We’ve all heard the clichés: “change is inevitable” and “the only constant is change.” While technically true, these phrases often carry a negative connotation in higher education. Institutional discomfort and constant pressure are things most faculty and staff understandably seek to avoid. Often, we hide behind this avoidance to resist modernization, working harder to fight change than to embrace the opportunity to improve the student experience.

However, change doesn’t have to be a threat. By gaining a deep understanding of where your institution stands today and where it is headed in 2026, you can foster genuine excitement about transformation and use it as a catalyst for institutional health.

Educate and Prepare through Current State Process Improvement

In the complex landscape of a university, the best way to improve comfort with new initiatives is to educate and prepare. While it can be time-consuming to expose current “shadow processes” and departmental pain points, the value gained is immense.

Mapping the Current State allows us to understand not just what we do, but why we do it. Far too often, we facilitate workshops where stakeholders from the Registrar, Financial Aid, and IT realize they have no visibility into how their actions impact the student journey upstream or downstream. Through this discovery, we identify “quick hits”—inefficiencies that can be fixed today—while gaining a realistic understanding of why certain legacy hurdles exist (e.g., “this is how we’ve always done it” or specific accreditation regulations).

Think Ahead with Future State Planning

Once the current state is exposed, the next necessary step is planning your Future State. This isn’t about wishful thinking; it’s about a realistic representation of opportunity and growth for the institution.

Future state mapping balances institutional needs with the modern functionality of 2026 technology—like AI-driven student support and automated workflows—to optimize campus operations. As Albert Einstein said, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Your future state should be a blueprint for a more agile, student-centric organization.

Communication and Shared Governance

Using new technology to optimize campus processes is only successful if the people behind the processes are engaged. In academia, users may see new technology as a threat to their autonomy or job security. The reality is that the objective of modernization is not to replace the human element, but to eliminate the “administrative tax” on faculty and staff.

By clearly communicating that the goal is to make processes more efficient, you leave more time for high-value activities:

• Improved Student Service: More time for direct advising and mentorship.

• Academic Innovation: Shifting resources from manual data entry to research and teaching excellence.

• Institutional Sustainability: Significant cost reductions and closer compliance alignment.

• Higher Quality Experience: A seamless digital journey for students, from recruitment to graduation.

Overall, this value-add is made possible by combining a clear understanding of your Current State, a strategic Future State plan, and a holistic approach to Organizational Change Management.

Is your institution ready for the next step? Assess your organization’s readiness for change here
and learn more about our Higher Ed consulting services at tsi@transforming.com.

The post From Vision to Reality: Mapping the Future of Campus Operations appeared first on Transforming Solutions Inc..

As universities face the “enrollment cliff” and shifting fiscal realities, evaluating your operating model is essential. Here are five critical success factors to keep in mind for optimizing campus shared services in 2026:

1. Culture – Shifting to a Service-Oriented Mindset
When many campus SSCs started, it was essential to create a culture focused on operating with professional efficiency. This remains mission-critical in 2026. SSC leaders play a key role in bringing to life a value proposition that resonates with faculty, students, and staff alike. Academic units will continue to sign up for shared services only if the SSC achieves a steady track record of lower administrative burden, relevant subject matter expertise, and world-class service. Processes must be re-designed to focus on the student and faculty “customer” experience.

2. Continuous Improvement (CI)
This is a massive driver of success. Campus stakeholders want responsive service and reduced “shadow IT” or administrative bloat. SSC leaders must own end-to-end processes—such as the student lifecycle or grant administration—and focus on continuous improvement. Leveraging frameworks like Lean or Six Sigma provides the ROI and employee ownership needed to drive results. A key point: Measure everything. Balanced metrics and broad communication of successful milestones will sell your value to the Board and the Provost.

3. Technology, AI, and the Cloud
In 2026, you must go “all-in” on cloud technology and AI integration. The landscape is complex—modern ERPs, student information systems (SIS), AI-driven predictive analytics, and workflow automation. You cannot afford to operate without an up-to-date technology strategy. Spreading the costs and benefits of these tools across multiple academic and business units lessens the risk and increases the odds of achieving institutional goals.

4. Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
SLAs are a necessary continuation of your improvement efforts. It is a worthwhile exercise to develop and iterate comprehensive SLAs that include in-scope services, turn-around times, quality of outputs, and clear dispute resolution. In a university setting, these must be balanced—they should provide accountability without becoming overly bureaucratic or rigid, ensuring they support the academic mission rather than hindering it.

5. Centers of Excellence (COEs)
Determining your institution’s operating model is one of the most challenging tasks. What are your core competencies? Which functions—such as HR, Finance, or Research Administration—should be shared across the entire university system versus kept within a specific college? As processes become standardized, they are prime candidates for a COE. However, high-touch areas like specialized faculty research support may require local subject matter expertise. Collaboration across the institution will provide the guidance needed to strike this balance.

Evolving your institutional operating model to optimize shared services in 2026 can pay handsome dividends. By keeping these success factors in mind, you can increase your odds of long-term sustainability.

Contact TSI at tsi@transforming.com to learn how we help institutions navigate these transformations.

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If you are like most business and technology leaders, you have probably lost a few hours of sleep over one or more critical projects during your career. Even when projects seem to be on track, your internal radar might be warning you that all might not be OK on the risk management front.

In my experience leading a $300 million IT portfolio for a Fortune 100 company, two things stood out during our transformation:

1. Virtually all projects had “green” status reports, while feedback suggested the contrary.

2. Daily fire drills indicated actual risk levels were much higher than those being reported.

Sound familiar? If so, where is a good place to start tackling the root causes of project risk? TSI has developed a Project Health-Check methodology to help you regain control.

Here are 9 key focal points for evaluating project risk in your organization today:

1. Sponsorship Required – Obtain the highest level of sponsorship possible (CXO Level). You are about to make some people uncomfortable; you’re going to need the support.
2. Divide and Conquer – Categorize your portfolio (e.g., tactical vs. strategic) and assign ownership to capable portfolio managers (PMs) responsible for mitigating risks.
3. Prioritize –Identify the top 20% of projects that are mission-critical. Prioritize these for quick “Fly-by” Health-checks and follow-up Deep Dives.
4. Set Health-check Guidelines – Assess potential risks across these four key dimensions:
   • Technology Risk: Scalability, user requirements, vendor support, and modern data/system security.
   • Business Risk (Includes people and process): Impact on operations, customer experience, and end-user buy-in.
   • Financial Risk: Failure to achieve the targeted ROI or budget overruns.
   • Legal Risk: Potential disputes or litigation with employees, vendors, or competitors.
5. Integrate – Embed the Health-check process into your Program Management Office (PMO) and align it with your phase gates.
6. Develop Reporting – Use easy-to-understand templates. Utilize stoplights and directional arrows to indicate risk on a summary page, supported by detailed action plans in the appendix.
7. Pilot Phase – Pilot this approach on a handful of projects to demonstrate immediate value and “proof of concept.”
8. Govern the Initiative – Convene an empowered decision-making body to address urgent developments and manage escalations.
9. Talent –Utilize experienced IT and business risk assessment personnel to assure fast and effective results.

A proactive Health-check process makes a massive difference in project outcomes—and in your ability to get a more restful night’s sleep. At TSI, we continue to provide this assistance to a wide range of clients across many different types of projects.

Check out our Project Health Assessment and contact us today to learn more.

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Through repetition, successes, and errors, as well as guidance from the Project Management Institute (PMI), my hypothesis was proven accurate. At the time, I was checking the boxes and reaping the rewards. Yet, not every Project Manager saw the same success. Was I that much better at managing projects than my peers? Or was something in the system hindering them from realizing success?

The Ecosystem of Project and Portfolio Management

Not until I moved into consulting (and began holistically working with organizations of all shapes and sizes) did I conclude that the approach of managing projects was not as singularly focused as I once thought. Rather, there is a much more complex “ecosystem” in which project managers operate.

In 2026, this ecosystem is the key to truly effective project management, and truly effective project management is a key input to the ecosystem. Although many organizations understand this concept, they often struggle to materialize its value in an increasingly automated and data-driven landscape.

PPM Defined

Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) is the foundation of the project management ecosystem. According to the PMI Community, “Project Portfolio Management is the centralized management of one or more portfolios, and involves identifying, prioritizing, authorizing, managing, and controlling projects, programs, and other related work, to achieve specific strategic business objectives.”

PPM is not a new concept, but it has blossomed alongside the rise of shared service centers like the Program Management Office (PMO) and the ongoing shift of transforming IT organizations from cost centers into value centers.

The PPM Hierarchy 

At TSI, I’ve helped organizations understand their current state of PPM capabilities and evolve using our PPM Maturity Hierarchy. Whether an organization currently sits at Level 1 or Level 3, the goal is to evolve toward Level 4 Optimization and beyond to stay competitive.

Level 1 – Infancy: Organizations in the Infancy stage manage projects reactively, focusing only on individual execution. Leadership often scrambles to stay on top of daily demands. Work is captured project-by-project with little transparency into synergies or risks. In 2026, this lack of visibility often leads to significant “technical debt” and wasted resources.

Level 2 – Emerging Discipline: This stage replaces isolated decision-making with the identification of the best collection of projects. Organizations at this stage successfully prioritize and align projects with their 2026 strategic initiatives.

Level 3 – Initial Integration/Value Management: At this stage, organizations introduce technology, models, and tools to quantify the value derived from projects. This allows them to identify which initiatives in the pipeline provide the most “bang for your buck.” Proactive, standardized PPM enables value-driven decision-making.

Level 4 – Optimization: Here, the focus shifts to maturing PPM capabilities through optimized processes, analytics, and quantitative metrics. In 2026, this often includes leveraging automated data flows to improve value creation in real-time.

Level 5 – Innovation: At this most advanced stage, PPM has full buy-in from executive leadership. It is a core competency that utilizes best practices. The organization is focused on continuous innovation, ensuring they are not just “doing things right,” but “doing the right things” as the market shifts.

Is your organization looking to take the next step in Project and Portfolio Management?  Do you have questions on where to get started? If you’d like to brainstorm with one of TSI’s consultants, or have any questions on how we help organizations similar to yours, feel free to reach out to me directly at dfeely@transforming.com. You can also visit our website at transforming.com for more information.

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As we move through the first half of 2026, the global economic outlook is characterized by a “range of possibilities.” While global growth is projected to hold steady at around 3.2%, many organizations are navigating a slowing labor market and the pressure to realize meaningful productivity gains from AI adoption. Like many of you, we at TSI recognize the frustration of operating in an environment where interest rates remain high and trade tensions create persistent “policy uncertainty.”

The current conditions have facilitated a necessary analysis of the status quo. In 2026, we must question the validity of strategies and tactics that have seemingly worked for years but may no longer hold up against rapid technological compression and shifting workforce expectations. Is there a responsible way to use this period of uncertainty to improve—or clean up—practices within your organization?

At TSI, through our participation on boards and our deep work with clients, we have identified a number of pragmatic opportunities. As you will read, many experts suggest taking a “contrarian” approach: using this turmoil as a burning platform to drive needed organizational changes. Simply put, do not waste a period of volatility by failing to drive requisite change throughout your organization.

Based on our research and consulting practice, here are the changes we are seeing forward-thinking organizations prioritize in 2026:

DRIVE REVENUE – Now is the time for a sense of urgency. Move opportunities that have been lingering in the pipeline to “closed/won” status. Look for ways to expand your presence with existing clients who are looking for stable, trusted partners to help them navigate these bumps in the road.

REDUCE OPEX – Nearly every organization we see has unused or duplicate applications—often a “hangover” from rapid digital shifts. Now is the time to prune the application inventory, eliminate “Shadow IT,” and save unnecessary OPEX.

PROVE YOUR LOYALTY – Your most important employees, vendors, and customers need to know you are “in it for the long haul.” Use tailored communication strategies to reconnect and demonstrate that you are building a resilient future together.

MITIGATE RISK – Audit your AR aging reports and act now on accounts that are 90+ days old. In an era of discerning capital, liquidity and risk mitigation are paramount.

FINISH WHAT YOU START – What is your organization’s ratio of started projects to finished projects? Avoid “initiative fatigue” by implementing demonstrable change. Pick something small, visible, and achievable within 30 days. Give key project members the resources and dedicated time they need to cross the finish line.

ELIMINATE UNNECESSARY PRACTICES – Scrutinize the work being performed relative to the end results you need in 2026. If a manual spreadsheet or redundant data entry process doesn’t add value in an automated world, eliminate it.

UPGRADE TALENT & AI FLUENCY – As the labor market shifts, take advantage of the surplus in talent by hiring key personnel for your underperforming areas. Ensure your current team is building the “Power Skills” (empathy, judgment, and ethical reasoning) that AI cannot replicate.

EVALUATE INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS – Proactively renegotiate real estate leases or cloud infrastructure contracts. As occupancy rates and digital costs stabilize into new patterns, organizations that move early are finding significant capital to reinvest.

In summary, when you consider the forces altering our view of “normalcy”—from market volatility to the rapid rise of agentic AI—many long-standing paradigms are no longer valid. Yet many organizations have not fundamentally evaluated how they operate. Regardless of whether you require an “outsider” to assist you, we suggest that now is the right time for your organization to do exactly that!

Click here to learn more about TSI’s services and how our team can help your organization thrive in the face of uncertainty.

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The post The growing need for a Customer Excellence mindset in Higher Education appeared first on Transforming Solutions Inc..

I was catching up on quite a bit of periodical reading recently.  For me, this typically includes a wide range of sources ranging from HBR, CIO Magazine, Chronicles of Higher Education, Forbes, Fortune along with other interesting articles that pop up on LinkedIn.

I was surprised how there seems to be an abundance of articles about culture. Whether it was organizational or corporate culture, changing culture, assessing your culture – I could barely get through two or three articles before another culture-related article came up.

Now, I wish I could say that I am an expert in culture. I’m not. I am, however, an aficionado of culture. I love learning about an organization, usually about a prospective client, and getting the feeling that something really special is going on. Something intangible that seems to drive every person in the room forward. Maybe it is the buzz of a fast-growing startup or the energy around some recent transformation or breakthrough. But there is something in the air at these organizations, and it is more substantive than a “blinged out” office space or a cool logo.

The energy that is so hard to capture and define is similar to that you may experience when watching (or participating on) a sports team that surprises its fans with a come from behind win, especially, if it were one of your favorite underdog teams (Go Cubs!). Somehow, the teams have found a magical formula and pull off a victory when you least expect it.

Building on this, there are two scenarios that I am particularly intrigued by:

1. A team that goes from “worst to first” in just one short year, or
2. The team that is seemingly always at the top.

We all know that competition, both in and outside of the “business world” is hard.  Market forces and economic cycles require more than just a change in plans and tactics. They require the DNA of an organization to change while balancing so many characteristics that will enable the organization to thrive during these volatile and competitive times.  

So how do these “winning” organizations defy the odds?    

As I was preparing to write this, I scoured quite a few sources of information and insight that I’ll share below to save you time. But, to get started, I will highlight the top factors that jumped out to me, pertaining to developing a winning culture. These may benefit you if you are looking to make a rapid turnaround or stay on top:

“But this time, without ever describing their efforts as ‘cultural change,’ top management began with a few interventions. These interventions led to small but significant behavioral changes that, in turn, revitalized Aetna’s culture while preserving and championing its strengths.  And this point: Focus on a few critical shifts in behavior.“

Jon Katzenbach – Culture Change that Sticks

Often, we may hear about some initiative, originating out of a certain department and eyes roll and skepticism builds. However, the pragmatic focus on a few, small, but critical items that make a difference can begin to create momentum upon which larger change can be built on. Katzenbach’s perspective validates that we don’t need to take a “big bang” approach to culture change. In fact, perhaps “less” is “more”.

Know that valid self-analysis is crucial for improvement.

John Wooden – 8 Rules for Success

Few organizations really know, beyond, their financial performance, what their true operating performance or customer experience is like. Those that embed this self-analysis into their culture are rare and should be commended for investing in this area.

Critical “self-analysis” does not require bench-marking and can be very basic in nature. But starting with a solid baseline that defines, accurately and honestly, where the organization is – where it is thriving and where it is struggling – will serve as a natural and great platform to begin your improvement roadmap.

Turn the mundane into the sacred.

Coach Phil Jackson – 11 Principle’s for Mindful Leadership

At the risk of bringing culture “back to the basics”, think about some of the basic tasks we do all of the time:

1. Have a meeting
2. Serve customers
3. Have “everyday interactions” with employees
4. Transact business with vendors.

If these four items were primary inputs that one would use to define your organization’s culture, how would it be measured? Considering using these four areas within your span of responsibility to reinvent culture so that your organization becomes the organization you are proud of. Who knows – maybe it will rub off on other areas.

“Success is not all about talent. It’s about dependability, consistency, being coach-able and understanding what you need to do to improve.”

Bill Belichick, of the perennial favorite New England Patriots

When I get a chance to work with different organizations, I find it relatively easy to get a sense of how dependable, consistent and coachable an organization is, simply based on the senior leadership I interact with. If these three are absent, as you can predict, changing culture won’t happen. Change won’t happen. Great performance may happen, but likely only for a short term.

Think about your organization’s dependability, consistency and coach-ability and that will tell you a lot about the culture and readiness for change.

Hopefully, this article resonated with you. Feel free to pass this on to friends and colleagues. And for more like this, check out our other articles here.

Lastly, if your organization happens to have any potential project needs, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us here.

References:

• https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidrock/2019/05/24/fastest-way-to-change-culture/
• https://www.mckinsey.com/about-us/new-at-mckinsey-blog/want-to-reinvent-your-business-start-with-culture
• https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-implementation/our-insights/how-the-implementation-of-organizational-change-is-evolving
• https://hbr.org/2012/07/cultural-change-that-sticks

The post Change Culture by NOT Changing Culture appeared first on Transforming Solutions Inc..

By Dan Feely, TSI President and Managing Partner

Digital transformation projects should be straightforward: select a system, implement it, and improve how the business operates. In reality, they often take longer than expected, cost more than planned, and leave leaders wondering, “Why was this so hard?”

After supporting more than 100 major ERP, CRM, and digital transformation initiatives, we’ve seen the same challenges surface again and again. And as organizations increasingly layer in analytics, automation, and AI, the cost of getting the fundamentals wrong only grows.

Specifically in this post, I’ll highlight the top 3 factors that arise that make digital transformation programs and initiatives more of a challenge than they should be.  Also, we’ve shared a few thoughts about what you can do to prevent or mitigate a less than positive situation related to the factors.

The 3 Biggest Blockers to Digital Transformation Success:

1. Lack of a Big Picture Perspective

Many organizations struggle to articulate how people, processes, and systems should work together in the future state.

As Chris Detloff, Director of Transformation at the Archdiocese of Chicago, puts it: “Transformation leaders must take a solution-based approach — people, process, and technology.”

When technology decisions lead the conversation, transformation efforts lose focus and momentum.

Here is a practical move:

• Create a high-level future-state process map before selecting tools
• Define a small set of business-critical outcomes that the transformation must achieve

As AI-enabled tools enter the picture, this clarity becomes even more important. AI should support clearly defined workflows and decisions, not introduce new complexity without purpose.

2. Unclear Process Details. How Will Work Actually Flow?

Having a vision is not enough. Organizations must understand how work is done today and how it needs to change. 

Process mapping clarifies who does what, where automation makes sense, and where inefficiencies exist. Without this foundation, advanced tools, including AI, often accelerate existing problems rather than solve them.

Practical move:

• Map current-state processes before designing future-state solutions
• Use customer or stakeholder experience to inform requirements

Applying automation to poorly understood processes rarely delivers meaningful improvement.

3. Weak Execution Discipline — The Project Doesn’t Run Itself

Transformation initiatives fail when accountability, ownership, and governance are unclear.

As Kerri S. Wagner, President & CEO of PharmChem, notes, complex implementations involve many actors, shifting priorities, and competing demands. Without disciplined project leadership, momentum stalls.

AI-driven initiatives raise the stakes even further, impacting roles, data ownership, and decision rights.

Practical move:

• Assign dedicated project leadership
• Establish clear governance and escalation paths
• Treat change management as a core workstream, not an afterthought

A Reality Check for 2026: Data and Decisions Matter More Than Tools

Most transformation failures are not software failures; they are data and decision failures.

Poor data quality, unclear ownership, and weak governance undermine even the most capable platforms. AI amplifies these weaknesses just as much as it amplifies opportunity.

Final Thought

Digital transformation succeeds when leaders treat it as a business redesign, not a software installation.

Organizations that align vision, process detail, disciplined execution, and data readiness are the ones that realize lasting value.

Want to pressure-test your organization’s readiness? Explore TSI’s free Change Readiness Survey and see where your transformation stands.

The post The Challenges of Digital Transformation appeared first on Transforming Solutions Inc..

2025
Wrapped

Friends of TSI – Thank You and Welcome to 2026!

With the holiday season behind us and a new year ahead, we hope you enjoyed a meaningful close to 2025 and are off to a great start in 2026. From all of us at TSI, thank you for your continued partnership, engagement, and support.

2025 brought its share of ups and downs, but it was also a year of meaningful progress and impact. Across corporations, universities, and nonprofits, we worked side-by-side with clients on organizational change, technology strategy, process improvement, and training initiatives that truly advanced their missions. We’re especially grateful to those who shared our work with peers and helped open doors to new conversations and collaborations.

As we look to 2026, we’re energized by what’s ahead — new challenges, deeper partnerships, and opportunities to keep transforming how organizations think, work, and grow. We look forward to staying connected and continuing this important work with you.

A Year in Review
2025 Highlights

Client Retention and Long-Term Partnerships
Maintained a 90%+ repeat client rate through ongoing MSAs and multi-year engagements, reflecting strong client trust and measurable outcomes.

Team and Capability Expansion
Expanded our experienced consulting team to strengthen strategy, change, and digital transformation capabilities and capacity

Growth in Faith-Based and Nonprofit Sector
Deepened impact in the faith-based and nonprofit sector through a large-scale archdiocese technology transformation to modernize parish operations across 200+ locations.

Innovation and AI Enablement
Launched AI-assisted agents to improve our clients’ operating efficiency, customer experience, and knowledge management.

Expanded Higher Education Portfolio
Delivered systemwide IT, CRM, and ERP modernization initiatives for universities across the U.S., helping institutions strengthen governance, streamline operations, and prepare for cloud-based transformation.

18 Successful Organizational & Digital Transformations

360+ Processes Improved, Delivering Thousands oh Hours in Efficiency Gains

90+ Teams Supported – Onsite, Virtual, and Hybrid

50+ Process Improvement, Project Management, and OCM Workshops Delivered

OUR PEOPLE

Moments That Mattered

❤️ Thank you to all team members who made 2025 incredible

THE FUTURE
TSI’s 2026 Goals

✳️ Deliver Measurable Client Impact and Value
Continue achieving TSI’s benchmark of 400–600% ROI for clients through stronger governance, operational efficiency, and sustainable cost optimization.

✳️ Scale AI-Enabled Consulting
Integrate advanced AI-driven analytics, reporting, and automation into all TSI projects to accelerate insight generation and improve decision-making.

✳️ Enhance Implementation Capabilities
Extend TSI’s offerings beyond strategy and assessment to include implementation oversight, change management, managed PM, Process Improvement, OCM, and AI services for sustained client outcomes.

✳️ Deepen Systemwide Transformation Work
Build on 2025 successes by expanding systemwide IT and governance reviews for statewide, public, and multi-campus systems nationwide.

✳️ Expand in Mission-Driven Markets
Broaden TSI’s presence among faith-based, nonprofit, and educational organizations pursuing modernization, constituent engagement, and digital transformation.

✳️ Invest in People and Continue Expertise Enrichment
Advance staff expertise in service delivery areas while deepening education channels with key solution providers (while remaining independent).

Looking For a Transformation Partner?

Email us to get started. It takes the right combination of capacity to do the work, along with expertise, objectivity, and a mindset to get work done. TSI has a great track record of helping organizations change their processes, technology, and ultimately their results. Let’s see if we are the right fit for you.

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to your network and thank you for taking the time to stay connected with TSI. For offerings and services please email tsi@transforming.com.

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter here.

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The topic of whether universities and colleges should view their students, alumni and donors (Constituents) like customers is a debate that has been taking place for many years. Recently, TSI has noticed this debate is occurring with increasing frequency, especially in light of our recent Customer Experience training. Now more than ever seems to be the right time to continue the discussion of how to best utilize customer service/experience philosophies when working with Higher Education constituents.

The Challenge of Looking at Higher Education Constituents as Customers

Historically, many leaders in Higher Education abhor the thought of students as customers for many valid reasons. Anecdotally, I have found that the perception of Higher Education towards the concept of a customer is that customers are a number; customers are people that must be solicited or won over, and you need to sell to customers. Additionally, some feel that the merit of education should be separated from a financial transaction usually associated with being a customer.

In treating your constituents like customers, Higher Education institutions may feel pressure to lower their standards and values. While some of this vitriol may be warranted, Higher Education institutions should not dismiss important Customer Experience concepts since these can improve the service to their constituents.

The growing need for Customer Service in Higher Education

A critical factor in today’s higher education landscape is the continued decline in student enrollment across Title IV institutions in the United States. According to recent data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, postsecondary enrollment has been steadily decreasing, with undergraduate enrollment falling by nearly 8% between 2019 and 2022. This trend reflects a shrinking pool of traditional college-aged students, a rise in alternative education pathways, and shifting societal attitudes toward the value of a degree.

Higher education institutions are now competing not only with other universities and colleges (including for-profit and non-degree granting programs) but also with various career, social, and online education options, such as bootcamps, certifications, and skill-based training platforms like Coursera and LinkedIn Learning.

This competition extends beyond just recruiting new students. Alumni and donor engagement are increasingly critical for sustaining revenue. Institutions that fail to excel in student recruitment, alumni engagement, and fundraising risk flatlining or declining revenue streams. This, in turn, forces reductions in operational and capital expenditures, creating a feedback loop of restricted budgets and limited resources for future growth and engagement.

To counteract these challenges, innovative leaders in higher education are taking cues from the private sector. Businesses, particularly in competitive industries, are focusing on customer-centric approaches to foster loyalty and growth. They are investing in high-impact customer service strategies to create differentiated experiences that not only retain existing customers but also attract new ones.

So why should students/alumni/donors be viewed any differently than a business would view its customers?

Starting with the similarities:

1. Both are consumers – Students and customers are consumers of the product that is produced by the associated institution. For example, a student, when not in class, is consuming goods and services. Regardless of how the institution wants to classify these individuals, they define themselves as consumers since they pay, what they feel is a very high amount of money, in exchange for a service. As a result, they have high expectations for this service.

Think about how vocal students are when their Wi-Fi is slow; the course registration process has errors and/or takes too long; or the food in the Café does not meet their standards. Each of these seemingly small occurrences can influence how the student will share their experiences with their friends or peers, especially via social media, which enables other potential students to form their opinions as to whether they want to attend that institution.

A great example of Higher Education institutions appealing to their constituents that closely aligns with Customer Experience principles is through their athletics programs. There is no denying that in many major Universities in the United States, their football programs have become very proficient in marketing themselves to gain the best recruits, develop a rabid fan base, and ultimately profit from this fan base. Universities do not need to go all the way to this extreme; Higher Education administrators can still learn valuable lessons looking at how Athletic programs are appealing to their constituents.

2. Variety of appeals – People are constantly bombarded via social media, television, movies, newspapers, magazines and other channels to donate to this organization, or be a customer of that organization. This makes it very difficult for a single organization to “Cut through the noise”. I particularly like Forbes contributor, John Hall, advice to “Invest in your company leaders’ brands”.  Specifically, the leaders who had “invested time and resources in building their brands were attracting more attention from investors and even other participants.” Replace investors with students or donors, and this statement is fit for Higher Education. Of course, the question is how to build your brand. That is another topic for a different day.

Now, the key differences between Higher Education Constituents and customers:

1. Regulatory implications—Higher Education institutions that offer Title IV funding for their students are subject to rigorous federal and state regulations and policies that determine how the university interacts with the student and tracks the student’s outcomes. In addition, FERPA regulations strictly define how institutions are to maintain and protect student information. The closest parallel to this is in Healthcare, which is going through a similar debate with the Patient vs. Customer paradigm.

2. Student / Donor Lifecycle – Students have a unique lifecycle within Higher Education. At a high level, the lifecycle of a Customer involves attraction to the product, successfully completing the transaction, and maintaining a relationship to generate future transactions. The student lifecycle, at the same high level, has a few more steps in the process:

1. Becomes attracted to a particular college or university;
2. Applies to the university;
3. Is accepted by the university;
4. Completes required degree coursework, and ultimately;
5. Graduates from the university with their desired degree.

This process differs from the Donor lifecycle, which only begins when the Student lifecycle ends. The need for Higher Education to do more and more advancement work (fundraising) has required Schools to be cultivating relationships long past graduation, to aid in the fundraising needed to fill growing state funding gaps. In short, the student/alumni lifecycle is more complex, and needs to be treated as such.

The Donor lifecycle can be equally complex. Appeals for donations to a University can not only span years, but also can span generations. This requires extensive planning, communication and patience on the side of a university that often most businesses are not willing to invest.

So, what is the answer?

The answer to whether Higher Education institutions should view their Students, Alumni or Donors as Customers when discussing Customer Service in Higher Education is yes… and no.

Valuable lessons can be learned from the customer experiences of private businesses. Colleges and Universities do not need to feel like they are compromising their mission or selling their soul by considering the “personas” of their constituent base and defining differentiating experiences and processes that personify the “brand” of the institution.  The key however, is to really know your constituents including each of their objectives and the “moments that matter” to them.

When looking at how to improve Student enrollment and drive Alumni engagement and Donor interest, understanding how to serve them in a way that will lead to a truly differentiated experience is where to spend time and resources. However, if Higher Education institutions try to blindly apply all concepts from private businesses’ customer service practices without understanding how your constituents are different, they will create problems with their students, alumni, and donors. I would be incorrect if I said that these concepts are new to Higher Education and are not being practiced at all today.

What can you do for TSI, and vice versa?

It’s simple – help us help you. We at TSI always like to hear new and innovative ways that institutions are applying Customer Experience concepts to their customer service in Higher Education.  Please let us know:

• What did you think of this summary? And;
• What is your greatest challenge or achievement in providing a differentiated service to your constituents?

If you are interested in learning how your institution can apply Customer Experience concepts to student recruitment, donor engagement, and your advancement activities, contact us to discuss various approaches that can make a difference.

The post Adopting a “Customer Service” Mindset in Higher Education appeared first on Transforming Solutions Inc..