Why campus modernization matter for Higher-Eds?

Campus modernization is a popular term used to consolidate all the activities in the digital transformation of a school or college campus using all forms of technology including all kinds of software as well as hardware solutions including the integration of technology in buildings and infrastructure.

Different software used in a college like student information systems, administration management software, mobile apps, visitor management software, parent-teacher communication tools, etc. along with the different hardware like bio-metric hardware, GPS enabled vehicle tracking, CCTV cameras, etc. are part of campus modernization projects.

A well-coordinated strategy interlinking between these independent tools and solutions lead to a successful campus modernization project which improves the efficiency and productivity of the campus multiple fold if implemented under proper planning and supervision.

The Benefits of Campus Modernization

Along with integrating all the different elements of campus automation, the campus modernization brings a lot of benefits to the campus and the different stakeholders like students, faculty, parents and leadership. A student or faculty navigating in a well modernized campus will feel like living inside a high-tech spaceship as seen in movies.

• Always Connected Experience

In a truly modernized campus, everyone will always be connected with everyone else on campus and the online world. This always on experience removes the obstacles in communication and accessing resources by allowing the communication and resource acquisition instantaneous. There are no human interventions and guidance required in navigating a modernized campus. This saves a lot of precious time of students and faculty which can be used in improving learning and teaching.

• Engaged Students & Faculty

The modernized campus have shown to improve the engagement ratios of students and faculty multiple fold. Engaged students and faculty are observed to be better aligned to the vision and mission of the campus and participate in all campus activities. The data collected from the student and faculty experience can be used to improve their campus experience further. Along with the existing students and faculty any prospective student or visiting faculty will also feel engaged to the potential of a truly modernized campus.

• Better Learning Outcomes

In an always connected campus with highly engaged students and faculty, you can expect the learning outcomes to skyrocket automatically. This happens due to the instant availability of resources required for study and instant communication with peer students and faculty. Along with these different AI innovations available in learning can help the learners and teachers in improving the learning outcome by studying the teaching and learning behaviors of teachers and students.

• Fast & Accurate Decision Making 

With the enormous amount of real-time data available, the leaders of the campus can take quick and accurate decisions without having to wait for detailed reports from faculties. All reports are available instantaneously and it will contain both the qualitative as well as quantitative data for making accurate decisions. The impact of any wrong decision also will be available as instant feedback to correct and proceed further.

• Improved Campus Safety

Campus modernization helps to improve the overall safety of the campus. This is achieved through the smart integration of different tracking and surveillance systems like CCTV cameras, biometric attendance, facial recognition, RFID tags, etc. The modernized infrastructure will also contain tools to detect and alert early about any emergency events probable in the campus environment.

• Precise Cost Control

With the always on data available, the cost centers can be identified and monitored in newer and better ways to bring down the cost. This is usually a surprise benefit of campus modernization as most of the leaders expect the cost to rise because of the capital expenditure required in modernizing the campus. Along with tracking the costs, the data analytics can be used to find opportunities to invest and multiply returns in the form of goals in academic performance or profit.

• Enhanced Administrative Efficiency

Once all the elements of the campus modernization projects are functional, the job of administrative staff become very easy and efficient. Various administrative staff like drivers, security, house-keeping, gardener, technician, etc. will get access through auto verification of identity and pre-planned timelines and locations for doing their job. This makes sure that all academic and administrative activities are done independently without conflicting with each other.

• Drives Inclusion & Diversity Initiatives

This is one of the best results of campus modernization. A fully digitized campus allows students and faculty to navigate the campus and access to resources and support without having to wait in queue or requiring special privileges. This helps foreign as well as special need students to feel at home in the campus.

How to achieve campus modernization in your college or school?

1. You need the right vendor and right leadership to execute a result driven campus modernization project for your institution. Along with the quality of vendor, the experience and vision of the leadership team in your institution also matters because there will be multiple vendors which the leadership team will have to plan to integrate.

2. It is highly advised to hire an experienced for faculty for the campus modernization project or select a single vendor who will work as the single point of contact for multiple vendors. Once the leadership team is finalized they can start with recruiting vendors for the project.

3. Always look for other campus modernization projects completed in your location and learn lessons of success as well as failure. Use these lessons while planning the strategy for your campus.

4. Make sure you have the proper budget for implementation takes care of both money as well as the time required to successfully modernize the campus. Usually projects can spread across multiple years before you can call it as a success.

5. The major components of a campus modernization project will fall under three categories – software, hardware and infrastructure.

a. Software includes all campus automation and database tools like ERP system, data analytics, reporting, etc.

b. Hardware includes all hardware like biometric, CCTV cameras, RFID systems, VR/AR, etc.

c. Infrastructure provides the base and connection between these tools. Along with the buildings, the networking elements like cabling and internet connectivity also comes under this category. And also make sure that all the faculty are properly trained during and after the implementation phase.

If you are looking for a campus modernization vendor contact the fedena experts today