| | April-May 201719If you have not yet been tapped on the shoulder for your "moment", start thinking about what you might do to add value and establish yourself as a thought leaderclear that we needed to collapse a few legacy units for savings while improving efficiencies and accountability. Instead of two different call centers, manual visit scheduling, a paper based application processing model, and primitive message scheduling, we now have a central engagement center responsible for multiple communication channels-phone, email and text. The center utilizes a cloud based dialer for predictive dialing of leads organized through a variety of auto populated campaigns; our main recruiting office utilizes another cloud based tool to support self-service scheduling of visits which automatically sends out reminders via text messaging and emails and captures feedback from visitors that is directed to our CRM; our lead capture paper forms are scanned and sent to another cloud provider, where they convert the handwriting on the forms and return the data in files that are then added to our Salesforce instance via another automation tool; automated processes attach thousands of "credentials" files to applicant records in Salesforce nightly; scripted processes handle a number of decision calculations that were done manually in the past; and as conditions are satisfied with an applicant's file they get some of their messages delivered on demand through our Salesforce integration with a print on demand external provider. The same set of tools and processes described above can be adopted for other needs such as the personalization of messages to current students based on their status types, identified needs, academic performance and level of engagement in campus activities. As we continue the conversations around where we will focus our student success initiatives, my team and I are already poised to weigh in on what can be done to streamline communications and engage better with our current student body. In fact, to the earlier point about leadership, we will create opportunities to demonstrate possibilities to start the larger conversation.One key element of credibility building is the need for CIO's to ensure that assessment methods are discussed as part of any new initiative rollout and that all of our progress reporting methods support required reporting needs for institutional effectiveness. The tracking of outcomes in this case goes way beyond the normal uptimes of systems, incident ticket counts and counts of output generated. We must articulate clearly how we supported the truly strategic initiatives.I still have the distinct advantage and privilege of wearing two very important hats at my institution with the ability to see deep into the operations of both worlds--that view is priceless when it comes time to prioritize available resources. I am able to move more quickly to drive improvements in how we engage as an institution with our prospects, applicants and influencers. Though we know instinctively that businesses should work diligently to remove barriers to entry for those trying to engage with the business--I also know how it easy it is for many service units (both inside and outside of IT) to forget the need to walk the process as if they were outside of the university community. If you have not yet been tapped on the shoulder for your "moment", start thinking about what you might do to add value and establish yourself as a thought leader:· Nurture relationships across the institution. Work hard to earn a strong reputation as a good collaborator, facilitator and able service provider.· Look outside of higher ed to see what other industries are using to gain competitive advantage. Work with your teams and talk to your campus partners to see how the technology might be used for multiple institutional priorities. Differentiate your institution by identifying the top technology to grow the needs of your institution; · Build relationships with vendors, community leaders, industry associations, etc.; · Be ready to join the conversations on new markets, new teaching methods, student success, customizing and personalizing student experiences, reaching new markets, etc.Our success as "Digital CIOs" is largely hinged on our ability to stay connected with all university leaders to identify opportunities for change and growth--both immediate and long term. Find the big problems and solve them but take care not to focus on big wins only. Small wins can be equally rewarding. Spend time listening to your peers and constituents and you will find many smaller, mundane but equally frustrating problems where there are likely to be an array of low cost solutions that can be implemented in a timely manner. Create opportunities to optimize processes and improve efficiencies while keeping an eye out for solutions that might be needed for your institution and when the time is right, create your own "moment."
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