Oxford Streamlines Data Collection Practices with School-Wide Platform Adoption

Case Study Snapshot

Universal platform adoption with Salesforce has had a significant impact on the University of Oxford Saïd Business School’s student data strategies and workflows. Learn how implementing FormAssembly as the singular area of data collection has allowed professionals at the Business School to streamline complex processes and to improve data management.

About

• Founded in 1996 and has evolved to one of the most elite business schools in the world
• Named top business school in the Times Higher Education Awards
• Offers the Oxford MBA, Executive MBA, and a variety of diploma options
• The institution practices environmental sustainability with the goal of reducing its carbon footprint

AWS Functionality

FormAssembly is a powerful data platform built and powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS). In the case of Oxford University, incoming form data is processed by Salesforce, with the school’s main websites hosted by Acquia (built on AWS for optimization, performance and scalability). Additionally, the provider for the university’s Virtual Learning Environment (Canvas) is Instructure, which also utilizes AWS.

Before working with FormAssembly, the team at the Business School was using Drupal forms to build forms and place them on their website. Separate users could create forms, but this resulted in a lack of consistency. Pain points revolved around the GDPR and higher education, consistent branding and language, and web form maintenance and monitoring. Staff members also required easier ways to clone forms, track analytics, and simplify lead generation.

FormAssembly provides superior online data collection for schools. Professionals at the Saïd Business School can now customize forms while bringing all of their data collection needs under one main umbrella. Salesforce integration is of utmost importance in ensuring success. Moreover, the ability to embed forms on the school’s website or to use them in a stand-alone way at events allows for on-the-go data collection.

Customization

The ability to completely customize forms with special coding helps to satisfy unique branding requirements. By using custom CSS, staff can provide better brand consistency.

iFrame Options

Publishing with an iFrame is another option that gives Business School staff flexibility. FormAssembly’s iFrame options can relieve styling conflicts that occur when embedding forms with raw HTML.

GDPR Statement

As a customer within the European Union, the Business School must collect and use data according to stringent regulations for GDPR and higher education. FormAssembly provides several practical solutions for helping customers in the EU maintain compliance with these rigorous requirements, including the ability to add opt-in statements and privacy disclosures directly to forms.

Staff at Saïd Business School are currently developing an exciting web form process to engage with the student and alumni community. They are looking to use web forms across new community channels as a way to further connect and utilize student data.