Collecting and managing data efficiently is one of the biggest challenges higher education institutions face today. Between juggling multiple departments’ data collection needs, complex compliance requirements, and integrations with CRMs like Salesforce or TargetX, it’s easy for processes to get fragmented.
The good news: FormAssembly Atlas can help your team overcome these challenges and work smarter, faster, and more securely. At the center of the platform is Fai, an agentic AI assistant that is able to instantly generate branded forms and workflows, complete with seamless Salesforce integrations.
We’re always listening and always trying to find ways to improve data collection for our users. Here are ten of the biggest data collection challenges higher ed institutions face and how Atlas and Fai help overcome them.
Challenge #1: Rigid Form Systems That Limit Flexibility
Many higher ed institutions use form building platforms that force mapping to existing CRM fields, making it hard to capture non-CRM data or departmental-specific needs. Rebuilding or redirecting these forms costs teams valuable time and does not leave enough room to capture the data that is needed to make informed decisions.
FormAssembly’s Solution: FormAssembly Atlas enables organizations to create forms and workflows that can stand alone or integrate seamlessly with a CRM, giving departments autonomy while maintaining enterprise connectivity. With Fai, the built-in agentic AI assistant, users can simply enter a prompt and watch as entire forms are built for them, complete with response data that automatically connects to Salesforce and other CRMs.
Challenge #2: Integrating Across Multiple Departments
It is typical for there to be several departments across a higher ed institution that need to collect and manage data independently. However, many data collection tools only support centralized CRM processes, creating silos and inefficiencies.
FormAssembly’s Solution: FormAssembly supports multi-department workflows with role-based access, so each team can interact with forms and data according to their needs without interfering with other departments. Embeddable forms and departmental-specific workflows make collaboration seamless.
Challenge #3: Manual Document Generation and E-Signature Processes
Staff at higher ed institutions often have to manually generate and route documents to other teams, then collect physical signatures. This is a slow, error-prone process – not to mention, outdated!
FormAssembly’s Solution: FormAssembly’s document generation and e-signature capabilities eliminate manual steps, allowing documents to be routed, electronically signed, and securely stored without third-party tools (or walking across campus!). Neither students nor staff need FormAssembly or Salesforce credentials to complete these processes.
Challenge #4: Complex Compliance and Procurement Requirements
Higher ed institutions must meet state and federal compliance requirements (e.g., StateRAMP, FedRAMP) for cloud-based tools, which can delay procurement and implementation.
FormAssembly’s Solution: FormAssembly is built to support compliance with state and federal regulations, ensuring colleges and universities are able to protect sensitive student data at all times. With Fai, compliance becomes part of a workflow from the start – the agentic AI assistant provides real-time guidance on data privacy and security requirements based on industry and region, helping organizations configure forms and workflows that align with standards like HIPAA, GDPR, and FedRAMP. Backed by FormAssembly’s enterprise-grade security, Fai ensures every form is built with compliance in mind.
Challenge #5: Limited Staff and Resource Constraints
The teams in charge of collecting data and managing forms at higher ed institutions are often small. They juggle multiple responsibilities and are not always able to manage complex form setups for multiple departments.
FormAssembly’s Solution: FormAssembly’s role-based access control and prebuilt workflows reduce admin burden, letting staff manage forms efficiently without broad edit permissions. Workflows, prefill, and automation help small teams handle large volumes of forms and data.
Challenge #6: Outdated or Fragmented Forms
Many higher ed institutions use multiple, redundant forms for similar purposes, which creates inefficiencies and data quality issues. They often don’t have the time or resources to dedicate to simplifying and streamlining their forms.
FormAssembly’s Solution: FormAssembly enables centralized form management, which allows users to consolidate forms, implement templates, and reuse logic. Visual workflows make it easy to update and scale forms while maintaining data accuracy.
Challenge #7: Difficulty Mapping and Tracking Data
Mapping multiple form fields to Salesforce or other CRMs can be complex, with limited visibility into data flows. Not every form builder out there is able to do this well.
FormAssembly’s Solution: FormAssembly’s Salesforce integration includes prefill, filtering, and workflow automation features, which ensures that data maps accurately. Visual workflow dashboards allow staff to track submissions, approvals, and data routing.
Challenge #8: Leadership Turnover and Organizational Politics
Changing priorities, unclear departmental autonomy, and political dynamics make it hard to implement new processes or tools at higher ed institutions.
FormAssembly’s Solution: FormAssembly’s flexible platform supports pilot programs and incremental adoption. Case studies, templates, and prebuilt workflows help demonstrate success to leadership and reduce risk during transitions.
Challenge #9: Scaling Challenges Across Programs
Expanding forms, workflows, and document processes to multiple programs or campuses can be slow and inconsistent.
FormAssembly’s Solution: Automated workflows, reusable templates, and multi-campus integration allow institutions to scale efficiently. FormAssembly supports complex routing, approvals, and notifications across multiple programs without duplication of effort.
Challenge #10: Accessibility, Multi-User Collaboration, and Mobile Use
Higher ed institutions need forms that are accessible, mobile-friendly, and support logic branching, multi-user collaboration, and reporting — often a missing piece in older tools.
FormAssembly’s Solution: FormAssembly offers accessible, mobile-optimized forms with logic branching, collaboration tools, reporting dashboards, and export options. Of additional importance, SSO integration ensures secure access for faculty, staff, and students.
Simplifying Data Collection for Higher Ed
Data collection in higher education doesn’t have to be a source of frustration. By adopting a flexible, compliant, and integrated platform like FormAssembly, institutions can eliminate inefficiencies, reduce manual work, and ensure accurate, secure, and actionable data across all departments.
Learn more about how FormAssembly supports higher education.
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