This change really means that we are focusing on integrated services and this has optimized the student experience and strengthening of our students and people resources, providing a more streamlined and targeted experience as students focus on the business of being a student. 

Welcome to Focus, a podcast dedicated to the business of higher education. I'm your host Heather Richmond, and we will be exploring the challenges and opportunities facing today's higher learning institutions. Today I'm joined by Michelle Ziegmann and Vicki Breitinger
from California College of the Arts to discuss some big initiatives they are undertaking to redefine their student experience. Hello, Michelle and Vicky. I'm so excited to have you both with me today. 

Thank you. We really appreciate being here. It is great to be here and thank you for having us. 

Absolutely. Well, so we're here to talk about some recent initiatives that happened at California College of the Arts, but before we get into those specifics, can you give us an overview of CCA? How about you, Vicki? 

We are a nonprofit art and design college located in San Francisco. We currently have 34 degree programs being fine arts, design, architecture, humanities, and sciences, with approximately two thirds undergraduate population and one third graduate. Pre-pandemic. We typically had 2000 undergrad and grad students enrolled, but we have seen an enrollment loss during the pandemic. But we currently have just over 1500 students enrolled this fall and are working on increasing our enrollment back to the pre-pandemic levels. 

That's great. What's your background, Vicki? 

I have been in higher ed administration for 25 years and have worn many hats at CCA. My focus being on student finance, enrollment, and student services. Currently I'm the Director of Student Accounts, and as a director I manage all aspects of student accounts. I oversee accounts receivable practices with the incredible support of Michelle's team. I also oversee our student finance systems. I also oversee student financial services processes and policy, maintaining alignment to student success initiatives and enrollment management goals. 

That's wonderful. What a great partnership. So, Michelle, how about you?

Hi, I've been at CCA for over eight years and I've been working in higher ed IT for about 20 years. I came in at CCA to lead our project management office and I came in at the beginning of our journey to move all of our enterprise systems to the cloud. I played a key role in shaping that strategy and had the pleasure of project managing all of those implementations. Currently I'm the Associate Vice President for Technology Services, and with that I oversee our enterprise systems, our network cybersecurity, staff, computing, application development, our help desk, and data governance. And it's really working with partners like Vicki and her team and other teams across the college to make sure that the entire college actually has all of the tools and solutions that they need to be successful in recruiting and graduating amazing students. 

Well, thank you so much. I always think it's really helpful when you're listening to a podcast and just know a little bit more about our guest and I think we'll see how well you two work together. So that's wonderful. Now Michelle, I know you've presented at our user conference COMTEC in the past and talked about this digital transformation that you've done there at CCA and really implementing all the new software systems. That shouldn't be one of those, of course. Let's go to step back and see how is that transformation going now? 

This all started when we moved to Google for our email and productivity tools many years ago, but it really kicked into high gear about eight years ago. When we started implementing Workday, it took about five years to really implement everything, to replace our on-premise ERP and move all those functions to be fully in the cloud. Workday was one of the core systems where we had to have a number of other platforms that work together to be able to really full solution to meet the campus needs. OneCard and Workday were two of those that were really important to be part of that comprehensive solution. We're really focused on putting together an ecosystem of solutions that were really secure, reliable, robust, and worked well together in terms of the data exchange and also the user experience. We also really look for partners who are continually innovating their products to offer those more robust features, especially in response to the needs of the customers as those needs changed over time. With the combination of platforms we have put together, we're in a really great position now. We were going into the pandemic years, we had a really great foundation set up so that we could really respond to the changing needs of our partners on campus as we navigated our way through the pandemic and all the changes that that brought for us. 

Yeah, it's interesting, you'd almost think that you kind of had a premonition because you have this perfect timing that when you had to go remove that, you actually have that background ready to go. Again, it's been a couple years since all that happened and again, last time we talked it sounded like that you're really just getting started on some further initiatives to really rethink how everything is being done there at CCA. Michelle, can you give us a little insight on that? 

Sure. It was really interesting. So as the pandemic was starting to get under control and we were beginning to come back to campus and have classes on campus, we had a challenge and we have opportunity our staff was really divided about coming back to campus. During the pandemic, many departments had really completely reengineered the way they delivered services and the way they worked and the way they collaborated with each other. And while it wasn't perfect, there were a lot of good models out there for how to do things differently and better in many ways. And a lot of staff didn't want to come back to campus. They felt they could do their jobs really well, if not better, working remotely. The pandemic was still raging at the beginning of this period, so there was a legitimate concern about coming for many people about coming back to campus. Compounding this issue, we had some space challenges on our campus as a result of construction delays due to the pandemic. We had to figure out how to minimize our staff footprint on the campus, to prioritize having space for classrooms and students and faculty to be on campus and hold classes on campus, but still be able to deliver high quality instruction. So, to look at this problem and opportunities and figure out how do we move forward, we began the Service Redesign Initiative. This was an interdisciplinary group of staff that were tasked with researching this dilemma, and we ended up coming up with a set of findings and recommendations. It started with a really inclusive engagement with staff. We had interviews, surveys, focus group discussions over Zoom, and we’re really looking to identify the ways that people were delivering services remotely that are working really well and what wasn't working so well that we needed to think about doing differently. And we want to find out about working remotely, what do people like about it, what didn't they like about it? How are people connecting with each other and feeling connected to campus and the rest of the community? We wanted to think about all this in a post-pandemic world, how can we radically revision how we deliver services that maximize our staff, our space, and allowed us to be more effective in meeting our students and faculty's needs? 

Wow, that sounds like a lot that you are putting in. And kudos to you for really being a crowd, everybody, and bring that together. Can you talk a little bit about some of those ways that you really looked at reengineering your services? 

Sure. Based on the findings and the recommendations that we came up with, we ended up with four separate initiatives that took this work further. So, the first of those is defining staff work modes. This was mostly an HR function, working with senior leadership and looking at our positions, our staff positions, and kind of making a determination. Is this position best served by being on campus full time, by working hybrid in a hybrid capacity, or working mostly remote? And we're going through each of the positions and defining the work mode for each step. That was each position. That was the first step. The second initiative is called The Business of Being a Student, which focused on student services and how we deliver those services in a way that met the needs of the service of the students. And Vicki is going to talk more about that later. The third initiative was looking at our on-campus workspaces. So, this was greatly informed, as you can imagine, by the staff work modes, how many people were going to be hybrid versus fully on campus versus fully remote, and how the student services were going to be delivered. And we took a look at the space that we had and how can we optimize that to best work for delivering services and meet the needs of the staff and the students and the faculty who are on campus, keeping in mind that a smaller footprint would help the rest of the campus be able to deliver instruction as best we could. We ended up with primarily a hot desk model with a lot of smaller collaboration spaces and different ways of looking at that. And that very few private, dedicated offices at this point. And that's something we continue to learn on. We're reevaluating every semester and improving the way it's structured. And then the fourth area that we focused on, the fourth initiative was really focused on staff wellbeing. We found that a lot of staff who were full time remote during the pandemic struggled with staying connected to the campus and connected to their peers. And people became very much more siloed in their teams. And so how can we make sure that everyone is feeling valued and connected and able to collaborate and feel that sense? So the same sense of community, whether you are working on campus or remote, so those are the four initiatives that we have started moving forward with. 

That makes a lot of sense. And I think that you can probably even take that package and sell that to the world because we're all facing that struggle. Yeah. And so, really interesting and the business of being a student. Vicki, I'm assuming this is your expertise. So can you tell us a little bit more about that initiative and the work that's being done to really redesign student services? 

Absolutely. And building on the four key areas that Michelle has mentioned above, this change really means that we are focusing on integrated services. We focus on stronger collaborations between divisions when perhaps historically we've worked in a more siloed way. We focus on interdependencies of each role within the division and the systems around the student services that those goals deliver. And this has optimized the student experience and the strengthening of our systems and people resources, providing a more streamlined and targeted experience as students focus on the business of being a student. And there is lots of business that the students need to conduct. So we really went broad on this. And this business pertains to billing, securing financial aid, access and registration, course and program advising, and securing of residential housing and community living support. So it really does encompass all business that the students need to conduct for their success and their overall experience at the institution. And again, keeping to the service redesign and the four areas of that that Michelle mentioned, we really discovered that we needed to deliver shared student services in a hybrid model, meaning we provide shared in person services on campus as well as shared services virtually. Having built so much of this in the pandemic, it was just critical that we provided this hybrid model to meet every and all student need. And we moved to a model to provide these services with a one stop in person experience as well as a one stop experience virtually. So we have our primary offices and divisions in one space on our San Francisco campus as well as availability for any student appointment of all staff virtually. So we seek to make sure that the students needs are met in a very timely but very collaborative engagement. We really found that the students are seeking that very brisk engagement, they're off in their classes. They have really responded well to having the shared support and the shared engagement in particular virtually. Perhaps it's beneficial for them to just get on a virtual appointment with our offices in the shared mode rather than walking across campus when they might want to be in the studio or to have payment questions answered in one stop between student accounts and financial aid. So it has really served students well and what we try to do, and we really think is critical to those services, is to take a holistic approach and an educational approach to be advising on how to complete their business. We want to express to students obviously what they need to do, but why they need to do it, how they need to do it, who they need to access. And that means that the student really understands the impact of their business and that they can then navigate with a much broader and more integrated knowledge of what it means to meet their business needs of the institution. We are also reevaluating communication strategies amongst our divisions as well as our systems and processes and we take very seriously and have really with this model developed a more robust staff training in a cross-training context. We really seek to support the students and staff with education on our process and policies. And it's really important that when we are engaging with the students, that the staff really understand that we are in such a strong collaborative mode and that they are part of the bigger goal of delivering excellent and timely and concise information to students. And I think that this not only serves just the students. But I think our staff naturally want to know and learn the different areas of work that is to be done at the institution and I think it really contributes to their growth opportunities and that they really feel that they are a part of the bigger strategies and initiatives and overall success of the students and the institution. So it's been a really positive change and we just continued to seek success.

I think that's great and really meeting the students where they are and staff and really expanding the concept of I'll say back in the day, our pre COVID One Stop Shop was literally a physical location. But really transforming that into this virtual space, that One Stop Shop really means pulling everything together in a one central location to be able to serve that student right? 

Absolutely. 

Well, wow, that is sure a lot to undertake. And so I'm so glad that we're talking about this. And it really, I think, listening to both of you and Michelle, it shows that it's so much more than just implementing new software, a new system, it's really all those interdependencies between people and technology and bringing that all together to have a better student experience. And so I'm sure there's a lot that goes into actually governing those overlaps and ensuring that we really have conductive processes. So Michelle, can you explain a little bit on how you bring that together from a governing standpoint? 

Sure. Well, and my perspective is primarily on the systems, but also on how do we support those offices and their processes. The whole student services team has done such a great job of working on how their processes intersect from how the systems perspective and how the systems work and how the staff use them. There's of course, a lot of interdependencies and this is by design, it really helps everything to be more cohesive with a streamlined user experience in the data flow. But what one team needs or does it assisted impacts another team and that's not always obvious to those teams. So my team, we're in this unique position where we kind of have this bird's eye view of all these interdependencies. And so we focus on trying to make sure things run smoothly. So we meet regularly with all the administrative departments and we really try to understand what their business needs are, what their business processes are. Not just focus on the technology, but what is it you need to accomplish and how can we help you do that. But then also in that position we can negotiate a lot of those intersections between the processes and the systems and make sure everyone has what they need and that our operations are as optimized as they can be, looking for opportunities for streamlining and working together more effectively. I think One Card is a really good example of this. It's that one system. It's one system, but every department that uses it has like just one unique aspect of it. Always aware of the other side of that. So our public safety department really, they're focused on issuing those ID cards and making sure people have access to use that to enter buildings and rooms. But they don't realize that there's a whole other side to it for meal purchases. So if they misconfigure something on the ID card side, the student can't buy a meal.  So make sure that we understand all those interdependencies and how we can make sure that people can focus on what they need to do and get that done really effectively. But then other departments who are impacted by those processes have what they need as well and that it all works together from the students’ perspective, who doesn't need to know what department to go to, their problem is solved. 

They just want it to work. Yeah, and it seems like too that really having all those systems in place and thinking about all those interdependencies and making sure everybody is aware of what's going on probably really helped in that service redesign initiative. And so, you know, are there certain tools that you think have been most instrumental in delivering on that? 

Yes. All of them. I mean, we just really have this awesome toolkit right now and just to get things done. New problems arise all the time and we don't have to go back to the drawing board to go find another piece of software to solve that problem. We've got this just really powerful set of tools between Google and TouchNet and Workday and One Card that we can use that to solve these problems as they come up. And so we haven't found much that we can't solve with the tools that we have. So we're in a really, really good position. 

That is wonderful in hearing you. It's definitely what we talk about all the time is having a single platform really helps you to streamline and have that transformation that you're looking for. And so of course we're big proponents always of integration and building those unified systems and processes. So not that you haven't done enough in the last couple of years, but thinking about like what's next? What's on your wish list? And I'll start with you Vicky, 

Of course, and completely agreeing with Michelle that we really are in a good position and we have an incredible number of products in our tool kit and I am working with each of these products more and more, as is my team. And we are really discovering new opportunities all the time. And as you can imagine, the opportunities that we seek are often driven by best practice on the student finance side or federal regulation, banking requirements, et cetera. So we are constantly motivated and curious by what we are required to do and how we are required to operate institutionally around student finance. And so having these products and having these tools really makes our job much easier. And again, we are always being motivated and are curious by meeting the requirements that we have to meet while providing the best services to the students. That is always our goal. And frankly, at the moment I have a number of items on our wish list. I'm curious and excited about moving forward and currently we are looking to embark on integrations for taking students international payments and we are also putting on our roadmap new ways to explore issuing student refunds. So with our toolkits, I am confident that we will absolutely have a broader set of opportunities in the near future. And I'm really excited about it. 

That's great. And so with her wish list, Michelle, I'm sure that again, the back end system side needs to figure out how to bring that together. So what's on your wish list? 

Yeah, we're just continuing to expand on what we have and make the best use of it as we can. I mean, as a campus, I think we're really in rebuild mode, kind of trying to rebuild our enrollment backup after a pandemic and working on that. But we're also in expanding mode because we just unified. This semester is our first semester where we're fully unified all of our programs on one campus in San Francisco. And so there are so many advantages and opportunities there, and it's a lot of work with all of the moves and construction and how do we do things better? And we're constantly asking ourselves that question. From my perspective, from a systems perspective, there are a couple of focuses. One is continuing our path to our data driven empowerment for all our operations and strategic decision making. We have so much data available right now and really pretty powerful reporting tools. So we're just working on helping departments. How do they access and use this data and leverage it to really improve their business processes and strategic decisions. And then I've also really been focused on cybersecurity this year. I think with all of our systems in the cloud now, we believe we're in a really strong position to protect our data and our business against cyber attacks. But there are some things we need to do and do maybe a little bit differently, being an all cloud based environment and make sure that we have the best defense in place with the least disruption to our users. And that's really an area of focus that we're working on this year. 

Yeah, those are all really good pieces of technology to have on your wish list, for sure. So any advice or last thoughts that you want to share with others who are kind of thinking about really taking on this transformation big like you did? 

Yes. I would highly encourage any institution to explore this new model of delivering student services. I have been really impressed and happy to be a part of this new initiative at the institution. I have enjoyed working with my colleagues and my peers so much, and it's so wonderful to share information and learn and continue to learn from everyone around us. And this model really does drive that you cannot do it without one another and you find yourself really in incredible situations of growth and opportunity and learning from your peers. And I think it is a wonderful way to build our teams. I think it's a wonderful way to retain employees. I think it is a challenging opportunity for them that really creates a learning moment and then ultimately to feel like you are really part of the bigger project and the work that is being done for our students and the institution. I think it's very much worth it from an enrollment management, student services, use of system staff development and institutional resources perspective. And I would absolutely recommend that any institution, if possible, sit down and take a look and talk to your teams, talk to your peers, see what their ideas are, see what their goals are, see what their lessons are that they would love to bring to one another. And I think great things can come of it. 

That's great. How about you, Michelle? Any other words of wisdom? 

Sure. Definitely what Vicki said and beyond that as well, it's just collaborating within your networks. We've had the good fortune to form really good relationships with other schools who are going through similar evolutions and this is like a new world. So having those other schools to bounce ideas off of and hear what they're doing and share what you're doing has been a really important part of the process, I think. And we also think a big value add for us has been the partners that we selected previously that we were partnered with our product partners. Having a partner who wants to work with us in that way that really invites our input, listens to our needs and then just really partners with us on innovation, that's been a really big part of our success. It's been a part of our vendor selection process and it's really paid off during this time of change. And so with TouchNet and Workday and some of the other systems we use, we feel we have really good partners who are there to support us and who want to learn from us. Seeking those kind of partnerships is as important as the product themselves. So I encourage to always consider that when looking for technologies or systems to support your campus. 

I think that's great. I know our team has absolutely enjoyed working with the CCA team and really feel like together we've made some magic happen. So it's great. 

Well, thank you all so much. I mean, Michelle and Vicki, this has been such a great conversation and it's really great to hear to not only have the vision, but actually the execution of reimagining, how you can deliver the best student experience. You've done a great job. Thank you so much. 

Thank you so much for having us. It's really been a pleasure. 

Thank you so much. I agree, it has really been a pleasure and I really look forward to our partnership along the way. 

Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Focus. Don't forget get to subscribe so you can stay up to date on the business of higher education. For more information, check us out at TouchNet.com.