication protocols. It’s essential to prioritise student success and provide a seamless experience while navigating the challenges of managing student administration across multiple departments. This is especially important for providing students with a great user experience, which is vital to the success of a higher education institution. Let’s look at how software like ITS Integrator makes this possible.
ITS Integrator: A Solution for Simplification
ITS Integrator is a cost-effective ERP system that can be implemented across various departments to streamline all operational processes. This modular software solution is innovative because it can integrate into multiple systems. As an educational institution, you can choose which modules to implement and the specific modules that speak to your institution’s unique needs.
The student management module of this solution is a software application used by educational institutions to manage and organise student-related data and administrative tasks. These systems typically include features for managing student records, enrolment, attendance, grades, scheduling, and more. It simplifies the administrative processes related to student management by allowing institutions to:
- Seamlessly manage the student registration process.
- Keep track of all student data and attendance.
- Provide students with easy access to their information.
- Make it easy for your academic staff to manage marks.
- Track student finances (payments, bursaries, loans etc.).
- Simplify and automate complex processes.
- Save costs due to less time spent on manual tasks.
- Enhance the organisation of data.
- Ensure compliance with statutory requirements, including audit trail.
The ITS Integrator Student Management system allows institutions to manage applications, registrations, the number of students allowed for qualification and reserving places for repeating students. It even provides a Student Education Plan that a student might need or want to aid during student counselling interventions.
User-Centric Approach
This software solution has been developed with a user-centric approach in mind. This means that it aims to enhance the user experience for all stakeholders. This is made possible by the following features:
- Ease of implementation – this software is easy to implement so that your workflow is optimised, and because of its simplicity and the fact that it makes all processes more accessible, you’ll get your staff’s cooperation because it adds value to their lives.
- Enhanced compliance – this system offers effortless legislative compliance since Edu. Dex and EDLES upload functionality is built into the system to accommodate the legal requirements of the location the institution is situated in.
- Student self-service capabilities – this solution has self-service functionality online and via mobile devices, which dramatically improves and cuts down the time-consuming registration process not only for students but employees.
- Lecturer self-service functionality – lecturers can digitally enter their marks, and the automation of the system provides quicker turnaround time and integrity to exams and graduation certificates.
From the above, it is clear that ITS Integrator aims to enhance operations and processes. At the core of this solution is the ability to improve the student experience. You may be asking why this is so important, and the simple answer is that higher education institutions will cease to operate without students. Students are, therefore, an asset to higher education institutions. An institution needs to provide students with what they are looking for. This includes innovation in terms of self-service capabilities and simplifying processes related to course registration, finances and the ability to access timetables and coursework from anywhere and at any time.
ITS Integrator provides all of this and more with its various modules. For example, if a student has a financial query, employees can quickly and easily access the information needed to rectify the problem or provide the student with guidance. Through reporting, management can evaluate course marks and identify concerns or opportunities; for example, if a large percentage of the students are failing a specific course or class, there could be a problem. ITS Integrator focuses on improving the back-end operational elements of an institution and enhancing the student experience.
Case Studies: Six South African Universities Pivot to a CX-Focused Environment
Overview
Adapt IT rolled out the upgraded ITS Integrator 4.1, Adapt IT Education’s comprehensive administrative Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution at six South African tertiary institutions, positioning them to benefit from significantly enhanced student experience and future feature upgrades. This move gives the six institutions ‘bleeding edge’ technology focused on ongoing enhancements and an improved student experience.
The Challenge
ITS Integrator 3, Adapt IT’s trusted ERP solution, focused on administration management. However, our research and focus groups indicated a need to prioritise the student experience.
The Solution
The new version, 4.1, was implemented, as it supports the goal of smart, secure campuses with full-suite student self-service. The ITS Integrator 4.1 student self-help application registered 142,200 students against the 16,552 back office (walk-in students). This means that 89% of the students registered via the INTERNET at the following institutions: University of Johannesburg; Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University; University of Venda; Namibia University of Science and Technology; Tshwane University of Technology and Sol Plaatje University.
The Result
The Oracle-based ITS Integrator solution provides rich functionality to enable back-office and front-front operations and self-service functions across student management, financial management, HR and payroll, management information and facilities management. It supports third-party system integration, mobile apps and statutory reporting. ITS Integrator’s Student iEnabler (self-service) system module allows students direct access to their information through a user-friendly, web-based application that supports academic and residence applications and registration, electronic payment, information/service requests; viewing and printing of selected personal, financial and academic information. ITS Integrator’s Student Administration system handles the core function of record keeping of all student and academic information. It includes modules for prospective student enquiries, applications and admissions, registration, study records and assessments, residence management, lecturing, and examination timetabling. Key enhancements are the student-focused features. Now, students can register, apply, communicate and receive their results via mobile – they only need to be on campus for their actual lectures. This enhanced student experience was significant for our customers.
Conclusion
From the above, it is clear that student management solutions play a vital role in simplifying student administration. This kind of software is no longer nice to have, it is critical to the success of a higher education institution as it enhances the overall student experience and simplifies all processes related to registration, enrolment, student finances, progress and more. ITS Integrator has been built and developed for higher education institutions looking towards enhancing the future of higher education institutions. For more on how ITS Integrator can transform your student management processes, visit https://itsintegrator.com/.
