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, and many other partners at the University of Arizona. An enterprise CRM system manages an organization's interactions with its constituents and offers 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 university experience.
In 2018, multiple vendors were evaluated and vetted by a team of university stakeholders through a formal request for proposal process. Many CRM software platforms offered similar features in terms of capabilities and scalability, but Salesforce.org had the advantage of being the platform used by a large number of higher education institutions, including Arizona peers. Trellis CRM has partnered with many universities that have already implemented Salesforce to benefit from lessons learned for an improved implementation process at the University of Arizona.
CRM is a university-wide initiative that requires university-wide collaboration. Projects for implementation over the next three years are driven by a governance strategy made up of Executive Sponsors, a Program Strategy Team, the Trellis CRM Team, and many other subject matter collaboratives at the university. As CRM grows and integrates into the strategy of the university, we hope to see adoption by additional units. If you are interested in a CRM strategy for your unit, please contact us or learn how to get involved.
Note: The first set of products launching through the Trellis CRM program focuses on student success and will empower Arizona staff and faculty to deliver more strategic, personalized digital experiences. Visit our solutions page to learn more about products and projects in development.
Initial projects began in 2019 and were released during the fall semester. Discussion among university stakeholders is ongoing and will determine the sequence of projects to be developed next. If you would like your unit to be considered for CRM integration, please contact us or learn how to get involved.
The Trellis CRM roadmap is currently in a three-year initiative using the agile methodology. The team develops rapid, iterative products that can be evaluated for quick course corrections to deliver the best outcomes for the service and the university. Your unit's project may be well suited for the next CRM development track. At the end of the three-year initiative, the plan is for CRM to be a service option for all university units.
CRM is an enterprise service, funded centrally by the University of Arizona. For individual units wanting to use the CRM platform, there will be no cost other than the investment of your time and knowledge. We'll develop the application and help create a custom technology solution that integrates with your unit and the university's needs.
With CRM, there will be a focus specifically on data management, classification, stewardship, and security. 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 empowers the University of Arizona to provide a more modern, personalized experience for many of its constituents.