Onboarding and Support Overview
How should you plan on setting up your instance, and what is the order of steps to go through?
Last updated
How should you plan on setting up your instance, and what is the order of steps to go through?
Last updated
Main Stakeholder(s) Kickoff Call (within 1 week from your engagement start date)
Full Team Kickoff Call (within 1-2 weeks from your engagement start date)
Webmaster Recommendations Document (2 weeks from your engagement start date)
Data and Configuration (2-3 weeks from your engagement start date)
Marketing Team Marketing Team Meeting (2-3 weeks from your engagement start date)
Registrar Team (4 weeks from your engagement start date)
(Optional) CRM Integration Team (4 weeks from your engagement start date)
System Verification (4-5 weeks from your engagement start date)
Operations Team Training (5 weeks from your engagement start date)
Go-Live! (4-6 weeks from your engagement start date)
Congratulations and welcome to the DegreeSight family! We couldn't be more excited for you and your team to begin leveraging the power of our Inbound module as we strive to simplify the transfer credit evaluation process, enabling students to seamlessly navigate their educational journeys.
This article outlines the steps involved in the onboarding and configuration process when partnering with DegreeSight, specifically around the implementation of Inbound (formerly Transfer Credit Calculator (TraCC)).
Our goal is to ensure a smooth transition and successful implementation of our ecosystem to enhance your institution's services. This will require tight coordination with all project stakeholders and we look forward to guiding your successful project!
Once you become a DegreeSight client, we will assign a dedicated DegreeSight Success Lead to guide you through the onboarding process. Our team of Success Leads will leverage decades of experience to ensure an efficient implementation of our products.
Our onboarding process is designed to be as streamlined as possible for our clients while still ensuring your highest success and return on investment. We will have 4 main meetings, request a few files, and then your team be live! Depending on your team's availability and the complexity of your data, this can all be orchestrated and completed between 28 to 42 days from the engagement start date.
Though support from your IT team will be limited, it's important that they're aware of the implementation project and have time allocated for their support.
Their main duties will include assisting with course and equivalency data extraction, setting up a custom DNS and optionally integrating your SIS.
The chart below illustrates our standard project schedule. This assumes tight coordination between our teams and quick turnaround times for questions/issue resolution:
This Success Lead will schedule a kickoff call with your primary point of contact to initiate the onboarding process. During this call, we will walk through a simple questionnaire to:
Identify the individuals and groups that will be involved in the onboarding process.
Review the data requirements necessary for configuring the ecosystem.
Discuss integration goals and address any challenges that might arise during that effort.
Establish Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to ensure we track and exceed your expectations over time.
This meeting will include all project stakeholders and will aim for the following:
Provide a quick demo of Inbound to ensure all stakeholders have seen its functionality.
Review the project roles/responsibilities.
Review the project plan and its target milestone dates.
Review the project's next steps.
Our team will begin performing a user journey analysis of your current marketing website to develop a Webmaster Recommendations document. This document will highlight specific areas on your portal that should be modified to effectively market and promote your new DegreeSight instance.
Following the kickoff call, your team can immediately begin sending us the required data files, such as the Catalog and Equivalencies files. Simultaneously, you can configure a custom URL for your portal by implementing a new DNS rule. More information on each subject can be found at the links below:
We will meet with your Marketing team to review the Webmaster Recommendations document's content, collecting your team's feedback with a goal to gather approvals for each of the recommended changes.
The outcome goal of this meeting is to have alignment with your Marketing team/Webmaster on the approved updates to your website so that they can start preparing these changes in advance of go-live. We'll even include the HTML necessary for the changes to minimize their efforts as much as possible!
In a meeting with your Registrar team, we will complete a quick questionnaire to identify global policies regarding how your institution implements equivalencies. We will ensure that all data files required for the ecosystem have been provided and review the frequency of data synchronization over time.
At the end of this meeting, we'll ready to configure your data and begin automating your credit processing!
We're here to make the integration process as smooth as possible. If you'd like, our team can also meet directly with your CRM lead to help configure the integration between DegreeSight and your CRM system. Whether you prefer a meeting or prefer to handle it independently, our team is ready to support you in any way you need. Just let us know how we can assist you!
More information about how to integrate your ecosystem is documented here.
Rest assured, our team will meticulously check the setup and configuration of your ecosystem. We want to ensure that everything runs smoothly and meets your expectations. After conducting thorough internal testing, we will provide a select few members from your institution with login licenses. This will enable them to personally test the system and verify that everything is working exactly as you envisioned using an agreed upon testing plan. We want to make sure that you feel confident and satisfied with the performance of your system!
Once we've worked through any final data discrepancies, we'll record your official approval that your data has been configured successfully and you're ready to go-live!
To maximize the value of everyone's time, we should not meet with your full Operations Team until after your portal has been fully configured and tested.
Lastly, we'll schedule a meeting with your Operations team to provide training and discuss the operational aspects. Depending on how your institution is organized for success, this 'Operations Team' may be comprised of:
Registrar and their assistants
Enrollment or Admissions team members
IT
Executive Leadership
This will be a great opportunity for us to go over the completed portal together, involving all team members who will have an account and will be working with the system. In this meeting, we'll create accounts for all necessary team members, ensure they have the right roles based on their job functions, and that everyone can log in without any issues. During the meeting, we'll cover important topics like setting up your personal notifications, how to review transcript submissions and what the system will be performing automatically on your behalf, how to address student inquiries through the live chat system, and how the team will effectively manage equivalencies as they grow over time.
The purpose of this meeting is to equip your team with all of the necessary knowledge and tools to effectively navigate and maximize the potential of your system. Additionally, we want to ensure that everyone is aligned within your organization before the go-live, setting the stage for a highly successful partnership for your institution and team over time!
Get ready for an exciting moment! Following a one-week preparation period, it's time to showcase your progress. Your team will now promote the approved links onto your website, aligning with the marketing strategies discussed during the Marketing Meeting and guided by the Webmaster Recommendations document. In addition, get ready to send out engaging emails and attention-grabbing PR notifications, telling the world about your institution's successful efforts to improve your transfer friendliness.
Brace yourself, because your institution is about to witness a surge in new transcript submissions while simultaneously delivering an improved, streamlined student experience. It's time to take a leap forward and witness the positive impact on your students and your team!
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DegreeSight is committed to supporting you throughout your partnership. You will have direct access to the same dedicated DegreeSight Success Lead who guided you through the implementation process. They will be available to address any questions or concerns that arise from directly in your portal, by email, or by reaching our general support team at support@degreesight.com.
Approximately one month after the go-live date, your Success Lead will proactively schedule a meeting with your team to review the value the system has been delivering and ensure everything is going as expected both operationally and organizationally. During this meeting, we will:
Address any open issues or questions related to how to use the system.
Walk through the analytics and insights generated by the portal, including information on:
how many Leads you've received
which institutions are sending you the most leads!
how automated the workflow has been so far, and areas for potential growth.
Review your current marketing strategies for the portal and identify opportunities to drive more value.
We believe that ongoing collaboration and continuous improvement are key to maximizing the benefits received by your institution, so we are here to help review and proactively make sure that you get high value from your investment over time.
As your partner, DegreeSight is dedicated to providing a seamless onboarding experience and ensuring that your instance is driving the value you and your students deserve. By following these steps, we aim to enable your institution to leverage the full potential of DegreeSight and enhance your transfer friendliness, save time in your workday, and grow your student body!
Our number one goal is your success. We look forward to a long a successful partnership and will use our recurring quarterly meetings to review:
Peformance Metrics
Marketing Campaign Support
Review new/upcoming features
Address any open issues/questions not already resolved by our Tech Support Team
