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Today, at the cusp of a transformational decade that started with a crisis and is now finding its feet in a new normal and yet has its aspirational vision for the future clearly defined, digital is the way to go. In fact, it’s the only way forward. And no sector or industry is exempt. Is there any room to doubt the need for Higher Education Institutions to fall in line, or perhaps lead the way? Automation in Higher education has been around in the form of standard ERPs and gentle nudges to go digital for a while now, with experimental MOOCs and E-Learning being tried and tested by the best education brands globally.

It is time now for every Higher Education Institution to get on the bandwagon or go off the radar soon. It’s time to choose right, choose smart and, choose fast. But hold on! Before we reach out for an over-the-counter drug, can we get our prescription out? What exactly do we need, in a student management system?

This calls for a diagnostic. A quick check on the status quo. Where on this grand transformational journey that everyone is undertaking, am’ I’, the higher education institution of today? It’s time to check one’s Digital Maturity. That calls for an objective self-evaluation followed perhaps by validation of an advisory consultant.

Digital Maturity is a key predictor of success for all enterprises, higher education included, whether they are launching a digital transformation or are in the middle of it!

Likely areas of distraction:

• IT infrastructure – Managing legacy IT infrastructure already in place
• Software – Finding a world-class application, ensuring 24X7 uptime while optimizing costs and getting real-time insights.
• Cloud (Hybrid of hardware and Software) – Getting on the cloud, optimizing cloud spending, native cloud applications, and soft infrastructure.
• People – Skilled & experienced workforce for non-core tasks, at optimized costs.
• Processes – Minimizing human intervention via process automation
• Futuristic innovation – Infusion of AI/ML, Data Science, 5G, IoT, Cognitive Computing

Now that we realise that help is required for non-core activities, it’s time to find the right solution. What student management system does a Higher Education Institution need that is not the average Vanilla ERP that is trying to fit all industries, into the proverbial one coat to fit all?

We do know that technology can change the education sector in tremendous ways. That apart, let’s simply look at a higher education institution’s typical NEEDS based on the average situation of most.

• Administrative tasks are voluminous, paperwork driven and scattered
• Student and Faculty information is in inaccessible silos
• Processes are long drawn, often repetitive, very often redundant and irrelevant in the changing scenarios
• Trusted human resources are few and far from efficient in the fast-paced way the world is evolving, resulting in churn and stress.

How can Campus Automation & Intelligent ERP solutions help the EdTech industry?

• Automation, to oversimplify a complex offering, can minimize the manual work in repetitive tasks, help the faculty, teaching staff and administration to focus more on the proper teaching and learning experience for the students. Which, in effect, is the purpose of any higher education institution.
• This will free the time and space for the student of today, the 21st century digital learner, to learn whenever they want, whatever they want, and however, they want to.
• This need for freedom to experience anything at will seems to be the trend of today and, there is, as with many situations, no escaping the momentum of majority.

AI also plays a critical role in machinery maintenance. Maintenance of equipment is one of the biggest expenses in the manufacturing industry. Left unresolved, the issue can cost enormous money to the industries. Predictive maintenance becomes a vital solution that saves tons of money.

How can automation reduce manual processes & increase efficiency in higher education institutions?

• Course Registration and Pre-admission
  • Advertise and promote courses and facilities widely at low cost
  • Register for courses and complete the admission process online
  • Eliminate the need to distribute forms for admissions, collect and register them manually for individual courses
  • Automation ensures speed, accuracy and safe collection, storage and access of all information and data gathered.
• Student Selection
  • Automation enables shortlisting of students based on various criteria like EQ, IQ, etc. besides typical marks-based criteria.
  • Eligibility based on transparent criteria can be made available as a dashboard for students, guardians and administration to have objective discussions on selection processes and results.
• Student Assessment, Evaluation, Grading & Learning path
  • No more faculty-driven manual and lengthy process of filling forms and report cards
  • Automation helps with digital evaluation and generates reports with a single click.
  • Faster feedback to students and faculty, to work on new assignments and plan personalised learning paths, a task that would not be possible manually for the hundreds/thousands of students that go through a higher education institution.
• Maintaining Records of Attendance
  • Check attendance, absence, systematic defaulters and anomalies as they happen to address issues at early stages for intervention.
  • Digital attendance maintains records of every student, updated live and is current every day.
• Administration
  • Manage daily operations
  • Finance & accounts
  • Marketing, branding and promotion for sustainability and growth
  • Paperwork like report cards, certificates, payslips, and more.
• Timetable Management & Schedules
  • Online schedules and calendars bring accessibility, transparency and efficiency to a system that depends on manual paperwork and consumes time and effort of highly valuable teaching resources.
• Regulatory and Compliance
  • Higher education institutions are subject to regulatory norms and stringent compliance with numerous audits and inspections.
  • With Automation, all audits can be managed systematically without any paperwork.
  • Automation in education facilitates the entire system of accounting, auditing, and compliance.

Therefore, to Sum Up…
Campus automation and smart ERP solutions can empower higher education institutions to:

• Free up its focus, time, effort and resources from manual processes
• Focus on improving efficiencies in selection, training and evaluating students to create personalised learning experiences and quality of education
• Grow, year on year in strength and improved quality of student intake & output
• Compete with global institutions for visibility and market space.

Watch this space for more on how Campus Automation & Higher Education ERP solutions can change the way higher education institutions operate and grow. Get in touch for a customized demo for your higher educational institution!