For years now, we have been hearing that the education industry is rapidly changing, at every level.

There is a huge competition between colleges and universities for the student’s enrolment. Nowadays, students are considering how easy it is to interact with universities or educational institutes when they select the university to be the door to their future.

Universities/Institutes also realized that creating a great student experience requires technological transformation, and hence they see Salesforce.org Education Cloud as a platform to give them the complete solution from counseling and admissions to student success through to alumni.

As we know, Salesforce org solutions start with data models geared at specific sectors. Higher Education Data Architecture (HEDA) model is one of them, which is the base structure of Education Cloud.

Salesforce Advisor Link (or SAL), built on the foundation of HEDA, is a major step forward and one that will be a pillar in student engagement.

If I cast my memory back to my old university days, the first thing I remember is the high amount of paper needed for any process, endless queuing at the secretary’s office for any query or information, fee submission, queuing for any type of monitoring.

Salesforce Advisor Link and its Uses-

We can categorize SAL as per below mentioned two parts-:

1. Student’s Experience
2. Advisor’s Experience

The Student’s Experience

Since SAL is developed on the Salesforce EDA Platform, students can access it whenever they need it from an iPhone or Android device and can get every relevant information.

Students need such type of solution system that enable easier interactions with the university staff, including:

1. Management: to request for an extra class or changes in timetable, change of tutor, report any grievances etc.
2. Follow-up: they want to know status of their requests, apply for scholarships, transfers, and placements, etc.
3. Accessibility: students can access their requests to track and cancel them from their phone in whenever they want.

Benefits of Salesforce Advisor Link for students –

• Single point of contact: Using student portal they can access details and view key points regarding their mentoring program. The portal is mobile-friendly, and they can not only view but create and edit information and requests.
• Accessibility of assigned advisor or advisory team: Can view whether they have a single advisor or advisory team. It helps them to know their contact points based on their required advisory function like technological, academic, or tuition fee related, scholarships, mobility, etc. In fact, depending on the consultation type, the team or individual will be assigned automatically.
• Schedule Meetings: Standing in long queues, reached to the office before it opens, having to sign a noticeboard to get notifications and schedule changes, etc. are now past. With SAL, students can simply select a meeting time, review feedback sent by their tutors, communicate, and manage time efficiently and productively, without worrying about misplacing slips of paper or missed notifications.
• Self-help: Through the portal, students can access the self-help section which has information on campus related FAQs, both general (documentation, campus map, administrative procedures, etc.), and all details are segmented by the type of student (my subjects, my course, my calendar, etc.). SAL also provides a single place to look for information, so they can use the portal to see what tasks their advisor has assigned and start a dialogue if they have any questions.

The Advisor’s Experience

To perform their role, advisors typically have to access several digital platforms and search through papers to get a detailed view of students’ lives and provide complete advice. In fact, they often have to play other roles within the university, and there’s little time left to do a proper job of providing personalized advice as per the need of every student. As a result, it becomes more of an administrative formality than a quality, customized service.

Salesforce Advisor Link means advisors have only one source of data and establishes a communication channel between them and their students which facilitates student management and brings value to the sessions between the two.

It means advisors can take care of what really matters, report and scale their advice, and build trusting relationships.

Benefits of Salesforce Advisor Link for advisors –

360º Vision

With the help of SAL complete 360-degree view, anyone can see what is happening with students without needing any additional system access.

Advisory Team

The advisory team may consist of one or more advisors which depend on how the mentoring program is established. It enables fluid communication for mentors and students as they can get answers to their questions, solutions to their problems, and to whom they should address – all from one place. Standardized work procedures are established among all the mentors to achieve goals and enable everyone to work in the same way.

Early Alerts and Notifications

You can get notifications of potential risks and formalities with your students. In case manual, detected by one mentor to alert another team member, or automatic (generate from the management of other systems such as SIS, LMS or Salesforce itself), which facilitate advisors being able to work more effectively.

Session Scheduling

Meetings can be scheduled easily by student or mentor, from a browser or mobile device, and reminders can be sent. Advisors can define topics of sessions, establish availability, and manage their day, consult notes, and prepare for sessions from a single place. Students can request a meeting and modify it as per their availability. They can also add sessions to their daily calendar from their phone.

Session Results

Prepare notes and upload session files that provide student and mentor follow-up. Overall view lets you take the required steps, assignment, or tasks sharing between teams.

A Personal Plan-of-Action for Student Success

Engage students with a personal plan and check where the student is along that plan. Success plans allow an advisor to create a path to success by preparing a document for the student. Support network of student creates a road map which student should take to achieve his or her goals. This gives an idea of what are the courses need to get a degree and the actual plan need to do so.

Organize Goals and Assignments

Document and outline activities to create pathways for students to achieve their goals.

High-Touch Experience

Usage of templates to create plans, scale overall onboarding programs and send text messages for deadline.

Mass Emails

Thanks to Salesforce Advisor Link, which provides the facility of mass emails. The same email message can be sent to multiple students who meet the criteria. This means advisors can create mass actions and monitor tasks or tasks for students, which is a great time saver and ensure that students are clear on the next steps and plans for success.