FolderWave
Using the Cloud to Increase Enrollment

The problems solved by Wittenberg University in Springfield Ohio are an excellent example of challenges faced by many other colleges and universities across the United States. The volume of applications for admission is already increasing exponentially for many institutions, placing strain on both operational and evaluation processes. In Wittenberg’s case, it was understood well in advance that a successful strategy to significantly increase enrollment would require an intentional increase in applications from newly targeted sources.

Recognizing the risk that this additional volume would overwhelm their highly-manual admissions processes, Wittenberg partnered with FolderWave of Westford, MA to not only enhance capacity, but rethink and enhance their operation. FolderWave offered its client a cloud-based, document, case and content management solution including business-process automation in a single, fully-integrated system. Services were delivered via the web—replacing physical documents with digital images and data feeds.
“With paper removed from the equation, document acknowledgement was reduced from two weeks to fewer than 48 hours,” said Karen Hunt, Wittenberg’s Executive Director of Admissions. What’s more, efficiencies such as web self-service for students, targeted communications, and enhanced reporting allowed Wittenberg to accommodate an 8 percent application increase while redeploying staff in both IT and Admissions. In the final analysis, the Wittenberg-FolderWave partnership yielded a 12 percent increase in enrollment in its first year.

Successes such as these are becoming commonplace for FolderWave, whose college and university clients utilize offerings that are remotely-hosted, secure, and implemented to optimize existing—as well as envisioned—institutional business processes. The company’s product suite is comprised of ten, fully-integrated components including Inquiry and Application processing, Graduate and Undergraduate Admissions, Financial Aid, Transcripts, Academic and Alumni Records, Contract and Grants Administration along with an Integrated CRM.

“A key mandate of Higher Education is that every applicant receives a fair and comprehensive evaluation. Benefits accrue to both student and institution when a class is enrolled according to institutional goals.

Students have a better chance of success and institutions see an increase in student retention—a critical factor that impacts not only an institution’s reputation and its financial stability.
What’s more, the experience is usually better for the applicant,” remarked Robert Burke, FolderWave’s Co-founder and President.

The best technology solutions in Higher Ed build upon the true intent of existing processes and the knowledge of those who’ve worked with them

Many times institutions depend on interpretation of data by outside consultants or vendors. This results in a sort of paradox, where significant amounts of time and money are spent in an effort to amalgamate and interpret data that is typically segmented within multiple systems. “Good money is being spent to assemble what should already be integrated in the first place,” Burke said.

“FolderWave provides ready access to data from within its system along with the tools for comparative reporting and analytics. Since we already house a vast array of data in one place, the logical next step was to create a platform to enable ongoing analysis, which we now offer as part of our Enrollment Cloud solution.”
FolderWave’s implementation methodology, as well as the breadth of its products and services, separates it from its peers. Its products are easily tailored to existing business processes at the university, college, or department level, and are flexible enough to rapidly incorporate changes driven by external considerations such as market demand or new program offerings. The company partners with its clients, providing not only implementation services, but ongoing support for process and technology enhancement. “We take pride in the fact that staff freed from the care and monitoring of a traditional system are frequently redeployed in ways that support the applicant more directly,” concludes Burke.