The Need for New Student Information Systems (SIS) in Higher Education

By: Shaheer Sandhu

What are Student Information Systems (SIS)

Higher Ed Student Information Systems (SIS) store, track, and use student data that then allows faculty to manage university operations. This data includes grades, financial aid, admissions info, etc. that is all being used in a central service that is the SIS. Examples of traditional functions of SIS include registering students for courses, dispersing financial aid, and building student schedules. This article will examine the need for updated SIS, as they will allow universities to quickly complete tasks that traditional SIS have been able to do, whether that be properly tracking a student from the moment they accept their decision to attend the university, or keeping in touch decades down the road as that student becomes an alumni.

The Need and Benefit of Modernized SIS

The National Research Center for College and University admissions finds that nearly 75% of US universities are using 10+ years old SIS that no longer meet the needs of said universities. Most outdated SIS require manual input of data which is both costly to universities as well as very time-consuming as they have to physically enter student data into a desktop on the universities site.

Even once that data is stored, traditional SIS has only allowed universities to be able to track data but not necessarily utilize that data in any meaningful way. As analytics grow more prominent and of more use in the higher education space, universities will need to implement new SIS solutions that allow for cloud computing and storage as well as support for CRM, or Customer Relationship Management. This will allow them to take that data and have it inform actionable engagement strategies with their students.

The Transition to Online Learning Due to COVID-19 Requires Updated SIS

COVID-19 has caused nearly all universities to transition to online learning, making it almost impossible for administrators to have access to onsite desktops where most of these archaic SIS are available. If universities can pivote to SIS that are stored entirely on the cloud this solves the issue of onsite accessibility and allows any user of the service to access the system from the safety of their own home.

Furthermore, this transition to the cloud will allow professor and university administrators alike to easily understand the capabilities of their SIS solution. A common complaint of traditional systems is that only those who are trained onsite know how to properly use them, whereas companies that provide the system on the cloud can easily host webinars and virtual trainings so all staff members can take full advantage of the SIS.

Additionally, CRM or Customer Relationship Management is gaining traction in the higher education and SIS world. Giant cloud software companies like Salesforce, Oracle, and Workday are recognizing this traction and are working to integrate CRM into their SIS solutions. CRM is becoming more relevant because more universities want to be able to track students over their entire lifecycle. Whether that be using their data in an effort to make their marketing and advertising more effective in getting students to apply to the school or solicit donations from alumni through personalized strategies and newsletters. At a time when universities are being financially hit by the pandemic, having a SIS that tracks this data and effectively manages students is crucial in saving universities time and money.