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Check Out Stellar Higher Ed Self-Service Portals Live in Action

Published Date
Author Andrew Graf

Connect, collaborate and communicate   Supporting and enhancing the ‘student experience’ throughout the student lifecycle (from first contact through to becoming an alumnus) is critical to the success in higher education today for both the student and the institution. The student experience encompasses all aspects of student life (i.e. academic, social, welfare and support) with the academic imperative at the heart of it. In recent years, undergraduate research and initiatives looking at the student experience have tended to focus on the ‘first year’ undergraduate experience.  However, when it comes to service management, the span is years - developing a relationship that is bi-directional and productive is critical. A client portal for the students can evolve far beyond the basic IT services. It is possible to build out basic workflows for every single interaction point – all from one central location. Imagine a hub where a student can access: Service catalogs and online request forms: Clients can fill out simple, online forms--and on the backend, workflows ensure that the requests are fulfilled simply and efficiently. Knowledge bases: Clients can answer their own questions through a repository of shared knowledge in the knowledge base. Forums: If they're unable to find needed information in the knowledge base or service catalog, they can ask the community for help by submitting questions through a forum system. Widgets on the home page: Have frequently asked questions (for example, the IT department's hours and location)? Put helpful content, like system status, alerts, hours, location, popular knowledge base articles, or even the latest news on the client portal homepage. Of course, that's just a sampling of what a great client portal can do. See some real, live, higher ed client portals in action by checking out the following sites: