Industries – Education

The challenges faced by Education organisations

The education sector faces a number of challenges that require a forward thinking approach to technology. With greater emphasis on the sector to recruit students, it is essential to demonstrate a progressive approach to technology across the campus.  The use of technology to automate processes from enrolment to finance and debtor control has far reaching benefits to the education sector, at a time when student retention and cost control are critical to the future success of the organisation.

dhc Sector Experience:

dhc has worked in conjunction with organisations such as Southampton Solent University to evaluate the requirements of the organisation and provide a finance solution that is highly functional to the department and also highly flexible in terms of student self-service, debtor and cost control.

Key requirements for Education organisations; 

• A need to improve the debtor process, reducing aged debt and improving cash flow and credit control processes
• A need to control costs more accurately and eliminate paper based procurement
• A need to link systems together to eliminate duplication of entry across the departments
• A need to improve management information and produce reporting packs automatically
• A need to control budgets more effectively and provide the information to management and department heads
• A need to control the overhead of the organisation and reduce administrative tasks where possible
   

Solutions delivered:

• Automation of debtor control with improved student payment facilities locally and online. Introduction of payment plans with multiple payment types and payees. Facility to segregate debt by type and integrate credit controllers with a holistic view of information.
• Multiple student payment points and integrated EPOS solutions. Allowing students to make payments across the campus via integrated EPOS solutions that offer student account information.
• Online cost control from requisition to order with full authorisation processes. Introduction of an online procurement solution, providing full budget control, multiple authorisation levels based on limits or budgets and integrated with document management facilities.
• Integrated solutions from student records, accommodation and room bookings, to HR and leisure. Using standard Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) with full business logic, allowing systems to integrate in real time.
• Multiple levels of reporting analysis for department, management and sector requirements. Providing information in the correct formats without additional manipulation. Making the analysis flexible and easy to change should legislation dictate this.
• Comprehensive budgeting and forecasting and integration of budgets to the general ledger and supporting reporting information. Allowing organisations to budget accurately and have the relevant information available to the various reporting formats.
• Online management reporting across campus via the web based reporting module to deliver accurate information with full drill down. Reducing the need for additional manipulation, providing a secure portal to access information.
• Integrated document management across the department and campus. Making documents easily accessible and controlled, reducing storage requirements, improving visibility and speeding up authorisations.

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