4 departments 30 advisors 16,000 students Year One with AgileAdvisor Presented by Amanda Fuentes Lorens Hobsons University 2015

2. 4 departments
30 advisors
16,000 students
Year One with AgileAdvisor
Amanda Fuentes Lorens
Director, Student Communications
Hunter College/CUNY

3. what
we will
discuss
• Part 1: Context
• Part 2: Best Practices

4. context

5. about us
• New York (CUNY)
23,000 + students
Undergrad/Grad
• Student
Communications
• Hobsons client since
2008
Connect CRM (x2)
• Retain CRM
• Events, Interviews &
Trips, Answer,
Telecenter, Chat
• ApplyYourself
• AgileAdvisor

6. our advising model
Peer
Advisors
Peers
Academic
Advisors
Campus
Resources
Pre-Professional
Advisors
Faculty
Advisors

7. Before AgileAdvisor,
how satisfied are or
were you with your
advising appointment/
case management
tool?

8. this is your answer.

9. this was our answer.

10. why AgileAdvisor?
Data
integration
Caseload
model
Appointment
scheduling

11. the pilot departments
Peer
Advisors
Academic
Advisors
Office of
Advising
22+ advisors
14,000 students
Caseload: ~ 600
Scholar
Programs
2 advisors
600 students
Caseload: ~ 300

12. the implementation.
MARCH
Training and Launch
FEBRUARY
Configuration
JANUARY
Developed Implementation Team/Kick Off
DECEMBER
Received Approval to Implement

13. the approach
Scholar Programs
• Full
implementation
• 600 students
• Early March
Office of Advising
• Pilot subset
• ~3000 students
(rising juniors)
• Mid March

14. the results • 50% of students in pilot
scheduled appointments
through AgileAdvisor
• 79% attended
appointments scheduled
• # appointments
increased by about 30%
in first few months (when
compared to previous
year’s period)

15. what happened next?
Peer
Advisors
Academic
Advisors
Office of
Advising
22+ advisors
14,000 students
Caseload: ~ 600
Scholar
Programs
2 advisors
600 students
Caseload: ~ 300
Pre-Professional
Advisors
Pre-Law
2 advisors
400 students
Pre-Health
4 advisors
1500 students

16. best practices

17. the best
practice
How/where
this worked
best for us
Tools for
application

18. best practice #1:
think big
to set up AgileAdvisor
for multi-department use

19. think big
when customizing the student interface.
• Branding
• Leverage free space
for additional details
• Generic appointment
types

20. think big
when customizing the student interface.
Why generic appointment types are helpful:
• Student centered:
Keeps front end simple
• Limits ‘incorrect’
appointment requests
• Comparison Reporting

21. think big
when configuring
extra fields.
• Advisor facing side
• Custom dropdowns and
text fields by type NOT by
department
• Department specific values

22. think big
when crafting your
email notifications.
• A generic advisor
‘delegate account’
(ex: advisor@hunter.cuny.edu)
• Mention all locations
• Use advisor variables in
message

23. • For branding: your college logo and Hobsons
• Staff permissions
• Customizable Text Updating
• Advising Center Settings
• Advising Center Email Settings
• Some negotiation skills
think big

24. best practice #2:
take care of
your users
to gain system buy-in

25. • Demo
• Training and User Guide
• Product Suggestions
• Troubleshooting process
take care of your users:
advisors

26. • Guide
• Troubleshooting process
take care of your users:
students

27. • Customer service skills
• Demo student record
• User guide
• pdf or web
• Screen casts or screenshots
• Suggestions: COMPASS
• Troubleshooting process
take care of your users

28. best practice #3:
standardize
your processes
to manage with limited resources

29. • Implementation
worksheet and plan
• Same approach
1. Worksheet
2. Demo/discussion of
advising needs
3. Training
4. Launch
standardize
subsequent implementations.

30. standardize
staff permissions.

31. • Design implementation worksheet based on
institutional advising model
• Permission levels: Staff Group Management
• Shared workspace or drive
standardize

32. best practice #4:
be creative
to make AgileAdvisor better
fit your needs

33. be creative
with file uploads.

34. be creative
with data integration.

35. be creative
• Collaboration with IT
• Schedule for manual extract
• Procedure/process tool

36. THANKS!
amanda.lorens@hunter.cuny.edu
212-772-4916

37. Questions?