The document discusses technology solutions for state and regional organizations, focusing on areas like organizational websites, volunteer systems, and education technology tools. It emphasizes the use of Google Apps for Education for non-profit educational organizations and provides guidelines for effective communication methods and conference registration systems. Additionally, it addresses the costs and strategies associated with accepting credit card payments, along with resources for professional development in the higher education sector.

2. Technology Solutions in
State and Regional
Organizations

3. • We are a public research university devoted to engineering and applied science
related to resources
• Full Time Enrollment is 5,600+, Grads & Undergrads
• Undergrad average incoming un-weighted GPA is 3.8, ACT 30
14,000 applicants and 950 seats
• Yes, we have an actual working mine, yes we blow stuff up
• Yes, it has an underground classroom, yes it is really dark
• Yes, we are located about 4 blocks from Coors Brewery
• Yes, they have free drinks if you go and visit them
3
Located in Golden, Colorado

4. The Rocky Mountain Association of Collegiate
Registrars and Admissions Officers is located in the
Western Region of the U.S., and comprises 75+ of
the higher education institutions in the states of
Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico.
4

5. Today’s Agenda
• A word about volunteer organizations
• Organization Websites
• Google Apps for Education
• Meeting and Webinar Software
• Membership Databases
• Organization Communication Methods
• Conference Registration Systems
• Accepting Credit Cards

6. Volunteer Organizations
It is easier to find men who will volunteer
to die, than to find those who are willing to
endure pain with patience.
-Julius Caesar

7. Volunteer Organizations
Why bother volunteering?
1. To Be Challenged
2. To Share a Skill or Passion
3. To Learn from Others
4. To Gain Leadership Skills

8. Volunteer Organizations
Picking Support Systems for
Volunteer Organizations
• Make them simple and easy to understand for all levels of
technical understanding
• Choose systems that are “affordable” to your organization
• Choose systems that are easy to hand off from one person
to another
• Choose systems that have good public documentation so
that you are not dependent on any one person with all the
information

9. Organizational Websites
• Low traffic websites need to be clearly
organized, using familiar terms.
• Always consider the first timer in design
• Make it easy for exhibitors
• Never assume people understand acronyms,
or proprietary terms
• Make it available for many people to update
content without screwing up site design

10. Organizational Websites
Website Hosting
• Use a cloud hosted solution vs a campus hosted solution

11. Organizational Websites
Website
• Use a freeware product with lots of documentation available

12. Organizational Websites
Website
• Search Engine Optimization is an option, we often are a
destination website where people who know…go.
• Google Analytics will let you know what parts of your website
are actually used vs. rarely used, and when they are used.
• Leverage Social Media web infrastructure for things they are
really good at so you don’t have to reproduce it yourself

13. Google Apps for Education
• Google Apps for Education is completely FREE with
24/7 support at no cost to your non-profit education
organization. Never any ads, and your data is yours.
• Cloud Hosted by Google, no infrastructure needed
• *Easy to learn, nearly unlimited documentation
• Easy Collaboration in real time
• Use on any device, anytime, integrate into Outlook

14. Google Apps for Education
• Email can be available by position, not person
• Archive emails and chats
• Collaborate on docs, and docs remain with position
• Create and share calendars internally and publicly
• Meet face to face via video, voice, or text
• Can use Google social media apps
Classroom Gmail Drive Calendar Vault Docs Sheets Slides Sites

15. Google Apps for Education
• Google Forms will integrate with Google Sheets,
which is Google’s version of Excel.
• Use it for surveys, collecting any information, etc.
Google Forms is Very Useful!

16. Meeting and Webinar Software
• Easy way for Leaders to meet ad hoc, for emergencies, etc.
and without the cost of travel.
• Easy way to have working meetings for small groups.
• Easy way to provide a service and reach out to the
membership year round, and not just at conferences.
• Easy way to have meetings for State specific topics, or
specific areas/groups (ex: scheduling, residency, transcripts)
• Provide a way for those that didn’t attend annual meeting to
see popular sessions
• Grow annual meeting in person attendance
• New potential FREE service or REVENUE maker

17. Meeting and Webinar Software

18. Membership Databases

19. Membership Databases
• How is this so difficult sometimes if we are
Registrars and Admissions Officers? 
• How do we handle different types of contacts
 Dues contact vs institution contact vs member
• Where does the database live?
 Behind a login on a webpage?
 Front facing?

20. Membership Databases
 What info do we really need and want to maintain?
 Do we need just some people’s info or everyone’s?
 Do we need every institution’s info and let people look
up individuals on their own?
 Who maintains it?
 What is the org’s strategy for keeping it up to date
Make a decision on a long term strategy and
stick to it for X period of time.

21. Membership Databases

22. Organizational Communications
Effective Methods
 Email
 Listserv
 Websites
 Surveys
 Social Media
 Newsletters
 USPS Letters?

23. Conference Registration Systems
How to Decide what you can “afford”
as an organization
• Can you afford to build a home grown solution(s)?
 Do you really want many different parts of a solution?
 What about when the person who designed it leaves?
• Can you afford to do it all on paper? Manual Labor?
• Can you afford to purchase one of your own?
• Would AACRAO consider letting State and Regional
Conferences use their conference registration tool?

24. Conference Registration Systems

25. Accepting Credit Cards
There are significant costs to an organization to accept
credit cards. There are significant costs NOT to.
• You will pay for:
 A merchant account
 Individual Transaction Fees
 Percentages to the Credit Card
Companies, these vary for every card type
 Bank Fees (in some cases)

26. Accepting Credit Cards
Bottom Line: If you incur the fees, you will
need to decide how to pay for it.
• Do you incur the fee at all?
• Do you increase dues to pay?
• Do you roll fees into the conference cost?
• Do you choose a convenience fee model?
(ex: ticket companies, sporting events, etc)

27. Accepting Credit Cards

28. Questions & Answers
?

29. CONTACT INFORMATION:
Corey Wahl
Associate Registrar for Systems
Colorado School of Mines
cwahl@mines.edu
303-273-3587

30. AACRAO Professional Development
AACRAO offers professional development opportunities
through meetings, online classes and webinars. For more
information, please visit www.aacrao.org/
Publications
AACRAO offers a valuable library of resources on transfer and
other higher education topics. For a listing of our recent
publications, please visit www.aacrao.org/resources/publications
AACRAO 2016 Annual Meeting
Phoenix, AZ
March 20-23, 2016
Registration is now open:
www.aacrao.org/2016-annual-meeting