Guidelines

Final Case Study, by Karen Paulson

Regis University

Introduction
How Regis Got Started on the Project
How Regis Moved Forward on the Project
How the Project Was Accomplished at Regis
Regis LAAP Grant Scale of Operations
Unique Stumbling Blocks and How They Were Overcome
Lessons Learned
Regis Cultural Changes
Next Steps
Artifacts Collected

Introduction

In May 2000, the LAAP Grant evaluator visited Regis University in Denver, Colorado for a three-day site visit. The purpose of the visit was to investigate the existing institutional culture with regard to student services, specifically with the intent of understanding the baseline culture in which they would be putting some student services online. Twenty (20) individuals - faculty, administrators, and staff - responded to questions put to them by the interviewer. Data from these interviews, collected documents, and website information formed the basis for the first case study report that discussed the general campus climate, the School for Professional Studies, the provision of student services, and the online environment at Regis.

A second two-day site visit occurred in October 2002, two and a half years after the first visit and provided the opportunity to interview seventeen (17) administrators, faculty, and staff in-person. Two additional LAAP grant participants responded to questions via telephone. Approximately half of the respondents had been interviewed during the first site visit. This final case study report is based on data from interview transcripts, websites, and collected artifacts and focuses more than the first case study on how Regis University accomplished grant objectives. During a session at the WCET Annual Conference, attendees gave input on what structure would support their use of the case studies. This report follows those suggestions and includes sections on how Regis University got started on its project, how the institution moved forward on the project, how the project was accomplished at Regis University, the scale of LAAP grant operations, what unique stumbling blocks Regis faced and how it overcame them, what lessons were learned, and finally, what sort of cultural change happened at the institution during the course of the LAAP grant.

How Regis Got Started on the Project

The Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications personnel asked each partner institution to name a principal investigator. At Regis, this individual was Ellen K. Waterman, Director of Distance Learning in the School for Professional Studies (SPS) because the grant was housed in SPS, not at the University level. Ms. Waterman received compliments from participants regarding grant management; they praised her "excellent leadership and facilitation" noting that she was "kind but firm."

At Regis University, a private institution, the first question asked when undertaking a new endeavor is, "Is it consistent with our mission?" Then, if so, what does that mean? It may often mean that to do it well will be more expensive. Regis could decide to do things cheaply, but in market terms it wants durability and so it chooses to provide adequate support and infrastructure to projects. Regis wanted to do a good job with the LAAP project. The university's perspective was that if it could design a useable practical module at the college level in SPS, then it would probably be replicable elsewhere in the institution. This mission orientation also meant that Ms. Waterman worked to make sure that available capabilities were shared across campus and all three colleges. Like WCET and other partner institution personnel, Regis participants also came to the realization that online student services serve all students. One administrator said that at Regis "we view online as our common denominator," while many Regis (especially SPS) students only have online interaction with us, everyone has access to online services.

Ms. Waterman gathered a Vision Team for the grant at Regis University. This group was comprised of people from across campus although primary representation came from the School for Professional Studies. The cross-functional group was important to get broad representation from across the university as well as to gather input on how activities will affect or benefit people from across the institution.

The first year of the project at Regis was marked by "a lot of ambivalence." Having broad representation was a good idea, but in the words of one interviewee, "They all had their own agenda about what should be done." This lack of agreement increased the time needed to decide which student service should be the focus of the grant. It took Regis a fairly long time to begin to move forward. Originally the idea was to develop a portal for students to get to the many student services. While this idea was consistent with grant objectives - to create a suite of services - it was too expansive for the Regis Vision Team and too expensive given the funding constraints. The grant and project "floundered" for the first year on visioning and what they might do for the project. Receiving monies for doing an unspecified "something" is very different than seeking funding for a targeted project that has been already conceptualized and comes with some direction to it. Participants who came late to the project mentioned that they were glad that they did not participate during the first year.

Another diversion occurred when seeking - rightly - to garner student input, Regis conducted a survey early on to determine what students' services needs were, but this feedback did not provide the necessary direction either. An early outcome was that-while student/user input is necessary-students may not be the best judges of which services to provide online. Another early restraint was the grant's focus "beyond the administrative core" because Regis University had considerable interest in putting administrative services such as student accounts receivable and financial aid online. Indeed, this conversion has happened concurrently with the LAAP grant work. Interview data indicate that eventually activities and lessons learned from both efforts cross-fertilized and enhanced both projects.

After several interruptions in the first year, Regis University's Vision Team chose to limit its focus to student orientation to distance learning. This direction would sharpen through the use of scenarios to automating much of the early paperwork a student must complete that would normally take up the bulk of time in any given type of advising session.

How Regis Moved Forward on the Project

Several factors allowed Regis to move forward during the LAAP grant. Consultant support paid for by the grant was particularly helpful because normally external advisors would not have been brought on campus due to the expense involved. An administrator said that the LAAP grant was "an opportunity for us to get some specialized consulting." Furthermore, throughout the grant - and particularly in the first year - Regis benefited from the constant encouragement from WCET grant personnel to continue progressing toward grant objectives. One of the identified Lessons Learned at Regis was "Long-term projects have time lags - need to encourage, rally, re-energize."

The scenario building process was very tedious to Regis personnel, but one respondent said, "If we hadn't done it, [the project] would have been harder." The scenarios allowed for thought and deliberation to go into the project up front. The scenarios "put it on paper, described what it is that I will be doing in future terms." It was a "breakthrough" for Regis, especially in terms of consistently describing a service. One person believed that this activity was the most useful aspect of the grant.

We were lacking direction and this was a tool for how to get our hands around what we were doing. Once we went through the scenario process, we hit the ground running, and everyone said 'that makes sense,' and got everybody on the same page. For others, thinking about the tool and how to use it the right away, they can get started a little faster.

Participants felt some redemption when the scenarios turned out to be the critical component for the computer programmers because scenarios made the process tangible and understandable. The computer programmers could implement from the concrete scenarios, not just from ideas that were thrown at them. Indeed, scenarios were a "great tool because they bridged a gap." Interviewees agreed, "If there are ever complex things that need to be done [in the future], we will use scenarios for communication."

Two events were crucial at Regis in making progress toward grant objectives. First, a "push" server was purchased by SPS Distance Learning for all of Regis to use to handle the additional load of sending electronic messages out to people as well as to maintain student files as needed. Second, a DataTel consultant came to campus in March 2002. That's when respondents' said, "Everything gelled." Because the DataTel consultant had the scenarios before coming to campus, he "hit the ground running" and knew exactly what Regis wanted to be done. There was great enthusiasm on campus after that happened. He showed them the changes were possible in DataTel; he was personally very adaptable and helpful.

By "tweaking" or turning on a previously unused aspect of the existing DataTel student software, Colleague, Regis made progress quickly toward developing their online service module(s). Colleague allows for defining different sets of students for targeting emails or other communications. One person said, "It was amazing to me to see the firepower that was already at our disposal; it just needed to be pointed out." Now Regis is turning to what can be done with that same technology in other areas. "This is truly elegant because this is all base Colleague software, there has been no writing of special programs we found new ways to make existing functions more effective for people." Academic and ITS administrators alike are impressed because "This grant gave us the additional push - we ended up with more people using base functionality than we had before." Long term this change will relieve burdens on ITS and support staff in several units.

The demonstration of the first module to take advantage of the new functionality - the SPS admissions notification/file completion module - to others at Regis was "very persuasive and provocative." Others from across the campus became intrigued and excited about the possibilities that the "push server" and the new functionality now opened up. One problem it has created though is the need to organize or manage Regis communications to students via bulk or "pushed" email so students are not receiving innumerable messages. As Regis moves closer to customer relations management than it has in the past, it needs to make better decisions about how to serve students, its customers. This issue is new because in the past Regis has not "managed" its paper processes, but it will probably need to coordinate its e-mail communications to students to avoid deluging them with messages.

In addition to these in-roads, the Regis Vision Team also worked hard on the issue of accessibility particularly in relation to student services. The Team was very responsive and realized that students with disabilities have different needs than other students. Generally at Regis, one administration said, "We've evolved disability services for students dramatically, SPS services, [Ms. Waterman] and her disability work have identified universal design issues for online courses."

The last six months of the grant were especially gratifying for the Vision Team. The grant created a "sense of optimism that something insurmountable could be solved" on campus. The effects of the grant are "expanding and spreading out more and more" across campus.

How the Project Was Accomplished at Regis

Although some people thought that the actual implementation of the initial module "took far more time than we thought it would," Regis made great strides in the closing months of the grant that will have a lasting impact on the University.

The following modules resulted because of the LAAP grant at Regis due to the acquisition of the "push" server and toggling on of specific functions within the Colleague software.

• SPS Marketing and Admissions (Graduate): admissions notification/file completion module. The day after students apply they receive an email, then another message after a week, then another after one more week. The first email message sent in the first 24 hours is that they have been accepted into the program. Potential students are electronically forwarded information allowing them to monitor the status of their passworded admissions files online. Admissions office personnel are relieved of answering telephone calls to the office asking about the status of files. Twelve staff members used to field such calls.
• Information Technology: student identity for RegisNet account. Potential students are electronically forwarded information to allow them to register for an account online. This module shortens the amount of time and the steps that were necessary in the past to acquire a RegisNet account.
• Library: student identity for online library card. At the beginning of September, every new SPS student receives an email directing him or her to where program-specific library resources can be found. Library administrators are logging the hits to the web pages that students are directed to - the only method for getting to these pages is via the targeted pushed email so that will be a good measure of what difference they make. Library personnel are very happy with the module.
• SHCP: admissions file completion module (non-functional yet). The School for Health Care Professionals was impressed with the demonstration and encouraged to see how similar the SPS admissions procedure was to theirs, which gave them hope that this functionality will work for them as well.
• Undergraduate SPS (not yet functional):
  • Review core plan requirements module
  • Review learning formats module
  • Make degree plan appointment module
• Data gathering is underway to show staff and administrators that a decrease or shift in workload also happened. Admissions staff believe "the calls from students will eventually decrease as they check their application files on the web. We're going to track those." Also as a measure of success, Regis is tracking the hits to the locations where student files are, to find out if students are really using the new capabilities.

Each individual unit has authority for its particular "push service" that it has implemented. SPS Admissions has authority for its application; the SPS librarian has authority for that module; and SCHP will have authority for its module when it is complete. Information Technology prefers that departments take responsibility once the module is built. ITS supports each unit's operations; if there is a problem in the future, the unit will contact ITS to adapt or change the module or service.

The grant will continue to have long-lasting application and expand further in terms of using the "push technology." In fact, Regis may have to limit the use of the push technology so students are not overwhelmed with email correspondence. The University is experiencing a renewed emphasis on high quality customer service across campus; they are asking, "Are people getting what they need from us?" Future efforts will be focused on "how to connect the lines" to ensure that students receive a holistic and planned impression of Regis University.

The technique of using a cross-functional group of individuals that all have an interest in a particular online innovation has been adopted at Regis, particularly in the School for Professional Studies. Currently a group is reviewing online portfolio software, comparing and contrasting the functionality of each different package. This activity requires collaboration across units including student services units, faculty, information technology systems, and administrators. When they run into situations where they do not understand one another, they know that they can utilize a modified scenario process to explain across the various cultures.

Regis LAAP Grant Scale of Operations

As noted above, Regis was excited to be a part of the LAAP project but entered with no previous notions regarding on which service it should focus. This uncertainty led to some delays early in the project as participants attempted to determine what service to deliver online. Therefore, time was lost during that process. Nevertheless, by the end of the project, Regis had produced a number of different modules that improved service to students. An identified Regis Lesson Learned was "Go slow at the start so you can go fast later."

The amount of time, effort, and money that Regis University put into this project is a mixture of sweat equity on the part of salaried individuals, well-timed energy boosts and focusing from consultants paid by the grant, and institutional matching funds. Many of these costs are hidden and undocumented. SPS Distance Learning bought the server with matching funds so that all of this "push technology" and these modules could have a dedicated server on which to run. Vision Team members as well as the principal investigator spent hours in meetings and the scenario process. The resulting modules were created without a "huge outlay" of funds because they are largely based on using an existing system and functionality that was already in place but not yet utilized. Real costs - drawn from grant funds - were for external consultants including the DataTel programmer.

Each institution has its own set of issues to confront. Several Regis participants noted that, "Through the grant we found out how far behind the rest of the world we are." Another issue at Regis was difficult communication; progress was made due to the persistent attention from WCET personnel and the Regis principal investigator. Everyone involved had good will to work together, but everyone also had a primary job to do - the LAAP project was an extra activity that could only garner a limited amount of attention.

During the course of this project people on campus gained an appreciation for other people's day-to-day work experiences and what sort of work others do. Regis administrators discovered that the institution as a whole needed to work at communication; that people need to make time to talk with each other. An indirect, yet "incredibly positive," result of the grant has been the "opportunity to interface across the university." It is rare for staff from one unit to work with staff from across the university and even less frequently across multiple units at once. Regis administrators and staff now have a much better understanding of:

• Their piece of the greater whole
• What goes on in other units
• A respect for other units, what their jobs are, what their strengths are
• How what one unit does has an effect on other units and in other parts of the university
• A somewhat negative outcome: they hoped that Regis College would be involved. Staff members and administrators from The College were deliberately invited but declined to participate.

A university-level administrator commented in an interview that the LAAP project "hasn't spread appreciably to the other two schools" from the School for Professional Studies, but this individual did note that the grant had been "a good catalyst for re-visioning in SPS." This comment is reflective of an underlying theme noted in the first case study: severe cultural differences between the three colleges at Regis and the "turf" issues propagated by a few individuals at Regis. Overall, most people want Regis to present a unified image to students and potential students as evidenced by the reworking of the website, etc., but there remain vestiges of "them-and-us" within the University.

Early on - at all institutions, not just Regis - project principal investigators cast a wide net in order to be inclusive of all interested parties on campus. Initially, this technique was necessary, but as the focus of the project narrowed, then a more central core group could become the decision-making body for the project. Another Lesson Learned identified at Regis was to "Have the right people on the core team."

The LAAP grant helped the University to "more fully realize the issues we are facing." Regis is very different now than it was in late 2000. Not everything happened solely because of LAAP funding, but it was a significant part of the change effort for providing online services. One respondent mentioned that the most important aspect of the LAAP grant - other than the creation of the modules - was collaborating with the information technology people on campus. "It was a vehicle for the IT people and others to work shoulder-to-shoulder on that we couldn't get around otherwise." This project was one of the first times that IT was considered an "equal" to other units such as distance learning and SPS. People found that was a good triad. Another Lesson Learned at Regis was that it was "Important to involve the implementation side early."

Many respondents noted that this grant has made a lasting contribution to the university, not only in terms of the push modules and turning on of functionality but in terms of how the institutional culture because people now want to collaborate across units and departments. LAAP brought a diverse group of people together to work on a problem. It got people talking who previously did not talk to one another.

• "There will be a lot of mileage from this at Regis."
• "It's been very important for us."
• "Technology forced us to work together."

Discussions with high-level administrators reinforce that for this level of cross-college communication and collaboration to continue, the deans will need to emphasize that this sort of communication must happen and that collaboration across colleges is encouraged. Finally, one respondent suggested that it might be a good idea to reconvene the Vision Team in the future to re-evaluate the modules and changes that have occurred in student services. This technique would be useful to think about new methods and new applications because change has occurred since the modules were implemented. In addition, things have opened up - not just technologically but psychologically - in how people think about Regis as an institution and interacting across that institution.

Regis Cultural Changes

Regis University - specifically the School for Professional Studies and to a lesser extent the School for Health Care Professionals - has substantially increased its online enrollment. Three years ago 7% of the credit hours in SPS were from online enrollments, the next year it was 17%, then 34% last year, they are expecting it to be close to 40% this year. The unduplicated headcount for SPS is 12,500. The number of online students has grown rapidly. An interviewee noted a dichotomy, musing that there was something illogical about the large number of online students at Regis and how until quite recently none of the services was online.

A few people on campus feel that the LAAP grant has been "much ado about nothing" since it represents a small piece of online student services changes that have been made on campus. The big change from their vantage point is the partnering that happened internally at Regis between the library, information technology, and the departments. The final products - the modules - are not as sweeping as originally called for in the grant proposal, but compared to the inactivity of the first months of the grant from having too many possibilities, the outcome is significant. It is probably because of this feedback from some people on campus that led to the last of Regis' Lessons Learned: "You will never please everyone." The LAAP work has helped to accelerate what should have happened and probably would have, eventually in many years. Many respondents thought that the most pronounced change on campus has been the enhanced focus on the need for technology and how technology can help Regis delivery quality services to its students. Many said that this change has just begun, that Regis is still in its "infancy." The culture at Regis now reflects an institution that:

• Is more open to other electronic or web-based initiatives
• Invites all individuals to be more comfortable with technology and technological approaches and programs
• Better appreciates the complexity of Regis as a holistic institution
• Encourages people from different parts of the university to work with others that they normally would not have

Next Steps

After its initial delays and lack of focus, Regis University came back with renewed vigor and purpose in the final year of the LAAP grant. It has resulted in significant improvements in delivery of services to students online. The University will continue to build on the momentum and success of the LAAP grant. By continuing evaluation of the various modules, it will be able to document how students' and staff members' lives were made easier through the use of technology.

Artifacts Collected

Copy of automatically generated letter to student from Distance Librarian.

"Orientation to Academic Advising," Ellen K. Waterman, LAAP Project Chair, Regis University, no date.

WCET, "Report of Site Visits to Regis University," February and March, 2002.

Website: www.wcet.info/projects/laap/partners/regis.asp