As an administrator in higher education for 16 years, I watched how technology in education transformed the student, staff, and faculty experience. Taking an active role in enhancements, I witnessed paper records turned into systems, which turned into workflows and integrations that enabled well-worn pathways to be automated. Imagine the tens of thousands of faculty grade changes that were generated annually, each on their own sheet of paper. Or the thousands of official transcript requests that students and alumni would send…and the thousands of paper transcripts the university would mail back.
Higher education, perhaps not proudly, is legendary for being slower than other industries to adopt new ways of conducting business. I’m sure people in the legal sphere can relate to the reputation that we avoid change and our well-trod pathways can make deviation challenging.
In my last role, we installed a new ERP. And as if that wasn’t enough, I soon had every office on campus that wants an integration with their system coming to me for information. It quickly turned into a chaotic conversation of who needs what and where. The challenge for universities to keep up with their young constituency’s expectations for on-demand access to information and documents is real. And don’t forget the diversity of your community! When a chatbot was rolled out, it was in three languages to increase accessibility.
The dichotomous clash in education between students and leadership is no secret. The students are expecting the same up-to-the-minute, 24/7 access and information that they are used to from the social media and the internet they’ve had their whole lives. This compared with the older generation’s leadership of research and teaching who have conducted business the same ways for years is extraordinary…and palpable.
If your organization has been slow to explore or adopt new technology, I understand that culture and how hard it is to be patient when you may see the potential of what could be gained. Clearly articulating the benefits of a system to your key stakeholders will be crucial in starting the dialogue and bringing them enough comfort to consider significant change. I can tell you this pursuit is worthwhile and rewarding on the other side, notwithstanding the “growing changes” along the way.
Do you remember the thrill of the first time you rode a bike without help? It’s intoxicating. The experience is high and above watching someone else ride. In education, seeing, hearing, and tasting how new technology can make such a positive impact makes schools and educators yearn for a chance to reap such a prize.
You, too, could transform your paper-centric contract management process to be automated, centralized, and living in an easy-to-understand place like Malbek. Request a demo today to see what a modern CLM system can do for you. It might empower you to go to the head of the class with a paper-free, organized, data-fueled contract management experience.
Trust me, you don’t want to be the last one recording grade changes on paper and mailing paper transcripts to your alumni!
