case studies denison

NOT LONG AGO, Denison University’s International Student Services office was a one-person show, welcoming about 65 new students a year. As Denison’s reputation grew, along with international students’ interest in liberal arts programs, their enrollment numbers grew significantly. Class sizes grew from double digits to triple digits over the last five years.

With the dramatic growth, Denison could no longer rely on its entirely paper processes to log and track students. It needed a system capable of automating applications, marketing programs to far-flung students, and robust reporting to help grow and improve Denison’s outreach and offerings.

Enter Terra Dotta’s solution for international students.

BEFORE TERRA DOTTA

100% manual

Denison relied on handwritten notes and overstuffed filing cabinets to manage its international student population.

No batching system

All information was entered directly into SEVIS, but keeping information updated was becoming trickier for the growing program.

Inefficient work days

With no scheduling system in place, students walked in with questions, which made it difficult for staff to stay on task.

WITH TERRA DOTTA

Automation activated

All documents are stored in the cloud-based system. Information is at students’ and staff’s fingertips.

Records batched

SEVIS records can be created and updated in batch through Terra Dotta.

Scheduling deployed

Students can schedule appointments via Terra Dotta, making for more efficient and sustainable workflows for staff.

FROM PAPER PROCESSORS TO INTERNATIONAL EDUCATORS

In addition to the gains that come from automation, streamlined workflows and efficiencies, Denison is celebrating other wins since deploying Terra Dotta.

COMPLIANCE MADE EASY

Updating SEVIS can get tedious. Not with Terra Dotta. With just a few clicks, student information is easily updated. “SEVIS is nearly updated in real time,” said Chad Buckwalter, Associate Director of Operations for Denison’s Center for Global Programs.

“When I’m sitting in meetings, I keep Terra Dotta open in the background so if somebody asks me for something that I don’t have written down, I can hop in and pull up that information.”

IMPROVED STUDENT EXPERIENCE

Everything is done online giving students access to their documents on-demand, which was especially critical during the pandemic. Even when students were no longer on campus, “everything was right there in the system,” said Buckwalter.

DATA-INFORMED DECISIONS

Without Terra Dotta, Denison had a growing amount of data, but no easy way to analyze it. Now, with the information automated, it’s easy to pull up insights and detailed data reports. For example, when a faculty member asked Buckwalter for a report breaking down the gender and home countries of incoming first-year students, he had it ready in 10 minutes. During the height of the pandemic, as administrators wondered how much housing international students would need, the Center for Global Programs staff went to Terra Dotta for the answer. “When I’m sitting in meetings, I keep Terra Dotta open in the background so if somebody asks me for something that I don’t have written down, I can hop in and pull up that information, he said.

STRATEGIC WORK POSSIBLE

With Terra Dotta, Denison’s Center for Global Programs staff is spending less time on paperwork and more time thinking strategically. With the extra time,

…finding strategic ways to grow beyond the day-to-day functions of an international student office has been the biggest benefit since deploying Terra Dotta.

they developed new pre-orientation programs and boosted their presence on campus, now serving as a liaison to “all things global” at Denison, Buckwalter said. At Denison, where strong relationships between students, faculty and staff are a key part of the campus experience, finding strategic ways to grow beyond the day-to-day functions of an international student office has been the biggest benefit since deploying Terra Dotta.

THE FULL SUITE OF SOLUTIONS:

OUTGOING

When Denison deployed Terra Dotta’s solution for incoming students, it already had experience with Study Abroad, the platform for outbound students.

Like the inbound solution, Study Abroad is just a game changer compared to manually processing applications. Everything is consolidated in one place.

TRAVEL RISK

Denison also leverages Terra Dotta’s AlertTraveler, which provides travel information to students abroad and allows study abroad offices to quickly track and contact students in an emergency. While AlertTraveler is critical for students, it can also give worried parents and families peace of mind.

We have relationships with students, but we also have relationships with our families. And those are really important to foster.