REVA University makes student lifecycle management simple and seamless with Salesforce

Every year, students applying to universities must contend with long queues and lengthy processes to gather application forms, attend entrance exams, and pay the fee. Not to mention the confusion about where to find information, how to check for updates, and so on.

REVA University is looking to change all of that through a digital-first approach. One of Karnataka’s top six private universities, it offers over 71 academic programs – ranging from engineering, architecture, design, law, and science and technology, to management, performing arts and Indic studies. REVA University was also one of the earliest to go digital.

“We began our digital journey in 2016 to enrich learning approaches,” says Umesh Raju, Pro Chancellor, REVA University. “Since students are our primary stakeholders, we want to design educational experiences that are personalised to their unique learning requirements.”

When COVID-19 hit and other educational institutions were scrambling to go digital, REVA was already reaching the next level of digital maturity, and the faculty and all stakeholders were quick to adapt to the online mode of teaching, learning and assessments.

“As we scaled up, we sought to consolidate systems and simplify processes, so that students, parents, and teachers would have a seamless and connected digital experience across the student lifecycle,” explains Pro Chancellor Raju.

Connecting student data on one trusted platform

To deliver frictionless experiences, REVA needed an end-to-end view of the student’s journey. This was hard to achieve because student data was scattered across software applications, spreadsheets, and paper-based documents. Manually moving the data across systems increased the risks of data loss, duplication, and manipulation.

So, REVA set out to automate its processes and consolidate data in a single source of truth; a platform that could be tailored to the complex and dynamic processes of a higher education institution.

“We began looking for an industry-leading student lifecycle management (SLCM) solution,” recalls Bansal, Associate Director, IT. “The platform had to be vendor-agnostic, low-code/ no-code, and easy to adapt. Salesforce ticked all those boxes.”

Today, REVA is the first educational institution in India using Salesforce Education Cloud as a truly end-to-end solution across the student lifecycle.

“With Salesforce, we’ve streamlined and digitised the entire student lifecycle, while empowering students, faculty, and parents with all the information they need to thrive,” says Pro Chancellor Raju.

The entire student journey, from acquisition to graduation, is now captured in a 360-degree view.

“We’ve created intuitive information portals that deliver personalised content to 16,000+ students/ parents and 1,500+ teachers,” says Pro-Chancellor Raju. “Whether it’s a semester timetable, or a student’s academic performance – all data can be accessed at the click of a button.”

Automating student acquisition and onboarding for maximum efficiency

To attract prospective students, REVA runs multiple digital and print campaigns. With marketing automation on Salesforce, REVA will be able to roll out campaigns and generate leads faster and smarter, while also improving visibility into campaign performance.

When a lead fills in an application form, their data is captured on Salesforce, and enriched throughout their journey at REVA – so, they don’t have to repeatedly provide the same information.

A student portal streamlines the end-to-end student acquisition and onboarding process – from entrance exams to verification of educational qualifications, and beyond. New students are automatically emailed information brochures, program guides, class timetables, and more.

“Student onboarding has become seamless,” observes Dr. Niraj Singh, Director, Admissions. “We no longer worry about data being lost or duplicated because it’s all captured on one platform.”

Soon, the student portal will be integrated with SAP to route student financial data to the finance team and vice versa. Additional integrations with India’s Digi Locker will help verify the student’s past degree certificates and marks cards, faster.

“Onboarding 5,000-6,000 students each year used to be time-consuming and resource-intensive,” recalls Dr. Singh. “But with process automation and integration, we expect to save 30-40% on effort across departments, while cutting down admissions time by 50%.”

Helping students succeed with easy access to information.

While studying at REVA, students can also use the portal to find course material, attendance details, exam hall tickets, and more.

“The portal serves as an end-to-end student lifecycle management platform,” explains Bansal. “With self-service tools like chatbots and self-help knowledge bases, students can quickly find answers to common questions across their journey.”

They can also use a mentoring module to book an appointment with a mentor, and soon, a mental health counsellor too. Both students and parents can view the mentor’s inputs and receive regular notifications about the parameters defined to improve student performance.

“We want to give our students a best-in-class experience, while streamlining workflows for better teacher-student engagement,” says Pro-Chancellor Raju.

Simplifying teachers’ and parents’ lives with a single source of truth

Through a teacher portal, faculty members can easily upload course data, access semester timetables, submit student assessment reports, critical updates, and more.

“Teachers love the portal for its ease of use,” says Dr. Kumar Raja, Associate Professor, CSE. “They can mark student attendance with a simple click and generate related reports with 50% less effort.”

The system can also automatically compute the attendance of each student to monitor if they meet the minimum 75% requirement, and send these reports to the Controller of Examinations, and other departments.

Parents too have a portal to monitor their children’s academic performance and attendance, as well as pay fees and download a receipt.

“No longer do parents have to visit the campus and stand in queues,” says Pro-Chancellor Raju. “Everything they need is available at their fingertips.”

At the back end, the finance team can seamlessly track outstanding fees.

“Earlier, we had to repeatedly chase students to clear their dues before examinations, so they could get their Hall Tickets on time,” says Dr. Beena G, Controller of Examinations. “But now, automated reminders and alerts have simplified the process for them.”

Improving university performance with real-time intelligence

Powerful dashboards offer REVA’s leadership team granular intelligence metrics, ranging from the number of student acquisitions, to the academic progress of each student, to the types of courses that aren’t popular and why. Performance metrics can be sliced and diced at the university level, department level, program level, and so on.

Now, the REVA ICT team wants to implement Einstein GPT to provide AI-based predictions – such as whether or not a student will achieve the 75% minimum attendance requirement based on their current attendance data. These insights can be used to counsel students, and improve their performance.

“With better data transparency at the leadership level, we’re speeding up decision-making, and harnessing opportunities faster,” says Pro Chancellor Raju. “We’re also more aware of the shortcomings, habits, and practices that we need to change to grow into a digitally mature organisation.”

Fast-tracking digital transformation

REVA’s digital transformation journey recently won the “Special Award for Digital Resiliency” at the IDC Future Enterprise Awards 2022.

Bansal notes that what REVA has achieved through Salesforce wouldn’t have been possible without the help of consulting partners like ePeople Bespoke Consulting Pvt. Ltd., as well as the Salesforce Customer Success team.

“The Salesforce team provided enormous support and guidance every step of the way,” recounts Bansal. “It speaks volumes about their customer-centricity.”

Over the next five years, the university plans to extend its use of Salesforce beyond student lifecycle management into placements, grievance management, and e-learning. Even hostel experiences – from booking meals, to applying for leave – will be streamlined on Salesforce.

Meanwhile, REVA sees exciting new opportunities in areas like online education, industry engagement, and adult learning.

“Stakeholder needs are constantly changing – so, it’s imperative that we continue to integrate technology into multiple university domains,” says Pro-Chancellor Raju. “This will help REVA grow more agile and innovative, while also delivering more value to stakeholders.”

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