Case Study | South Louisiana Community College
Streamlined Manual Processes to Improve Efficiency & ROI
Overview
Like many higher education institutions, SoLAcc originally relied on manual scheduling processes. A spreadsheet-based approach made adjustments difficult and time-consuming. Ad-hoc email requests meant spreadsheets became quickly outdated as a result of the real-time, swift adjustments to the schedule. It was also challenging for average users to perform predictive analytics without the application of extensive time and know-how. This often resulted in SoLAcc rolling the past term’s schedule over to a new year with no way to determine what was most effective for students.
About South Louisiana Community College
The institution has campuses in eight parishes and serves more than 15,000 urban and rural students each year. SoLAcc features an early college academy serving high school students, adult basic education services, traditional associate degree and technical diploma tracks, and a corporate college for short-term training.
With a mission to transform and enrich the lives of individuals and communities, SoLAcc provides skills and knowledge through a dynamic learning environment where students can realize their potential, compete in today’s global economy, and strive toward solving the complex problems of tomorrow.
Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
The solution
SoLAcc worked with Ad Astra to organize and automate its institution’s scheduling processes in a way that builds in high levels of customization.
Ad Astra’s solution helped SoLAcc engineer a better process - one that removed the mechanical work of scheduling. What used to take the efforts of three full-time employees has now been transformed into a manageable, user-friendly solution. Easy-to-produce reports featuring real-time analytics now replace aging spreadsheets.
The use of Ad Astra's academic and room scheduling solution also allowed more staff members the ability to assume a shared responsibility for scheduling, management, and retention. In order to circulate the updated process, Courtney Schoolmaster, SoLAcc’s Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, adopted a scaffolded training approach beginning with department chairs. This included exercises on how to make and share a filter and how to report out findings. The software’s user-friendly design has enabled the group to build upon their skills to then tackle enrollment ratios and DFW rates.
Of all the software implementations I’ve managed, Ad Astra’s has by far been the best. They never push back on the 'crazy' ideas I have for customization, and the dedicated, ongoing partnership with SLCC makes it feel like we’re in this together.
Courtney Schoolmaster
The Results
Reduction in cancelled classes
Number of cancelled classes fell from 15 to 2
Decrease in staff scheduling workload
Significant reduction in hours spent on scheduling
Enhanced ability to track success metrics
Team can drill down into DFW rates and enrollment ratios