CRM: Recruitment

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is CRM?
2. Why is the Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) important to the university?
3. What are some benefits of using the CRM?
4. Who will use the CRM system?
5. How does the university decide which department or group will receive CRM?
6. What is the difference between a program, project, or phases?

 

1. What is CRM?

   Overall, Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) is the combination of practices, techniques, strategies, and technologies used in a software to help build long-lasting relationships between the university and the community they serve; thereby, leading to increased university enrollment, improved student experience, enhanced overall satisfaction, and greater retention and service.

   In simple terms, Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) captures and evaluates information or conversations between individuals and the university through various channels (such as contact forms, calls, email, print communications, and text messages) and stores it in one centralized location. It offers the ability to analyze the information to better understand prospects and students and customize the university's approach to maximize successful outcomes.

   Please see "What are some benefits of using CRM?" below.

2. Why is the Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) important to the university?

   In simple terms, CRM is important, because it will improve our ability to recruit and retain students; thereby ensuring student success. To reach enrollment goals and improve customer satisfaction, UTA must implement a state-of-the-art Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) system. Most universities own a CRM that triggers critical communications and collects analytics about student touchpoint and recruitment efforts.

   Competition amongst universities for students is high. Therefore, the university must implement comprehensive strategies, efficient processes, and cost-effective technologies that create a competitive advantage over other universities. Currently, UTA utilizes various outdated tools and platforms to generate enrollment-related phone calls, emails, print communications, and text messages. With an effective or integrated system, CRM will substantially help UTA achieve its strategic goals, optimize recruitment efforts, and unify communications strategies while providing an opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness to recruit and retain students.

3. What are some benefits of using the CRM?

   The CRM solution will offer the following benefits:

   • Gains valuable insights from dashboards and analytics that will optimize our business processes, track the efficiency of various marketing efforts, and improve operational performance.
   • Stay informed as CRM records detailed information on overall history, customer profiles, call details, previous interactions with the university, and unique preferences for each individual in one centralized location.
   • Fosters greater transparency throughout the university with CRM as it helps to unify business objectives, integrate key processes, and improve collaboration to ensure long-term success.
   • Increases efficiency and productivity by using automated campaigns and templates to effectively communicate for the first time or send reoccurring messages to each constituent or customer.
   • Makes informed strategic decisions through analytics tools designed to evaluate the student life cycle, identify resource gaps, and highlight key areas of improvement.
   • Streamlines communications by building a repository of information and conversations in a single location that can be accessed by team members and other departments.
   • Saves time and resources by using CRM to automate tasks and assign available personnel to quickly respond and resolve inquiries.
4. Who will use the CRM system?

   Since this project was created to improve the university's ability to recruit and retain students, the recruiters in Enrollment Management will be the first group that will take advantage of using the CRM system.

   Please see the Evaluation and Selection section on the Project Detail page.

5. How does the university decide which department or group will receive CRM ?

   The Executive Committee and CRM Steering Committee, which includes university representatives from various departments, colleges, or groups, is responsible for selecting the next department or group that will use CRM. The primary role is to provide advice, ensure delivery of overall objectives, monitor oversight of progress, and define the committee required to manage changes and future updates to the system.

6. What is the difference between a program, project, and phases?
   • A program is a collection of related projects that are grouped together to achieve an overall business objective or outcome.
   • A project is a series of tasks that need to be completed in order to achieve a specific goal.
     • Tasks are a single unit of work, work item, or activity that meets an individual purpose related to a specific goal.

   • A phase refers to a collection of activities that occurs within a project.

   The implementation of CRM is an example of a program that is designed to achieve the university's strategic goals about recruiting and retaining students. To accomplish that objective or outcome, there are several groups or departments that require a series of tasks to effectively prepare CRM to perform their specific job requirements. Therefore, a project would be formed to make sure their particular goals are achieved. Those goals can be separated into phases or a collection of activities needed to effectively complete the work. Ultimately, those phases help track project progress.

    

   Program
   Project 1		Project 2			Project 3
   Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3	Phase 1	Phase 2