The premise for our proposition is that Microsoft Dynamics CRM works with SharePoint and Outlook so that it forms part of the user’s daily workbench.
Customer Profile
The University of Cape Town (UCT) is South Africa’s oldest university and one of the continent’s leading teaching and research institutions. Over 27000 students are enrolled at the university, with nearly 30% being postgraduate students. International students account for approximately 18% of total student enrolment and come from diverse cultures and backgrounds representing almost 100 countries. UCT employs over 5500 staff members of whom nearly 25% are permanent academics in one of their six faculties.
Business Situation
UCT was broadly looking to consolidate the process pertaining to the management of constituent relations across the departments, namely
- International Academics Programmes Office (IAPO)
- Student Admissions and Recruitment
- Career Services
- Communication and Marketing
- Finance
- ICTS
- Properties and Services
- Procurement and Payment Services
- Human Resources
- Institutional Planning
- Department of Students Affairs
The requirement was to roll out in phases with the consolidated processes in International Academic Programs Office (IAPO) and Student Admissions and Recruitment office to be implemented first.
The main service offered by the International Academic Programs Office (IAPO) is management of international students’ affairs including the pre and post admission processes. On the other hand the main service offered by Student Admissions and Recruitment office is the administration of the admissions process, including fees and clearance. The office is also responsible for the recruitment of students, and also manages relationships with schools and colleges.
Solution
The premise for our proposition is that Microsoft Dynamics CRM works with SharePoint and Outlook so that it forms part of the user’s daily workbench. Standard CRM functionality is inherent for all relationship management perspectives, sales, services and marketing activities and communications and also bulk email facilities, workflow, knowledge cases and Job Queues. Making use of the (Extended CRM) xRM capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, the required processes, functionalities and workflows were configured and developed to suit UCTs specific requirements and in accordance to the higher education industry best practices. Solution implementation started in a phased approach starting with the following functions of the University:
Admissions & Recruitment – includes managing relationship with schools and school contacts, the tracking of visits to schools, the tracking of gifts and stationary, i.e., Undergraduate Prospectus, etc., Integration with the Business Objects Data Warehousing System to enable extraction and emailing of existing statistical reports to external bodies & organizations, and the generation of statistical dashboards.
International Academic Programs Office – includes managing international student applications, the course approval and pre-registration process, managing agreements/MOU’s and different levels of partnerships with external partner organizations, integration with the existing Student Administration system to provision international applicant data, integration with SharePoint for Partners Agreement(s) document management, statistical reporting for different kinds of partners within the system to facilitate strategic decision making by stakeholders during international conferences/meetings.
Benefits
- Automated and Integrated solution having all desired functionality
- Effective and efficient collaboration between the Recruitment and Admissions office, national schools and prospective applicants
- Supporting the vision of the International and Recruitment & Admissions departments
- Effective Management of the Partnership Eco System.
- Low cost of maintenance and support
- Scalability
Technology
Microsoft Dynamics CRM
