How one polytechnic institution is driving enrollment growth with software tailor-made for continuing education
After launching a new School for Continuing Education and Professional Studies, leadership
at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) realized that software systems designed for the main campus were not offering
the customer-centricity they needed to be successful.
“Our ERP served some of our internal systems really well, but it was a bit clumsy
and cumbersome for external clients that didn't have an existing relationship with
us,” said Lindsey Fair, Associate Vice President for Marketing at SAIT. “We had some
customers that were unhappy with trying to register for continuing ed courses. On
top of that, we were struggling to take their payment.”
To address these obstacles, the team at SAIT turned to Modern Campus Destiny One, a student management system designed specifically for non-credit, continuing and
workforce education divisions.
“We wanted an Amazon-like experience tool for higher education registration and Destiny
One was the right fit,” said Fair.
We wanted an Amazon-like experience tool for higher education registration and Destiny One was the right fit.
Enrollment Impact
Within months of going live with Modern Campus Destiny One, SAIT was seeing the impact
in real-time. They set a goal of serving 2,500 students within the first nine months…
and exceeded that goal in seven.
Part of SAIT’s success is being driven by Destiny One's capability to automate cross-sell
processes. This means when a student selects a single course, the system can prompt
them to explore registering in other relevant courses to earn a certificate.
“In seven months, we’ve had 184,000 registrations and 3,600 students convert as paying
students,” said Fair. “The registration number is much higher because students may
buy more courses. We’ve seen a return within seven months of setting up the tool.”
Efficiency and Effectiveness Gains
Beyond generating immediate return on their investment, SAIT is also realizing significant
benefits from the workflows built into the Destiny One system.
One tool, the automated reminder feature, allows students to indicate interest in
a course or program. Then, when the offering goes live, the system sends an automated
prompt to those prospective customers encouraging them to enroll.
This does more than save significant staff time and resources. It also allows SAIT
to conduct market demand research on the fly!
“One of my favourite parts of Destiny One is the ability to set up programs that aren't developed yet,” said Fair. “We can use this for demand generation—see the interest in a course before we invest additional resources. That’s a huge benefit of this tool compared to other tools out there.”
One of my favourite parts of Destiny One is the ability to set up programs that aren't developed yet. We can use this for demand generation—see the interest in a course before we invest additional resources.
Beyond that, SAIT has seen impact from Destiny One’s abandoned shopping cart feature.
This functionality notices when a student fills their cart but doesn't complete the
purchase, and automatically prompts them to return to their cart and check out. Across
the Destiny One client base, this feature alone has driven an average revenue increase
of $24.9 million.
“I love the automation in Destiny One,” said Fair. “We can send communications to
prospective students who abandoned their shopping cart. We don’t have to think about
it, the tool does the engagement for us.”
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