Higher Ed
Talk Data to Me: The University of Michigan Develops a New Campus Process with FormAssembly
We recently interviewed Adam Skoczylas at the University of Michigan Center for Educational Outreach to find out about a new project they’ve implemented through FormAssembly. Since we’ve previously featured the University of Michigan for their innovative use of FormAssembly in the realm of higher education, it seemed like a great time to check back in and see what they were developing! Take a look at the interview below to see how FormAssembly and universities work in tandem to collect, manage, and integrate data more effectively.
What Does The Center for Educational Outreach Do?
The Center for Educational Outreach supports and advances the University of Michigan’s commitment to educational outreach and academic excellence. Part of the office’s mission involves inspiring youth across the state to pursue postsecondary education. One of the main goals is to strengthen the relationship between the U of M community and the community of local K-12 schools.
Use Cases
What is the Latest Use Case?
Our newest use case is the Children on Campus Program Registry, which we launched successfully in 2018 for application across all three U of M campuses. The registry is part of the university’s efforts to protect youth on all campuses. The university mandates that university personnel follow certain policies and procedures aimed at protecting children and youth in the university’s care. Any university personnel running a program that falls under the policy must register their program for improved risk management.
Previously, there had been many competing attempts to get information about university programs for children and youth. With FormAssembly, we’ve been able to reduce a number of competing efforts to gather and share this important information.
What is the Most Important FormAssembly Feature in this Project?
There are several important FormAssembly features that help with the project, but the FormAssembly Salesforce integration is a key factor. With the integration, we have a powerful tool that allows us to see exactly what’s going on on our campuses in real time.
Programs have to register annually. Previously, there was no way for programs to update their information without completing a new registration form each year. The Prefill Connector is an attractive feature because now, people can confirm or update information related to their programs, which really helps everyone stay in compliance.
FormAssembly’s conditional logic features also help display information that’s relevant to a particular program. We’re able to keep better track of program contacts, better understand which individuals at the university are related to each program, and monitor programs based on certain characteristics.
What's Next?
The University of Michigan’s Center for Educational Outreach demonstrates how data collection, when handled creatively and with excellence, can promote significant collaboration. Implementing the FormAssembly solution has enabled:
- Cross-campus collaboration between offices and among staff members
- Greater communication and more transparency surrounding data needed for risk management
- Identification of the appropriate and most efficient tools for shared data
In May 2018, Skoczylas received the President’s Staff Innovation Award for creating a process that resulted in “increased awareness of these programs, simplified the process from start to finish, improved safety and compliance through better access to data, and saved staff time and resources.”