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How a Regional College Revolutionized Student Data Management

A Single Source of Truth

Huntingdon College needed a user-friendly student information system that connected all departments. Campus Cafe Software helped create a seamless flow of data between registration, admissions and other key departments.

Located in Montgomery, Ala., Huntingdon College is a four-year college that offers liberal arts and pre-professional courses.

To better serve its campus and growing student body, Huntingdon’s leaders began the search for a more dynamic student information system to replace its legacy system. It needed to support operations campus-wide and be easy to use for all stakeholders, from the IT pros to someone with no experience navigating student management software.

Huntingdon College: A Snapshot
Huntingdon College is a four-year college that offers liberal arts and pre-professional courses.

“When you go with a company aligned with your values and size, they pay the right amount of attention to you.” 

Anneliese Spaeth
Vice President of Technology

The Challenge

Find a customizable, yet cost-effective student information system that serves all departments.

When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted in-person operations, school administrators began to feel the limitations of the legacy system – it was clunky to navigate; ill-equipped to store, manage and analyze data; and difficult to find and extract information.

Legacy System Challenges

Poor Remote Access
Challenging for students and employees to log in and use the system when offsite.

Limited Integrations
Faculty and administrators couldn’t connect with preferred third-party software and apps.

No Technical Support
The legacy system vendor would not log into the system or databases for support and troubleshooting.

Substandard Features
No ability to upload student schedules to coordinate and validate student registration.

No Integrated CRM
Lacked the functionality to send and manage communications to prospects or current students.

Costly to Maintain
Onsite hosting and servers required frequent maintenance and upgrades, which drained budgets and IT resources.

The Solution

An integrated student information system built for a small college with a customer-service focus.

College leadership wanted a technology partner specializing in small and mid-sized colleges with a track record in higher education. They also needed a flexible system to scale with Huntingdon’s current and future needs.

Now every department at Huntingdon College is connected on one integrated platform. Since the migration, system administrators receive fewer tickets because Campus Cafe’s portal and navigation are much more user-friendly.

Fine-Tuned Admissions Workflows
Because admissions data flows into all other departments, including billing, financial aid and registration, this was a critical feature in the search for a better system.

  • Huntingdon’s system administrators built custom workflows and activities so information can be properly entered, stored, sorted and analyzed.
  • Huntingdon’s faculty and departmental staff can use the expansive search and sorting functionalities to quickly find information on students, courses and programs.

Simplified Registration
Scheduling workflows ensure students register for the right classes to satisfy the requirements of their major.

  • Registrars can upload student schedules and sort data within the system.
  • Allows registrars to guarantee students they’ll have a spot in needed classes.

Reduced Burden on IT
When Hungtindon users submit tickets, the Campus Cafe support team responds quickly to remedy the situation.

  • Huntingdon’s IT staff works directly with Campus Cafe’s technical support team to troubleshoot problems and get answers to questions.
  • Users frequently work with the same customer support representatives who are familiar with Huntingdon’s system and its specific needs.

Streamlined Back-Office Operations
Reliable data from the registration system helps the billing department manage student accounts.

  • Staff can send alerts or communications from within the system.
  • Students or their parents can pay their bills directly from the self-service portal.

The Results

A smooth implementation, high user adoption and less problems.

With Campus Cafe Software, Huntingdon users now pull information from a single source of truth. Everyone saves time with better data visibility, functionality, and they’re able to collaborate more efficiently with colleagues, students and faculty.

Staff across departments, including admissions, registration, financial aid and billing, have adopted the system, as well as faculty and students. The system is also integrated with Huntingdon’s Google services, so students can use one password across platforms.

Integrated Software
The College’s data and information flows seamlessly between departments — like admissions, billing, registration and financial aid — without pulling from disparate systems.

Easily Scalable
When the College needs new features or customizations, the Campus Cafe Software programming team is ready to help.

More Affordable
Because the system is cloud-based, the IT team doesn’t have to maintain servers, check security protocols, or upgrade software and hardware.

Responsive Technology Partner
Campus Cafe provides quick turnaround for help tickets, including one-on-one troubleshooting and IT support.

In-Depth Training
Campus Cafe and Huntington tailored lessons for specific user groups, such as admissions, registration and IT.

High User Adoption
Users aren’t overwhelmed or confused by complex features or having to pull data from disparate systems.

“The interface and what people see who are not technical is really important. Campus Cafe’s user interface is very clean and easy to use.”

Anneliese Spaeth
Vice President of Technology