Jim McGlothlin Blog

The most exciting aspect of attending higher education conferences is the high level of engagement and incredible energy devoted by every attendee to derive the most value out of the opportunity. While overall total registration numbers were down at the recent HEUG Alliance conference, as they have been at all conferences across the board, the attendance at sessions, engagement with vendors supporting higher education, and using the conference to network with peers and peer institutions was higher than ever. In these challenging economic times, it is even more important to take advantage of and learn from the rich knowledge, experience and information every attendee brings and openly shares. The real value is what you take back to your individual institutions to improve business processes, and increase the value of your IT investments. On behalf of Oracle, here is a big ‘thank you’ to all the customers who invested in attendance at Alliance for professional development.

Here also is a conference conclusion message from HEUG Board President, Stan Jakubik: “Alliance 2009 was a great success! Thank you, presenters, for the fabulous presentations. Your willingness to prepare and share your knowledge and experience provides the core value of the conference. For all who attended, thank you for making this another great conference.”

One of the new features at Alliance 2009 was a formal track for use of CRM techniques for student recruiting, retention, and communication. Oracle presented new ideas for data and process flow based on what we are hearing. There is integration improvement potential across Campus Solutions, any CRM system, Learning Management, and Donor/ Alumni relations. Oracle also announced its project to adapt the Oracle Customer Hub capability to Higher Education. We have a great new co-development partner, LumenData, with tons of expertise in Master Data Management. This will help provide improvements in data integrity, and help bring campus-wide governance at last to Person data.

Student recruiting and retention continues to be a hot topic across all our Higher Education segments. The economic circumstances are creating a confluence of pressure factors, with rapidly increasing volumes of demand for educational courses of all types. Oracle will again be a sponsor of the national AACRAO conference this year, so we would like to meet with as many customers and prospective customers as possible to discuss potential projects for CRM or Campus Solutions.

Below is the information for our session at AACRAO:

To join us at AACRAO, register here.

Oracle at American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers 2009.

AACRAO's 95th Annual Meeting being held April 13–16, 2009 in Chicago is the quintessential gathering of higher education administrators in the country. That's why at this year's event Oracle will host a variety of informative opportunities for you to discuss the latest trends in higher education and provide you with insights for overcoming your biggest challenges.

April 13–16, 2009
McCormick Place West
2301 S. Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, IL 60616

Plan to join us at the following:

Corporate Presentation (Tuesday, April 14 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.)
Location: W187C
Title: CRM: More Than Just a Buzzword
Speakers: Frank Leber, Moody Bible Institute, and Gary Allen, Oracle

You've heard all the buzz about Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) for Higher Ed, but what does it really mean for your business? Discover how CRM can help you streamline processes and improve relationships across the entire constituent lifecycle. In addition learn how Moody Bible Institute has used Oracle's PeopleSoft CRM to dramatically improve their recruitment and support services.

The Exhibition Hall—Visit Oracle at booth #615 for demonstrations on Campus Solutions and Recruiting and Retention.

We look forward to seeing you in Chicago.