Universities manage a range of relationships, from student and staff data, to research and internship opportunities. While most universities have CRM systems in place to manage their student contact records, other areas are managed much less efficiently. Enterprise relationships often slip under the radar of universities, but these contacts are often the key to improving research quality and opportunities, as well as providing internships, work experience, and career progression opportunities to current students.
The importance of research
Universities often reinvest student fees in research. Afterall, findings from research are fundamental to wider society with many significant new discoveries found through research conducted at education institutions. This research is expensive – especially lab-based medical research. University-based medical centres provide top quality care to the local communities, and the faculty foots the bill in return for the endless opportunities for students and the peace of mind that new findings will be accredited to the university.
Maximising student employability
Universities have the opportunity to improve the employability of their students throughout the student lifecycle. Not only does student employability greatly affect university rankings, but it also improves the quality of alumni relations to continuing improving student connections in the future. By maintaining a thriving database of enterprise relationships, universities can provide current students with priceless connections and opportunities. Mentors, internships, work experience, placements, graduate schemes, and permanent jobs can be offers to students – providing them with the experience necessary to kick-off their careers. By gathering and maintaining a high-quality database of industry contacts, these opportunities will be at the fingertips of students.
How can Dynamics 365 manage research and enterprise relationships?
Dynamics 365, being a customer relationship management system (CRM) is the ideal tool for managements relationships. While universities are likely using CRM systems such as Dynamics 365 to manage student relationships, it is less likely that they are using the same system to manage staff, research, and enterprise relationships. By categorising relationships and managing them all through Dynamics 365, universities can achieve a single version of the truth and avoid disparate data silos.
Dynamics 365 connects with omnichannel engagement, through social media, virtual agents, portals, and more. Students can enquire about mentoring or other employability opportunities through a variety of sources, which will then appear on the student’s record that they are looking for a mentor so they can then be matched. Similarly, those looking to help students by offering mentorships or work experience can also follow the same procedures to be added to CRM as an enterprise relationship. Portals are ideal for registering interest and work for students, staff, enterprise, and research relationships to gather information.
The Dynamics 365 data can be then analysed using Power BI to gauge the quality of relationships across the various categories, including sentiment analysis. This can help universities compare relationships to understand where needs the most improvement.
You may have a CRM system in place to manage students, but don’t forget about your other stakeholders. Manage your research and enterprise relationships with a Dynamics 365 Partner to improve research quality and student employability.
