Continuing education (CE) and workforce development (WFD) solutions comprise purpose-built software designed to support the management of students enrolled in noncredit, non-degree-seeking courses and programs. CE/WFD solutions enable institutions to administer nontraditional programs by supporting specialized requirements for registration, enrollment and credit card payments associated with short-track courses or programs that are not aligned with traditional scheduling terms and time frames. For clarity, these software solutions are focused on supporting the administration of CE/WFD programs and student records.
Gartner defines catalog and curriculum management solutions as the systems of record for degree and nondegree program requirements. These solutions automate and augment the procedures and processes used by higher education institutions to create, update and manage course catalogs, educational programs, course descriptions and curriculum structures. Catalog and curriculum management solutions support workflow around course design, proposal review, approvals for course, program and curriculum information. They track key attributes and dependencies (such as prerequisites) and map courses to curriculum, documenting and enforcing institutional governance and quality assurance. They create and synchronize the course catalog for display on the institution’s website and support curriculum planning and course logistics for degree and nondegree programs. Functionality may also support course, program and institutional assessment and accreditation.
Gartner defines student information system (SIS) software as a service (SaaS) as a core system of record for higher education institutions that serves as the central hub for storing, organizing and processing student academic and administrative activities. The SIS supports student, faculty and staff-facing functionality, including management of information assets, while also supporting back-end administrative functionality. SIS SaaS is delivered under a pay-for-use basis or as a subscription license model (with regular updates), where application support and infrastructure provisioning and management are the responsibility of the vendor. Serving the students, faculty and administrative staff, the SIS provides a chronology of business transactions, academic activity, advising interactions and educational outcomes. Additionally, it manages vital information assets, including course offerings, course catalogs, course registration, student accounts, financial aid, grades and transcripts throughout the student life cycle. The SIS may be part of a larger administrative ERP application suite and a critical component of an education institution’s larger digital technology platform.
Higher education alumni advancement platforms support activities related to alumni and donor relations, communications, marketing, and fundraising. The functionality is often quite broad, as it includes system of record (SOR) back-office functions (i.e., demographic records and gift processing); system-of-engagement functions (i.e., alumni networking and communication between the institution and constituents [e.g., graduates, donors, stewards, parents, community members]) and analytics functions (i.e., campaign ROI analysis and donor giving propensity scores. Higher education alumni advancement platforms play a crucial role in managing communication, engagement and fundraising activities. They significantly contribute to the enduring success and sustainability of educational institutions by cultivating strong relationships within an efficient and streamlined framework.