Helping higher ed institutions create optimal technology strategies

Jenzabar One is a set of solutions that fit various needs

What is Jenzabar seeing in the higher ed market in terms of the best approaches to technology improvements and changes?

Many schools are running solutions that are 25 to 35 years old. They’re realizing that their current solutions constrain them and are unable to keep pace with their technology needs. Colleges are beginning to review their technology strategies, particularly in areas such as mobile-first, cloud computing, recruitment and retention solutions, and budget management. Jenzabar analyzed the situation late last year and determined that we were going to reposition ourselves and put out a new suite of solutions.

What does Jenzabar bring to the table that distinguishes it in the higher ed arena?

We pride ourselves on the tenure of our employees. This is a critical piece and a distinct differentiator. Jenzabar has had one CEO for the entire duration of the company and the executive management team has more than 320 years of collective experience in higher education. Our client-facing employees, or Trusted Advisors, have on average more than 20 years of experience in higher ed. The second they walk onto campus they can begin to help customers and prospective customers, ensuring that our solutions will support what they need now, what’s on the horizon, and where higher education is moving in the future. 

How important is it to have employees with higher ed experience?

Our folks know this business. They have been registrars. They have been CFOs. They have been CIOs. They bring that wealth of experience and knowledge to every engagement that they have with our clients, and therefore, can put the right pieces together that fit the needs of that particular client. All of our clients are different. They all have different needs and will need a different solution set from us. That is what Jenzabar One really is.

Talk about some of the solutions under Jenzabar One.

Jenzabar One is an interoperable solution set that fits various needs. Institutions work with their Jenzabar Trusted Advisor to help determine the strategy that’s right for them and choose the products within Jenzabar One, whether that is the entire Jenzabar One ecosystem or a pace-layered approach. We have a new mobile-first student solution. There are financial, human resources, recruitment and admissions solutions. Jenzabar also has CRMs, which are crucial for colleges to be nimble and agile; a learning management system; financial aid solutions; and a new system called Jenzabar Guided Pathways (GPS). Jenzabar GPS helps students stay on the path toward their intended success point, whether it’s graduation, a certificate, a boot camp completion or a CEU. There also are continuing education and retention solutions. We span the entire campus.

Talk about the flexibility of Jenzabar One for higher ed customers.

It’s all about giving them choice. We offer different deployment options. Many vendors really put you into a box and say, “This is the way you will deploy our solution.” Some institutions are being forced into technology upgrades that they do not want, need, or are ready for. We have flexible deployment options, including a pace-layered approach, in which a client deploys one application at a time. For many institutions financial aid really is their burning platform. They need to put in a financial aid solution, right now. Institutions can deploy only our financial aid solution that has APIs to integrate with their existing system on campus. We also like to call out the fact that our solutions are configurable versus customized, and are cloud-ready. Many institutions need a cloud-ready solution.

For more information, visit www.jenzabar.com/higher-education-solutions

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