Hobart and William Smith Colleges Wrap First Phase of CRM Implementation

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 08/06/08

Consulting firm BearingPointsaid it has completed the first phase of an implementation of theOracle PeopleSoft Enterprise CRM for Higher Education for theAdmissions Office at Hobart and William Smith Collegesin Geneva, New York.

The school receives 4,000 new applicationsannually for an entering class of roughly 565 students. The new system,implemented and customized by BearingPoint using the PeopleSoftsoftware, is intended to improve processes for data collection andmanagement throughout the admissions process. The software includesfeatures to assist in managing student prospecting and recruiting, thestudent application process, recruiter and counselor activities,surveying of prospects and applicants, and reporting.

Adoptionof the CRM system is part of a school-wide implementation of a newenterprise information system initially approved for the campus inNovember 2006.

With the new system, Hobart and William Smith hopes to improve data quality by allowing direct upload of information from the Common Application for College Admissions,as well as the College Board and ACT exams. Student prospects will beable to check the status of their application online. The school willalso be using PeopleSoft Enterprise Performance Management inconjunction with the CRM to produce reports during the recruiting andadmissions cycle.

Hobart and William Smith Colleges is a liberal arts college with about 2,000 undergraduate students.