More than two years after the pandemic, most students are back in person. But they have new expectations when it comes to their academic institutions. In the past, students were used to accessing the resources they needed in various locations around campus. This often meant traveling to multiple buildings to complete tasks related to registering for courses, choosing majors, paying bills, purchasing parking permits, etc.
But after the last two years, students have come to expect that many tasks that previously required an in-person meeting will now be completed online. Today’s students expect an instant and easy digital experience. A new expected platform that serves the diverse needs of students, faculty and staff, where all the necessary resources are available in a few clicks, is the new expectation, but it can be difficult to organize. Modern IT infrastructure for the academic sector requires robust data integration, connectivity and automation that work in the background.
To achieve this vision, colleges and universities must leverage integrated platform-as-a-service (iPaaS) solutions as they continue to accelerate their digital transformation initiatives with a single, seamless, connected communications platform.
Simplifying the digital experience for students
Students access multiple platforms daily to track basics like class registration, assignments, virtual classes, financial aid, and other resources that keep them afloat on campus. Navigating through different programs and systems that don’t interact with each other, getting conflicting information for the same request, or entering the same personal information multiple times is already frustrating.
The pandemic has added even more requirements and applications to student numbers as institutions work to create a COVID-safe environment with symptom testing tools, contact tracing, social distancing schedules, and hybrid virtual/face-to-face learning environments.
Joseph Flynn is the company’s CTO Bumi Public sector.
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