Inspiring a new generation of global citizens
THE CHALLENGE
School for Field Studies is a premier environmental study abroad program. Located in 10 different centers around the world, ranging from the Australian rainforest to Panama, each study abroad program provides its own distinct experience and ecosystem. SFS works to process student applications and guide applicants through an admissions process for these study abroad programs held throughout their various locations over the globe in an effort to instill environmental literacy among young people in the United States.
School for Field Studies had been experiencing limitations with their previous CRM and was struggling to make updates to their legacy system. They had reached the limitations of the previous platform and were stuck in manual workarounds with limited fields available and reporting capabilities. In their prior system, SFS wasn’t able to access a notes field to capture important information about their schools. Not to mention when they would go on visits, there was no easy way to make updates to this information. As seen in so many organizations, they felt trapped in silos using stand-alone spreadsheets. This is what ultimately motivated SFS to search for a solution that could grow and evolve with their changing needs. SFS came to Prolocity seeking ways to make changes and updates to existing parts of an application, acquire a database that supports a growing data model with a single source of truth, and a student-facing portal to complete the admission process with ease.
THE SOLUTION
Nonprofit Success Pack
Experience Cloud
Custom Application Process
Form Titan
Prolocity built out 45 unique forms and implemented a new system for SFS that not only supports the programs they offer but one that provides ease of access for applicants. The application itself and subsequent application items that support the admissions process have all been revamped in an external-facing Experience Site (or Community) where students can progress through all of the admissions steps.
“I sincerely appreciate the work performed by the Prolocity team in achieving our phase 1 goals on time. This project was complex and very customized to meet our needs. I want to give special thanks to Marci Noonan for her attention to detail and constant professionalism while maintaining a friendly and hopeful disposition. Every member of the SFS team that Marci worked with shares my opinion. I cannot overstate the amount of positive feedback I have received regarding Marci and the database as it stands. While we are still working to develop new processes and ironing out some kinks, we are extremely satisfied and look forward to working with this team on our future phases.”
- Darren Childs, Global IT Manager, School For Field Studies
THE RESULTS
360° View Of Data
Improved Data Management
Expanded Program Involvement
Increased Control and Visability
Reduced Internal Admin Time
Increased Student Accessibility
Leveraging Experience Cloud components and a custom lightning web component, applicants can view the status of their application and can complete all program-specific admissions steps required for enrollment into a program. The internal admissions staff also has insight into what steps have been completed and what is remaining for each student interested in a study abroad program. This visibility into the admissions process, both from the student perspective and admissions staff, has reduced friction, saved time, and reduced manual intervention in the admission process.
The process for students to apply is as follows:
- A student self-registers for the community from the SFS website. This creates the Contact, Community User, and a shell Application record for the student.
- The Student can log into the community, access their application, and complete it.
- Internal Admissions can now start processing the application and move it through various stages.
- Certain stages of the application release additional items for the student to complete (i.e. emergency contact form, financial aid form, etc), some of which are specific to the program the student has applied for.
- Finally, the Student can then complete these outstanding items via their community login and by way of a 3rd party form tool and await their results.
School for Field Studies is changing the game in how they do things, leading to an even more impactful program. Future phases are planned with SFS + Prolocity to further their data and processes within Salesforce and the community!
