How a change in software has allowed NICC to expand Business and Community Solutions offerings

It used to be that you couldn't sign up online for an offering of Northeast Iowa Community College's Business and Community Solutions program. Instead, five NICC staff members took phone calls during normal business hours Monday through Friday to handle class registrations. NICC Business and Community Solutions Director of Operations Kristi Flack says getting software to handle the task has made all the difference in the world. By upgrading its online registration software to Lumens by Modern Campus, they saw an immediate shift to 34 percent of all registrations being handled as self-registrations online. That switch allows potential students to get information about BCS offerings at night and on weekends--any time they have time to search on-line. Flack says the purchase of another software package (Reach) allows the Business and Community Solutions software to communicate with the computer software used for NICC's credit classes. That's important because recruiters need access to both systems, since some students start by taking a Business Solutions class and then decide to switch to a degree program. "We have instant access to all our class information, students' profiles, etc. And we are no longer required to log into the network. This makes everything easy and accessible without complication," she says. The money spent on software has also helped NICC's financial picture. Formerly, five NICC employees handled BCS phone calls during the day. Now a good deal of their time has been freed for other work. Most of all, however, the 7-day-a-week access to NICC's Business and Community Solutions software has "ramped up our revenue," in Flack's words. That's very true. NICC BCS revenues have jumped up from the previous level of $1.2 million and have hit the goal of bringing in $3.3 million a year.