University Business - July/August 2011 - (Page 79)

Office Of Business and finance State University of New York at Cobleskill Break With Tradition here was jusT one problem wiTh State numerous administrative and marketing features. nontraditional students now can sign up as easily as their more University of New York at Cobleskill’s otherwise successful traditional counterparts. online registration and payment can be plan to boost revenue by focusing on noncredit-bearing prodone 24/7; no longer are students limited to printing out and mailfessional education programs and community-based programming. That was finding a better way to get students signed up for ing a form or calling during business hours to provide a credit card number. in the first three months of operation, more classes, yet one that was cost-neutral so as not to wipe than 100 students registered and paid, freeing staff out the revenue gains. New registration for other tasks. Crunched by state budget cuts, sunY Cobleskill software gave “since we implemented the program in january, had effectively counterpunched by leveraging its nonat least half of all our registrations have occurred after traditional academic offerings. but with the increased nontraditional hours,” says louise biron, Cobleskill’s controller. popularity of those programs came much more work, students much “we know we’re definitely filling a need in the comincluding more processing of registrations and hanmunity for improved access to our registration.” dling of cash, and developing new marketing materials greater access to The new system’s marketing features have also and distribution avenues. course offerings proved unexpectedly helpful. enhanced email opwhile traditional students were able to register and pay for classes online, noncredit course takers had no and administrators tions have reduced printing and mailing costs, and an online catalog, easily customizable and such access. Tasking the college’s iT department with a lot more tools for updated, gives prospective students real-time, eascreating and managing a new system simply was not their kit. ily accessed information about offerings. biron possible given fiscal constraints. predicts the online version will replace the print Fortunately, an external solution, discovered after hours of online research, proved extremely beneficial, customer- catalog entirely in time. Things have gone so well, in fact, that biron and her colleagues friendly, and cost-effective. administrative software applications (asap), inc.’s program are exploring other areas where asap could be used. They’re having is an integrated, web-based registration and management software discussions about analyzing registration patterns to target marketsystem that provides a secure payment cards industry-compliant ing offers. Typically, biron observes, traditional-aged students push their site for online registration and credit card processing, as well as institutions to advance technologically, but it can be difficult for such innovation to cross over into the nontraditional student world. “sometimes those two disciplines never really combine or interact,” she says. “but we have a president and administration that see a lot of collaboration with what you can do with professional and community education and what you can do on the academic side of the house.” From improved customer service to cost savings, from more effective marketing to increased data mining, asap has been not just a handy tool but a true game changer, biron notes. “it’s had a significant impact on the Now that all students can register and pay for classes online, business and finance staff have more time way we do business,” she says. for other crucial tasks. T universitybusiness.com July/August 2011 | 79 http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - July/August 2011

University Business - July/August 2011
Contents
Editor's Note
Ad Index
College Index
Behind the News
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Financial Success
Money Matters
Community Colleges
Funding Capture
Models of Efficiency
Thwarting ID Thieves
Embezzlement Epidemic
What's New
End Note

University Business - July/August 2011