A high-tech combination of careful strategic planning and state-of-the-art technology is expected to modernize and improve the George Mason University student experience.
The Lifecycle Customer Relationship Management program will be the centralized conduit where students can access critical information they need and university officials can communicate and log all that they know about students.
The user-friendly digital gateway, which was unveiled at a Sept. 19 update for interested stakeholders in the Student Experience Redesign Project, will offer the kind of integrated holistic approach that will provide seamless support to a diverse student body and faculty in the hopes of creating a quicker, more efficient George Mason experience, project leaders said. The program will also provide students the opportunity to easily collaborate with faculty in the development of lifestyle maps specifically designed to help them meet their academic goals.
The plan is to promote an optimal Mason experience with readily available paths to advising, counseling and crisis management, and displayed content specific to the needs and attributes of each user.
“This is a virtual manifestation of collaboration,” said David Burge, Mason’s vice president for Enrollment Management and a member of the project’s executive team.
The Lifecycle program is the crown jewel of the Student Experience Redesign Project, a 10-year plan designed to keep Mason up to date with rapid school growth and technological advances and provide students with a contemporary and more efficient educational experience. The ultimate goal is to not only help improve graduation and retention rates, but to inspire Mason graduates as they head out into the world.
Mason Provost S. David Wu called the project “one of the most important initiatives” that Mason has undertaken.
“After all, this is what we do. Delivering that educational experience to our students is our promise to them.”
The project, which should be fully implemented by 2019, is led by an executive team that includes senior university officials, but also receives input from current students. They’ve already devised a number of action plans that can be immediately implemented with the idea of enhancing the overall student experience at Mason.
Joining Burge on the executive team are Michelle Marks, vice president for Academic Innovation and New Adventures; Rose Pascarell, vice president for University Life; and Marilyn Smith, vice president/chief information officer for Information Technology Services.
“I’m so excited this project has started,” said Caiti Lively, a senior conflict analysis and resolution major who is minoring in political communication. “This project is needed because Mason is such an incredible school, but it isn’t always accessible to students. There is so much Mason has to offer, but, being that Mason has changed so much in the last 20 years, our outreach to students needs to change, too.”