Trellis is a technology enablement program that supports strategic and intentional communications, services, and engagement with students, alumni, parents and families, corporate partners, faculty, and employees across the University of Arizona.
Strategic Focus Areas
- Improving the constituent experience by making it easier to find, access, and interact with information and services
- Providing more efficient and effective tooling for our University professionals to manage communications, events, services, and other interactions
- Bringing the University into a common platform to encourage cross-departmental collaboration for student and constituent servicing
- Supporting the University’s organizations and teams in redesigning their business practices as they adopt new technologies and new ways of collaborating
- Informing institutional and department strategies through integrated interaction and engagement data
Salesforce, Marketing Cloud, and social media management platforms are core components of the Trellis program. Equally important are data management platforms that allow for integration to other important systems across the University, including Slate (recruitment), UAccess Student (student portal), and UAccess Employee (employee portal).
Our Mission
Trellis is part of Pillar 5 in the Arizona Strategic Plan
Our mission is to make it easier for University professionals to serve their constituents on a shared platform, which enables collaboration and creates a more cohesive experience for students, alumni, donors, and others.
Privacy Statement
The University of Arizona is committed to protecting the personal information of all Users and being transparent about the information Trellis holds. This Privacy Statement describes the collection, processing, use, disclosure, and storage (“Processing”) of User information. When you use Trellis’ functionality, submit information through the University of Arizona information systems, or visit our websites and use other services, your information will be handled as described here.
The Role of CRM in Higher Education
Higher education is experiencing significant changes in how it operates and interacts with students, parents, alumni, employers, and staff members. The market has become more competitive as the demand for more personalized experiences has increased.
Today, the University of Arizona is joining hundreds of other proactive universities that have already implemented enterprise CRM and marketing solutions.
Frequently Asked Questions
CRM is commonly known as "customer relationship management". In higher education, the term "constituent relationship management" is used to recognize the complex relationships interwoven between students, faculty, alumni, donors, and many other partners at the University of Arizona. An enterprise CRM system has the ability to manage an entire organization's constituent interactions and can offer a 360 degree view of each relationship.
Having a comprehensive view of each constituent relationship will help the University understand how people are interacting and engaging with the institution as well as provide more modern, personalized services. For example, a student would be viewed in CRM as one individual rather than separately as a prospect from admissions, an account at the Bursar's, an appointment with a college advisor, a seat in a department's class, and a borrower from the library. This holistic view allows the University to have a more complete picture of the student and their campus experience.
Salesforce is the leading cloud-based CRM software that powers the University of Arizona's Trellis CRM system.
In 2018, multiple vendors were vetted by a team of Arizona partners. Many CRM software platforms offered similar features in terms of capabilities and scalability, but Salesforce had the advantage of being the most widely used platform among higher education institutions, including our own state peers. Trellis collaborates with Salesforce and other universities to benefit from "lessons learned" and move forward with an improved process for CRM implementation across the University of Arizona.
CRM is a university-wide strategy that requires thoughtful planning and cross collaboration. Projects being implemented between 2019-2022 are driven by multiple governance teams, leaders, and subject matter experts including strategic partners from:
- Advising Resource Center (ARC)
- Arizona Marketing & Brand Management
- Enrollment Management
- Enrollment Marketing & Communication
- Office of Instruction & Assessment (OIA)
- Office of Scholarships & Financial Aid (OSFA)
- Office of Strategic Initiatives (OSI)
- Student Admin Systems Group (SASG)
- University Analytics & Institutional Research (UAIR)
- University Information Technology Services (UITS)
The first set of applications launched by Trellis focused on student success. With Trellis, Arizona staff and faculty can offer a more modern and personalized digital experience, and students are equipped with more resources to navigate the University, from wherever they are. Visit our Solutions page for a list of current core offerings.
The Trellis program's roadmap is currently in a three-year initiative with iterative launches happening throughout the year. Using the agile methodology, the team develops rapid, iterative products that can be used and refined quickly to deliver the best outcomes for staff and our campus constituents. As more CRM features become available, we hope to see Trellis adopted by additional student service, academic, and centralized units across the University. If interested, please fill out our Get Started form.
Trellis began developing new CRM applications and features in 2019. Ongoing research, user feedback, and governance will determine the sequence of tools that will be developed next. If your unit is interested in adopting an enterprise CRM solution or interested in participating in future workshops, please check out the Solutions page and submit the Get Started form if you have questions.
There are no costs associated for units looking to adopt Trellis CRM. It's an enterprise service, provided by the University of Arizona to staff, faculty, students, and other constituents. Please visit the Arizona Strategic Plan website for more information about our partnership with the Office of Strategic Initiatives, under Pillar 5 "Institutional Excellence". View our list of current offerings through the Solutions page.
With CRM, there's a heavy focus on constituent interactions, data management, data security, and cross-collaboration. There will be more information available about the type of communication constituents receive, which will improve visibility and the way we engage with university stakeholders, both internally and externally. This 360-degree-view empowers each of us to provide a more modern and personalized experience for many of the University of Arizona's constituents, including, but not limited to:
- Students
- Staff
- Faculty
- Donors
- Alumni
- Corporate Partners
- Government Partners