The University of Dayton, one of the top Catholic universities in the nation, has had the same motto for the last 150 years: to learn, lead and serve. And serve they do, with over 10,000 students attending every year. With a diverse student population, the university has made it a priority to encourage students to become well-rounded future leaders by providing them with real-world skills.

The Enrollment Office is the department responsible for enrolling students from different cultures and socio-economic backgrounds. Robert Winger, Director of Enrollment Technology, understands better than anyone about the pressures faced by all departments (including marketing and admissions) to ensure the university establishes a rich and diverse student body.

Effective communication across all enrollment functions and projects is of the utmost importance, which is why Winger chose LiquidPlanner as the office’s go-to-collaboration tool.

The Enrollment Process: A Communications Challenge

The enrollment process at the university is both complex and time intensive. From the initial step of conducting a search to identify the right list of prospective students, through to the final stages of admissions, there’s a lot to be done. Winger soon realized that his team members were working within information silos, and lacked an understanding of one another’s ongoing work. This led him to LiquidPlanner, and he saw the benefits of improved collaboration right away.

Soon, the department was facilitating better communications between team members through deeper insights into various enrollment projects. In addition, LiquidPlanner allowed the executive team to quickly and easily check the status on key projects at the institution while prioritizing tasks across multiple projects.

“The student search process involves many steps and many people. It’s also an 18-month cycle, so things can get very complicated,” said Winger. “With the whole search process in LiquidPlanner, everyone could see who was contributing to their projects at every stage. The streamlined communications immediately saved time for our employees.”

Another reason the university chose LiquidPlanner was that it offered a web-based approach, making project management easier for both IT and department managers.

LiquidPlanner has proven to be so effective at the institution that Sundar Kumarasamy, Vice President for Enrollment Management, mandated that the solution be rolled out across other departments in the institution—specifically to improve communications. By using LiquidPlanner, each team member will know how project decisions will impact other team members, giving complete visibility across the board.

Developing Real-World Skills through Project Management

Students at the university benefit from LiquidPlanner even after they’ve been accepted. The University of Dayton uses LiquidPlanner’s portal functionality to provide students with insights into specific projects. For example, the marketing team may include several students in a core project and then allow students to update various tasks.

“Another thing I love about LiquidPlanner is its ability to help individuals plan their day,” said Winger. “The solution actually supports our highest mission to develop real-world leadership skills in our students through its ability to clearly prioritize tasks.”