5 Ways Educational Institutions are Breaking the Status Quo

This week marked the 10th anniversary of the Education Summit, co-hosted by Salesforce and Arizona State University (ASU). The event spanned multiple global regions, featured headliners such as activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, Paralympic athlete and eight-time medalist Blake Leeper, and author and TIME’s 2021 Kid of the Year Orion Jean.

Attendees tuned in to a critical discussion between three university presidents on how they are harnessing the power of equity and inclusion to deliver on diversity’s promise to education. Salesforce also announced two grants totaling $800K to Braven and America Needs You, two organizations focused on college persistence.

“We are thrilled to partner with Salesforce to invest in providing first-generation college students with the mentorship, career training, and networks that we know are essential for economic mobility. We share a commitment to building a more inclusive economy and workforce, and this support of these incredible students is transformative not only for them and their families, but for all of us. They are the leaders we need.”
– Marianna Tu, CEO, America Needs You

At the 10th annual Education Summit, attendees tuned in to a critical discussion between three university presidents on how they are harnessing the power of equity and inclusion to deliver on diversity’s promise to education.

The event included breakout sessions spanning content tracks along the entire student journey: from Recruitment & Admissions and Student Experience through to Advancement. We heard major announcements on how Salesforce will partner with universities, colleges, and schools to power their purpose with Customer 360 for Education. Here are five ways in which institutions are breaking the status quo to become future-ready:

Recognizing the need to digitally transform, National University learned many lessons on their path to marketing maturity. The drivers of maturity included everything from campus coordination and data/CRM alignment to marketing automation. By developing strong relationships with different schools and departments, and using Salesforce CRM and Marketing Cloud, the institution saw increases in engagement and enrollment.

For Berry College, the business need was clear: How could a well-oiled marketing machine be deployed to help guide students through the entire college recruitment process while also optimizing staff efforts? The marketing and enrollment management teams were charged with continuing to actively market and recruit new students during the deployment of Salesforce CRM and Marketing Cloud. This has resulted in great progress towards taking marketing initiatives to the next level.

On a mission to deliver a data-driven model of supporting students, USC Annenberg created Annenberg Insights. Annenberg Insights connects skills taught in the classroom to alumni career outcomes, live job postings, and current labor market trends. Using analytics and Student Success Hub, USC Annenberg took student advising and support to the next level. The advanced insights helped to align curriculum with in-demand skills, accelerate student and alumni career success, and strengthen employer outreach.

When the Indiana University Foundation and Alumni Association received feedback from their alumni and donors that their experience was “good but not exceptional”, they asked the question “how might we make it easy for donors to discover what they want to support, and once known, complete their gift transaction in 30 seconds?” As a result, the institution is driving innovation and has reimagined engagement with their constituents using Marketing Cloud and Commerce Cloud.

After the University of Oklahoma identified a business and technology gap due to the lack of an enterprise-CRM strategy, the IT and planning team led a collaborative effort to develop a shared vision for CRM. Cross-campus stakeholders developed 15 recommendations in four categories: people, process, technology, and data. These recommendations were adopted into an enterprise CRM strategy, and empowered a collaborative community to execute on the university’s vision together.

It was fantastic to see so many customer stories presented at the 10th annual Education Summit. Our community of global education institutions are not only taking up the charge to be future-ready, but they are in fact defining what the future of education will look like, right now.

About the Author

Jason Belland is the VP of Education Industry and Product Marketing at Salesforce, where he focuses on empowering colleges and universities around the world with the solutions and resources they need to make an impact in the communities they serve. Prior to joining Salesforce in 2014, Jason spent 15 years working in public and private institutions bringing together innovative ideas with new technologies to support student success. Follow him on Twitter: @jasonbelland