Case Study: TargetX and Keene State College
TargetX Recruitment Suite led to faster application turnaround, happier staff, and greater productivity
Challenges: Admissions processes that require the use of multiple data systems and high levels of manual management
The Admissions staff at Keene State College were working hard, but not always efficiently. The college’s student prospect data existed across multiple systems and countless tasks needed to be completed manually. This process created frustration, wasted valuable time, and made working offsite difficult.
“When TargetX described what they could offer, I couldn’t believe we could be that integrated and automated,” says Peg Richmond, Director of Admissions at Keene State College. “Before we began working with TargetX, we needed to have two Virtual Private Networks open at the same time and be in two different systems to get our work done, which made it very challenging and annoying.”
Richmond was incredulous that certain challenges could be easily overcome with the TargetX Application Review. She explains it took time to grasp that tedious tasks, like indexing student information, could be completely automated.
She says, “It didn’t make sense to me that [students] could apply and then, the very next day, they could actually be complete. I kept saying, ‘No, you are not showing me where the indexing comes in, where you are connecting the student to the other material.’ I kept insisting that ‘somebody has to go in and attach the student to the document that came in.’ [TargetX staff] kept reassuring me. There was such a disconnect for me that this was going to be so automated. It just didn’t seem like it could be so easy.”
The Keene State staff soon learned that it was, in fact, that easy.
Solutions: The TargetX Application Review tool centralizes data, allows staff to work remotely, and aides in faster turnaround for application review and decision processing
Keene State invested in the TargetX Application Review tool, which is part of the TargetX Recruitment Suite.
The Application Review tool allows admissions staff to complete mobility when reviewing applications without the headache of lugging files when traveling or working remotely. This feature was an important benefit for the staff members on a day-to-day basis.
“The biggest difference for the staff was they were able to read applications from everywhere. I think that really clicked for people. It was so exciting,” says Richmond. “For example, we have a counselor who has a new baby. He is home and still able to read applications. We haven’t had to have any stops, which is great.”
Equally exciting for staff is that there is no longer any need to log in to multiple data systems. “It’s nice to have everything in one system. We can literally have everything loading into the system while we’re sleeping,” says Richmond.
Results: Keene State’s adoption of the TargetX Recruitment Suite leads to faster application turnaround, happier staff, and greater productivity
The Keene State staff are thrilled with how much faster the turnaround has been for application review and decision processing, and the safeguards in place to prevent errors.
The TargetX Application Review tool’s automation services have drastically slashed time spent on manual processing and review, Richmond says. “Normally, we would receive an application and begin processing within two weeks. Now, it’s within a day. Before, from submission to formal completion took a week. Now, if the documents are submitted within the day, it’s automatic. It’s done.”
She adds, “We also estimate that it used to take us 4-5 hours to get formal decision letters ready to mail. Now, it takes about an hour. And after eliminating indexing, we are saving 15-20 hours per day!”
Applicants eager to know if they’ve been accepted are also benefiting from timesaving; the TargetX Application Review tool alerts students about decisions almost instantaneously. “We believe we’ve cut down 50 percent on college students checking on the status of their applications. Now, we can just send an embedded link with no login required via email. Everything is done by the minute.”
Keene State College at a Glance
- A member of the University System of New Hampshire
- Located in Keene, New Hampshire
- 4,841 students
- Founded in 1909
- Home of the Owls
TargetX Solutions
Goals
Keene State College needed an integrated application review and decision system that:
- centralizes student data;
- aids in faster turnaround for application review and decision processing;
- allows for remote application review and candidate decisions; and
- supports a built-in checks and balances system to prevent human error