Objective
The higher education business is specific with regards to two stakeholder groups: students and academics. To understand the differentiating business processes in this industry, recap how the lifecycle of a student at a university is structured.
A typical student journey is illustrated in the following graphic.
Play the video to learn about the various phases in a student journey that universities must support.
The next differentiating process is the research process. The typical activities in a research value chain are structured as follows:
Play the video to learn more about activities in a research value chain.
The following graphic provides an overview of the typical IT landscape that is used to run the industry-specific business processes at universities.
The Learning Management System (LMS) is the core of the teaching and learning ecosystem and typically organized around the roles involved in teaching and learning. Instructors use the LMS to manage teacher and student online interactions and collaborations. In addition, an LMS usually provides access to learning resources and other content, tools to develop and track assignments and assessments, and some reporting and analytic capabilities.
A Student Information System (SIS) is often integrated with the LMS and is the core system of record for institutions of higher education. Usually, it includes a broad spectrum of back-office administrator and student faculty facing functionality to manage key institutional information such as student prospects, applicants, and matriculation. It might also offer course registration functionality and give access to grades throughout the student lifecycle.
An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System is an integrated suite of business applications. ERP tools share common processes and data models covering broad and deep operational end-to-end processes such as financial and HR-related processes.
Additional solutions commonly used in higher education are, for example, recruitment systems, classroom whiteboards, desktop applications, scholarship management, residence life systems, data analytics, CRM advancements, and alumni tools.
The student lifecycle is a complex process starting from initial searching activities, decision-making, and admission procedures. It includes class enrollment, clarification of living conditions, course progression, graduation, and finally results in the option of post-graduation engagement.
The research process usually starts with the application for a grant and a research project proposal. As funding is limited, this is a very competitive process. Grants are usually restricted. There is a high pressure to publish and promote research results to increase the research reputation.
Higher education and research institutions usually use learning management systems, student information systems, and enterprise resource planning systems to run their core business processes. Further systems are used for special processes such as scholarship, classroom whiteboards, recruiting, and so on.