Ottawa University

From Fragmentation to Record Enrollment: Ottawa University's Salesforce Success Story

institutional profile

Ottawa University (OU) has grown from a single building in 1865 into a comprehensive educational institution that serves more than 4,000 students through its two residential campuses in Kansas and Arizona as well as adult and graduate studies campuses in Kansas, Wisconsin, Phoenix, and online.

CHALLENGE

Ottawa University (OU) faced significant challenges in managing its financial clearance process for incoming students:

  • Data fragmentation across three separate systems, leading to inefficiencies and potential errors
  • Heavy reliance on manual Excel spreadsheets for status tracking, consuming valuable staff time and increasing the risk of data inaccuracies
  • Lack of integration between the existing TargetX system, Document Management System, and Student Information System (SIS)
  • Slow turnaround times for financial clearance, potentially impacting student enrollment decisions
  • Limited visibility into the overall enrollment pipeline due to disconnected data sources
  • Difficulty in scaling processes to accommodate growth and changing student needs

These issues not only hampered operational efficiency but also posed a risk to OU’s ability to meet enrollment targets and provide a smooth onboarding experience for incoming students.

SOLUTIONS/RESULTS

The implementation of Salesforce and the associated process improvements delivered significant benefits to Ottawa University:

  • Achieved record-breaking enrollment, directly attributed to increased efficiency in financial clearance processes
  • Dramatically reduced turnaround times for financial clearance, enhancing the student onboarding experience
  • Eliminated data silos, providing a 360-degree view of each student’s status throughout the enrollment process
  • Improved data accuracy and reliability, enabling more informed decision-making
  • Freed up staff time previously spent on manual data entry, allowing for more focus on student engagement
  • Enhanced reporting capabilities, providing leadership with real-time insights into enrollment trends and bottlenecks
  • Established a scalable technological foundation to support future growth and innovation in student services

By addressing the core challenges in its financial clearance process, Ottawa University not only streamlined its operations but also positioned itself for sustained enrollment success and improved student satisfaction.

TOOLS USED

In providing the Solution, the following Tools were used:

  • Adobe Sign
  • Feith (document management)
  • Fonteva
  • Jenzabar (SIS)
  • Mass Update Tasks (SIS)
  • Mitel
  • Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement
  • Salesforce CRM
  • SMS Magic

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