3 Pitfalls to Avoid When Starting a Course Sharing Initiative

Course sharing enables colleges and universities to join together in a collaborative effort to eliminate barriers to student success, grow revenue, and reduce costs. It expands access to the courses students need while helping institutions to fill empty seats. And, it helps to ensure that every transfer credit counts.

But as institutions embark on a strategic course sharing initiative, they often encounter pitfalls along the way. And if not addressed, these unanticipated obstacles could thwart even the most carefully laid plans. 

Don’t let these three pitfalls derail your course sharing initiative. Here are our suggestions for how to overcome them.

Course sharing is an initiative that touches many parts of your institution. From admissions and registration to IT and financial aid, there are many individuals who you need to involve for your course sharing initiative to succeed. Failing to include the right people – right from the start – is a surefire way to slow down your effort before it even begins.

And if you’re part of a system, failing to include representatives from each member institution, early in the process, is another mistake to avoid. 

As you begin to build your team, Quottly recommends that you have representation from all of your system’s institutions or members of your consortium and that they are committed to providing the resources needed from all parts of their institution. After all, a successful course sharing initiative depends on buy-in and involvement from all member institutions. 

Next, we recommend asking for resources from each of the following departments, and empowering these individuals with the ability to make policy and configuration decisions related to your course sharing initiative and the technology you’re using to support it.

• IT 
• Admissions, Records, and Registrar
• Financial Aid and Student Accounts Receivable

Finally, in our experience with over 200 institutions, we found that assigning a project lead who can oversee and manage activities across the initiative is a key success factor. There are many moving parts when it comes to course sharing, but when you have a single person leading the charge, you are more likely to stay on track.

Many course sharing initiatives rely on highly-manual processes. And when processes are manual, not only are they prone to error, but they are also slow and often provide a frustrating and disjointed experience for students and staff.

To set your course sharing initiative up for success, you need a modern cross-registration platform like the one Quottly provides. But buyer beware, not all cross-registration platforms are created equal. And choosing the wrong one could put your strategic efforts at risk. 

While there are many questions you should ask when evaluating cross-registration platforms, here are a few we think are critical:

1. Does the platform support multi-vendor SIS integration? Whether you are partnering with institutions within your state system or collaborating with peer institutions across the nation, it’s unlikely that every institution you work with will use the same SIS as you do. Multi-vendor SIS integration provides numerous benefits, including improving the experience for students and reducing the burden on your administrative resources. It also helps you to transfer data real-time, eliminate manual work, and increase partnership opportunities.
2. Is the solution SOC 2, Type II certified? Because course sharing deals with student data from multiple institutions across multiple systems, this level of security is critical to ensure protection of sensitive data. When a solution is SOC 2, Type II certified, it means it adheres to the best security practices related to data. This is an important certification, and if a vendor tells you they conduct third-party audits, be sure to ask them if they are SOC 2 Type II compliant.
   
3. What is the pricing model? Having predictable, year-over-year costs is important. So when evaluating cross-registration solution providers, ask how they price their solution and associated implementation costs. Ensure you understand the full picture of the investment before you begin.

When it comes to course sharing, there are numerous policy decisions you need to make both within your institution and across your system or course sharing consortium. And the complexity of these decisions varies depending on a number of factors such as whether or not your partners are in your system or state – or if your partnerships cross state lines or accreditation bodies. 

This pitfall can be a tricky one to navigate. But by selecting the right partner – one who understands the policies and the technology – is a good first step. 

Quottly is that partner. During your implementation, our team of experts guides you through all of the policy decisions that arise and provides recommendations based on best practices we’ve collected during our experience partnering with over 200 institutions. These decisions fall into categories such as:

• Student eligibility
• Course inventory and registration
• Finance and billing
• System-wide business processes

We can also help you navigate the complexities of interstate course sharing as well as provide guidance for questions that arise if your consortium crosses accreditation bodies. 

Launching a course sharing initiative is an excellent way to break down the barriers to graduation and ensure student success. And with the right team, the right technology, and the right partner to help you navigate potential pitfalls, you’re sure to succeed.