Higher education institutions, like any other public-facing organization, run on interactions between departments, individuals and the public. These interactions are usually complex in nature and include a variety of objectives such as student enrollment, budget management, and daily operational tasks. If you are completing these processes manually, then you already know that they consist of a lot of busywork and are far too time-consuming. These tasks become repetitive and prone to human error. That’s where automation can help higher ed institutions. In the past, in order to do something as simple as a grade change, the student had to fill out a paper form and get various signatures across campus. Then, they had to submit it to the Registrar’s office where an admin manually entered the grade change. What happens if that admin lost that piece of paper? Or if the admin enters the wrong grade on accident? That student would have to do the entire process all over again. Now in an automated grade change process, the student would only have to meet with the instructor and initiate a grade change through the university’s web portal. Once this request is made, it is sent to the proper faculty members. If the faculty members approve of the grade change, then the grade is automatically changed in the system. No lost paperwork, no hunting down staff, no more chaos. Automation, along with the proper business process management software, helps eliminate human error and takes over repetitive tasks that normally bog down workers. In order to see what tasks you can automate, start by conducting a review of your current workflows. Next, monitor your current processes for inefficiencies and create a roadmap for automation. Some types of higher ed processes that are commonly automated:
- Registration/Registrar
- Research
- Staff development
- Community relations
- Alumni relations
- Careers
- Counseling
- Finances
- Safety
Automating internal higher ed processes
By implementing workflow automation, universities are able to improve the student experience. Below is an example of a workflow that can be used to speed up a very common administrative process at universities: a change of major request:
