Slate Tips/Tricks for Sharing One Instance Across Multiple Academic Units

Presented by Lisa Coia, Lauren McGowan, Ryan Taughrin, and Ryan Bloom, University of Buffalo

Reported by Jennifer Sayre, PhD, Bowling Green State University

A common struggle felt by many GEM professionals is how to best configure their CRM. While it is common to have either a centralized or decentralized graduate admissions structure, there may be additional layers and procedures that need to be noted when utilizing one instance of a CRM across multiple autonomous academic units. The presenters shared their experience implementing and operationalizing one instance of Slate across 11 academic units at the University of Buffalo.

At the University of Buffalo, Graduate Enrollment Services has central control of their instance of Slate and each of the participating academic units have a primary decision maker. The primary decision maker in each unit is responsible for making changes and maintaining their own activities within Slate. The Graduate Enrollment Services team provides the base, but the academic units each have built their own bins, workflows, and deliverables utilizing a centrally designed Guideline and Operating Procedures manual for reference. Each academic unit has the control to do almost anything they want in Slate.

The presenters credited their success to the year of training that was provided by the Graduate Enrollment

The NAGAP Experts Bureau

Services central office staff, which is included in the two-year time span it took to bring Slate to life on their campus. The training and excitement for the system is shared with faculty and new hires to help onboard them to the system.

A strength of having each academic unit control their workflows in Slate allows each program the chance to tailor the application process to what best fits their need. Also, they can tailor how they manage and cultivate inquiries unique to their program. The Guidelines and Operating Procedures manual developed by the Graduate Enrollment Services team provides guidance on how to best classify inquiries and applicants that might fall under the purview of multiple academic units.

When asked by the attendees what they wish they knew when they implemented Slate, the following words of wisdom were shared by the presenters: “You are never done.” “Slate can be used for a lot of things that are not in the box.” “Own the trial and error.” “Think about the end user.” “Create a succession plan. People move on.”

A thank you to the presenters who helped the audience learn from their “dys-fun(!)-ctional family!” n

The NAGAP Experts Bureau provides members, as well as outside media, with valuable and reliable resources in the matters of GEM. NAGAP members benefit from having well-respected colleagues within the organization who can confidently and respectfully respond to their best-practice questions or concerns.

Areas of expertise include, but are not limited to:

• Recruitment & Marketing

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• International Recruitment & Retention

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• Diversity & Inclusion in GEM

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