Montgomery County Community College Finds Ideal Reporting Solution in ASG-Safari™
Industry: Higher Education
Location: Pottstown, Pennsylvania, USA
Montgomery County Community College (MCCC) has campuses in Blue Bell and Pottstown, Pennsylvania, with additional learning locations at the Willow Grove Naval Air Station and in Lansdale, PA. With a 16:1 student to faculty ratio, the college boasts a nationally recognized, award-winning faculty. Its curriculum includes 90 associate degree/certificate programs in 40 areas of study, workforce development, and continuing education programs, as well as distance learning courses.
The Challenge
The challenge faced by Montgomery County Community College was not unique. Its administrators required better, faster, and more accurate insight into their data to make critical decisions for the college. Previous methods of reporting were tedious and labor-intensive, and they involved multiple individuals and a variety of steps before the information reached the ultimate user.
For example, the help desk operator was tasked with updating an Excel spreadsheet each morning with headcount information. This task increased in complexity at various points in the semester and with the number of terms ongoing at that point in time. Also, in order to access other information, the IT staff would export data from underlying systems into text files, which were then uploaded into Excel spreadsheets. These spreadsheets contained a large volume of data with no formatting or summarization, which made it very confusing for the user. Finally, some information was so difficult to obtain that it was effectively unavailable – or available only after extreme amounts of effort. “Revenue on Credit Terms” fell into this category, and it was therefore calculated only at the end of the term.
To address these issues and gain better insight into its day-to-day operations, MCCC required a solution that was flexible, powerful enough to address its complex reporting requirements, and could be easily used throughout the organization.
The Solution
The IT administrators at MCCC turned to ASG-Safari™ to resolve the issues caused by their reporting methods. The college had purchased ASG-Safari tools several years earlier; however, they had not begun to take advantage of ASG-Safari’s full potential until 2004. With assistance from ASG Professional Services, MCCC began to address specific reporting requirements.
Currently, there are 15 critical reports, including those addressing “Revenue,” “Headcount by Campus,” and “In vs. Out of County,” all of which are generated on a regular basis. These reports could not be developed previously. For many of these reports, ASG-Safari’s ability to handle extensive and complex calculations was a key factor in successfully developing the reports and deploying the information. As a result, MCCC’s IT administrators now have instant access to the information they require to run the college – information that is specific to a certain requirement and in a format that is easy to understand.
As the implementation proceeded, MCCC decided to expand its usage of ASG-Safari to include ASG-Safari™/4GL. MCCC is utilizing this solution to execute an exceptionally complex process to produce its revenue figures.
Measurable Results
As a result of the implementation of ASG-Safari solutions, certain tasks have been eliminated while others have been streamlined significantly. Furthermore, MCCC now has access to information that it truly could not retrieve when it was using other tools.
The help desk operator is no longer required to manually update Excel spreadsheets with headcount information, because this report is now automatically available each morning. “Revenue on Credit Terms” information is now accessible daily, rather than only once per term. Furthermore, critical reports such as the “Continuing Education Income Statement” no longer take a day or more to compile. Rather, this information is available each morning and at the click of a mouse. As a result, MCCC has instant insight into its financial health.
In 2005, MCCC has continued to expand its implementation of ASG-Safari. The most recent developments have included further in-depth analysis of enrollment data (for instance, “Enrollment by Division by Discipline”) so that various departments are able to track enrollment growth and the success of various programs.
According to Kathy Miller, Senior Programmer/Analyst at MCCC, “We could not do without this solution. We are so happy with it!”
