FOCUS

Like most facets of higher education, campus IDs and card offices are evolving. With the need for more contactless solutions and increased security, the introduction of mobile IDs poses many questions for card offices and data management. On the latest episode of FOCUS, Dawn Thomas, CEO of the National Association of Campus Card Users (NACCU), sheds light on the innovations coming to campus ID management, the importance of good data, and how institutions can prepare themselves to better use insights from the data they collect.

What is NACCU?

“We want our folks to use [NACCU] to create community and dive into credential data in a way that guides them to providing a better service to their students and their campuses. We know the campus credential is a gateway to partnerships, we want folks to know the value of the Campus Card Office,” said Thomas.

Adoption of Mobile Campus IDs

The first is how to gain support and validation from campus leaders. Some successful NACCU schools have done so by involving student government associations to set goals.

The second is how to manage infrastructure for contactless credentials. Integrating mobile IDs doesn’t mean that institutions need to completely overhaul their equipment, but they do need to identify the best way to move forward. Without proper support and infrastructure, campuses will not reap the full benefits of mobile IDs.

Better Data Management

Card offices should review data from basic card swipes, access control, dining facilities, security and campus recreation. Once they identify a consistent way to collect that data, the information can be analyzed and shared to build business cases for campus improvements. For privacy when pulling data on an aggregate level, the goal is to answer the business questions without needing to dive into individual transactions and personal student information. Thomas advises institutions that data is not power, but that the decisions it helps make can be powerful.

Creating Data Heroes on Campus

Thomas encourages card offices to continue to use their data effectively because they’re more than an ID office, they hold the information campuses need to create change.

NACCU is hosting their next Data Summit on November 3-4, 2022, at The Ohio State University. Registration is still open at https://www.naccu.org/events/naccu-data-summit-nov-2022

Additional Data Summits in 2023 will be announced soon.

Special Guest: Dawn Thomas.

Modernizing Payments with Canberra Institute of Technology

Karl Caig, director of corporate services at the Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT), joined the FOCUS podcast to share his experience with the Ellucian Payment Center by TouchNet. At CIT, Caig is responsible for maintaining key systems and processes that support operations and student management. His next goal is to reposition the institution by focusing on flexible education and training delivery, and to completely overhaul current student systems and interfaces.

This is why Caig turned to Ellucian Payment Center by TouchNet, which has provided tremendous improvement in processes, staff experience and student experience since implementation. Read along to learn more about CIT’s journey with the Ellucian Payment Center and Caig’s advice for other institutions.

Why the Ellucian Payment Center by TouchNet was the perfect fit

The Canberra Institute of Technology is a dual sector institute—serving students across technical trades, community college programs, apprenticeships, and bachelor programs. Each of the programs CIT offers is regulated by a different level of the Australian government, with different students making their payments to and receiving concessions from different entities. Previous payment systems were overly complicated and untimely because funding came from different buckets and communication between different government levels could be inefficient. As a result, payments had to be handled and calculated manually.

Caig knew that this was not a sustainable system, especially with a new strategic plan to expand into the online environment, and the need for a fully digital enrollment process. The institution was already using the Ellucian Banner for student information management, and any new solution they implemented needed to work with existing systems and fit with their strategic plan for the institution.

“We really had to make sure that as a government entity that the government was happy with our requirements, that whatever solution we had was a secure solution that obviously worked well with the Australian payment environment,” said Caig.

Luckily, the Ellucian Payment Center by TouchNet was the perfect fit to help CIT modernize their payment system and get the institution ready for its online future. This solution integrated seamlessly with the existing Ellucian Banner and opened up opportunities for new efficiencies on campus.

How CIT has benefited from TouchNet

Since implementation, the Ellucian Payment Center by TouchNet has modernized CIT’s payment system, improving both staff and student experiences. Tracking student payments is now easier, and Caig is able to see in real time who has and has not paid on time. His team can then direct them to a payment portal digitally, rather than spending weeks getting students up to date on payments. This has drastically reduced the institution’s credit risk and increased the amount of students who pay their bill on time.

Delivery of student refunds has been improved from a week’s long process to an almost instantaneous refund under this solution. Students no longer have to wait to receive refunds from a government banking system and are now issued them directly through the Ellucian Payment Center.

Automated payments have also freed up staff, who can now devote time to customer service and help students navigate payment options. CIT is now able to offer more flexible payment options for interested students.

During the pandemic, CIT was able to fully transition their learning and enrollment processes online, which Caig believes wouldn’t have been possible without the implementation of TouchNet’s solution. Also, the pandemic gave CIT a needed nudge to make these modern solutions the norm, because there was no other option.

TouchNet’s solutions also empowered CIT to stay on top of cybersecurity and PCI compliance with high confidence. TouchNet handles all of CIT’s payments and card data in accordance with PCI standards, which saves the institution time from the tedious process of managing it themselves.

Advice for other institutions

As campuses begin to look towards modernizing payments, Caig advises them to model their online payment systems after what students are already using in the marketplace. Students want the ability to make seamless and painless payments that they can manage anytime, anywhere. It has to be quick, easy, and straightforward. Look to the future state and see what’s out there that people already use, because there are solutions that exist that can do that for institutions, like what TouchNet has to offer.

Special Guest: Karl Caig.

The latest version of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) was recently released and higher ed institutions should start preparing to comply. Adherence to the new PCI DSS 4.0 will require colleges and universities to update how they manage PCI compliance campuswide. To outline the major points of the new standards and how to approach, FOCUS podcast invited Walid Barakat to share his expertise on the subject. Barakat is the senior vice president of IT governance, risk, and compliance at Global Payments, where he and his team are responsible for PCI compliance, merchant compliance, IT risks, and cloud business.

What is PCI DSS 4.0?

“There are some new requirements to really drive best practices, recommendations, and enhanced accountability for organizations to maintain compliance year-round,” said Bakarat. “Not just when it's time for the assessment, or working directly with an assessor.”

What institutions can expect

When it comes to the timing of PCI DSS 4.0 implementation, institutions are offered a multi-phase approach. The first phase begins in March 2024 with a small set of requirements focused on defining roles and responsibilities and higher-level risk posture. This will set them up for remaining requirements that will become effective in March 2025.

Institutions will need to minimize their security profile, which can be done with multi-factor authentication (MFA). Ensuring that MFA, appropriate security controls, and firewalls are properly in place and documented minimizes the scope and threat vector for PCI assessing and overall security risk.

The PCI Council has made PCI DSS 4.0 available to the public, which means anyone who accesses the council website can easily confirm how they’ve been using documentation, see a comparison to prior standards, and see published awareness documents and FAQs.

The importance of assessors and ISAs

The second approach is training current staff members to become internal security assessors (ISAs). With an ISA, institutions are able to have someone who already knows the ins and outs of systems be trained by the PCI Council’s program to understand standards, the overall PCI process, and what is needed for reports on compliance. The council will also offer free PCI DSS 4.0 training to all ISAs, making it even easier for compliance to take place.

Final advice

Looking for tips on how to build a strong PCI foundation? Download TouchNet’s PCI Explained eBook for an introduction to payment card terminology, how payments are processed, and best practices in building resources and processes vital to streamlining PCI compliance.

Special Guest: Walid Barakat.

Streamlining Payments for Campuswide Compliance with College of Charleston

Institutions are always on the search for solutions to streamline payments and ease the processes of accounts receivable and reconciliation for student and administrative use. David Katz, treasurer of the College of Charleston, found the solution in consolidating all payment systems under one platform, TouchNet, which he shared on the latest episode of the FOCUS podcast. Discover key insights from Katz on the adoption of a platform approach, which resulted in more efficient processes, unified payments, and simplified PCI compliance.

Integrated Solutions Provide a Better Experience

The College of Charleston has long worked with TouchNet to provide solutions for various types of payments. To aid with international payments, the college uses TouchNet partner TransferMate to streamline reconciliation of payments made in foreign currencies. Before this integration, payments could be difficult to process because of language barriers and naming conventions. With TransferMate, payments automatically post into the general ledger with all the required information needed to apply payments to the correct student accounts.

Katz’s team also uses TouchNet’s PayPath, saving the college almost $1 million in merchant fees since 2010. With the money saved, the institution has been able to maintain lower tuition, helping students afford their education. PayPath also makes the online payment process easier for students—all they need to do is a single sign on, pay, then when the payment is posted they’re done for that billing cycle.

TouchNet’s payment solutions even made it easy for the College of Charleston to offer six different payment plan s with installments spread across the semester. . These plans allow for better customer service and lower wait times for students needing support, as now they have an entire semester to reach out. The addition of required autopayments has drastically reduced end of semester accounts receivable and write off accounts over the three-year period since implementation.

TouchNet’s solutions have greatly eased the pressures of the College of Charleston’s accounts receivable and reconciliation by creating more automated and seamless payment processes.

The Platform Approach Adoption Process

While the College of Charleston has seen great success with adopting a platform approach, the adoption process didn’t happen overnight and is constantly being improved. The success was dependent on adapting existing systems to work with TouchNet and vice versa; rather than deciding how they wanted each solution to work on its own. Additionally, Katz believes the key to campuswide adoption is listening to staff, which is why he takes time to reexamine solutions with different departments to see what works and what needs to be adjusted.

“It all comes down to solving the needs on campus [by] listening to what people need, listening to what the problems are, and trying to come up with solutions. And when you work with everybody on the campus and not just force something upon them, you really get a widespread adoption over a period of time,” said Katz.

Vetting solutions for functionality and in-depth training are integral in making the adoption process successful. They take a ‘train the trainer’ approach—. training a few people, who then train others and create a procedures and policies manual, which is updated yearly.

PCI Compliance

During TouchNet solution training, Katz makes sure to bring departments together for PCI compliance workshops. All higher education institutions must follow PCI standards, which help to keep online payments and account info secure.

At these workshops, faculty is trained on how to make compliance easier and how to provide good customer service. Consistently training and letting policies be known has changed the way PCI compliance is approached campus wide. A big part of simplifying PCI compliance is giving staff recognition and ownership in their training. Katz found that when his team reinforced the good being done by staff keeping up with training and new policies, staff took more pride in their training and protecting the college.

Final advice

Katz’s final advice to other institutions hoping to consolidate their payments under one platform is to continue training as many people as possible on new processes and PCI compliance. He also advises institutions to set their credit card close times as close to midnight as possible for reconciliation, because it’s much easier to work with a midnight-to-midnight schedule across different time zones. Finally, test and map out solutions through their entire processes to understand how every moving piece will affect the other.

Special Guest: David Katz.

Stranded credits are a significant issue in higher ed institutions, impacting both schools and students. With new data arising on the subject, there is much to learn about potential solutions to the problem of stranded credits and how to keep students on track. James Ward joined a recent episode of Focus to shed light on the topic of stranded credits and solutions campuses can employ. Ward is a senior researcher at Ithaca S+R, where he leads research on higher ed institutions, finance, and policy issues. He also has experience in institutional research, worked with the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), and teaches courses at National Louis University.

What are Stranded Credits?

“When we talk about stranded credits, we're talking about students who have an unpaid balance that they owe an institution. And because of that balance, they can't reenroll. And they can't access their transcripts to either transfer, or potentially use them for an employment related reason,” Ward explains.

Research done by Ithaca S+R shows that an estimated 6.6 million students have stranded credits adding up to $15 billion in debt. This substantial problem for students and institutions requires solutions and provides an enormous opportunity for institutions to re-engage disaffected students, resolve debt, boost enrollment, and support students to complete degrees.

Which Students are Affected?

Community colleges are the largest sector of higher ed to face this issue, with an estimated three million students carrying an average of $630 in stranded credit debt. On the flip side, small private institutions have a higher average cost per student of $5,700, but only have around 500,000 affected students.

Students with stranded credits typically fall into one of three groups. The first are students who left school quickly after enrollment, either due to a change in plans or college not being the right choice and left without paying their fees. The second group is made up of students who were progressing through their degree normally, then encountered some financial setback that caused them to leave school and not pay their balance. Lastly, there are students who make it to the end of their degree with only a few credits or requirements left, and never pay their final bill. Understanding these three groups can aid campuses in encouraging students to get back into school and earn their credentials and help them in their longer-term life outcomes.

Stranded Credit Solutions

Gap loans provided by nonprofit organizations allow students to borrow money to get them out of current debt and back in the classroom. This option still saddles students with additional debt, which may not be the best option long-term.

The final solution students have access to are debt forgiveness programs. These are mostly single institution programs, where colleges forgive unpaid balances and let students reenroll to pay off debts, or the debts are forgiven over time. Some schools even used Covid relief funds to help pay off unpaid balances. Colleges receive additional tuition revenue from that reenrollment, and students are still able to work towards their credentials while reducing debt.

What Comes Next?

Ward’s final piece of advice as higher ed institutions begin to strategize potential solutions is to gather more relevant data. Find out who has unpaid balances, how much is left unpaid, why are balances left unpaid, what policies and codes are adding to student hurdles, and how successful debt forgiveness programs are, if the institution has any. As institutions begin to close this information gap, better solutions can be implemented that will lead to fewer students struggling with stranded debts.

Special Guest: James Ward.

Gen Z expert and author, Hana Ben-Shabat joined the Focus podcast to demystify the expectations and behaviors of Generation Z, who are now in college and entering the workforce. Colleges and university leaders have now been tasked with attempting to understand their values to innovate new ways to appeal to this generation, as they are unlike any generations of the past.

Ben-Shabat shares her insights on Gen Z to help business leaders maximize the potential of this group by studying their motivations and culture. Through her company, Gen Z Planet, Ben-Shabat turns her research into growth engines that higher ed institutions can then implement to better understand Gen Z and build a strategy that engages them.

How Gen Z Culture is Defined

Much of Ben-Shabat’s conversation points come from her book “Gen Z 360,” which is the culmination of her quantitative and qualitative research. This generation, defined by being the first to grow up with the internet, computers and smart phones, were born between the years 1998 to 2016. The early marker coinciding with the launch of Google and the latter marker coinciding with several significant cultural events.

The first topic of the podcast episode dives into Gen Z culture. With 48% of this generation made up of minorities, they are the most diverse generation to ever live in the United States. Their diversity has developed a cultural and social lens, where inclusivity and social justice are highly valued.

Gen Z has always existed with access to the internet and technology, which in turn created a high-level of connectivity that exposed them to many world events and movements in formative years, and continues to do so. Because of this, Gen Z tends to challenge authority and advocate for the change they want in the world. They are a generation of creators, reimagining creative outlets and placing value in self-expression.

“I believe they are really creating a new age of creativity. This is a generation that because of the tools that they have, the technology is in their hands, they are demonstrating a level of creativity and entrepreneurship that we have not seen before,” says Ben-Shabat.

On the other hand, Gen Z has a greater struggle with mental health than other generations. These struggles stem from witnessing their parents’ anxiety from the 2008 recession, Covid-19, school shootings, higher divorce rates and other downturns in the past 20 years. As a result, Ben-Shabat notes that Gen Z strongly values family, equality, mental health and financial stability. When shifting to the perspective of higher education, campuses should create strategies that appeal to this generation's core beliefs and needs.

Outlook on Education and Work

As Gen Z seeks financial stability, higher education is often the answer. Ben-Shabat’s research shows that Gen Z is expected to attain the highest levels of academic achievement. Her data reveals that 89% of Gen Z plans to go to college, with two-thirds stating financial security as motivation to earn a degree.

However, Gen Z students are also extremely averse to debt, and try to avoid or at least minimize their loans. They understand the consequences of student loans, but also view college education as the path to having a job that provides stability.

Transitioning from school to work, Ben-Shabat believes Gen Z is the most educated, yet least prepared generation to enter the job market. While institutions have taught Gen Z the technical skills they need to enter the workforce, they often lack the soft skills to help them succeed. Gen Z is highly motivated to succeed, and now universities need to prepare them better to enter the workforce and show them their debts will pay off.

Gen Z Commerce

Gen Z’s core value of financial security is a major influence in their commerce traits. They have learned from the mistakes of others to take actions to make themselves more secure. Campuses have seen increases in spread out payment plans as students learn more about money and aim to be debt-free at the end of each semester rather than taking out loans. Additionally, they are already investing and putting money into retirement accounts, even at young ages.

Takeaways

Ben-Shabat’s advice to higher ed leaders is to understand Gen Z culture, focusing on where they come from and the pressures they’re under. Institutions should also continue to develop better technology for students to use from admissions to ongoing operations.

Finally, leaders should recognize their need for community, diversity and authenticity to create campus environments where that can flourish. Gen Z doesn’t have to be a mystery, and through work like Ben-Shabat’s, higher ed institutions can continue to grow and adapt to fit their needs and values.

Special Guest: Hana Ben-Shabat .

It’s no secret that the pandemic altered the way colleges and universities carry out their everyday operations, driving campuses to adopt more innovative technology. In this episode of the Focus podcast, Rico Marea, assistant vice president for Revenue Receivables and Payables at Georgetown University shares how they transformed their payment operations by adapting and implementing more modern solutions.

Adapting to new payment options

During the pandemic, Georgetown quickly discovered issuing and receiving paper checks became difficult. With no one able to physically do the work of handling checks, the university was able to push for all departments and offices to accept electronic payment options. Through TouchNet uStores and uPay, Georgetown was able to quickly create payment acceptance websites for students to use.

“A great example of something that we're leveraging [is] the TouchNet solution to simplify payment processes that were painful in many ways, because we were relying on paper checks,” said Marea.

The integration of electronic payment options also helped bill past students still eligible for student health insurance and campus organizations receive donations while cutting back on paper checks. Georgetown’s efforts with TouchNet opened the doors to begin to solve other problems in payment operations.

University procurement cards reimagined

Beyond student finances, TouchNet’s uStore has allowed Georgetown to look further into online reimbursement options for staff with university procurement cards. Before, when a personal expense was accidentally charged to a campus card, employees had to mail a check to reimburse the institution.

Once a uStore can be set up, employees will be able to easily replace accidental spending on pro-cards and have it automatically reallocated on the back end of the financial system. Once Georgetown and TouchNet have fully developed and tested this software, other higher ed institutions will be able to integrate it into their operations.

ACH validation with TouchNet made possible

ACH validation is another integrated TouchNet solution that Georgetown was able to quickly implement; making it is to comply with the new ACH regulations enforced by Nacha.

This new feature reduces the risk of fraud and incorrect or incomplete transactions. With ACH validation integrated in the TouchNet payment solution, invalid bank accounts and input mistakes are not accepted. So students and parents won’t have to worry about their payments and refunds not going through. This feature also benefits the staff, as now there is an automatic way to know what went wrong and how to fix the issue if a bank account cannot be validated.

What’s next for Georgetown?

As Georgetown continues to improve its payment operations with integrated technology solutions, the administration is looking toward new ways to manage the increase in electronic transactions. Marea is focused on data security for students and parents, and working with TouchNet to streamline PCI compliance.

Georgetown’s plan is to keep pushing in the direction they’re going with TouchNet’s help, to continue to improve payment operations to meet the needs and expectations of today’s students and parents. Partnering with TouchNet has allowed them to implement innovative solutions and is an example to other institutions of how we can help transform electronic payments in campuses across the country.

Special Guest: Ricard Marea .

Chris shares all about Starship's autonomous delivery robots that are taking over campuses and creating more convenience for students and visitors.

Why higher ed institutions are the perfect fit

How do they work?

A seamless student experience

Additionally, Starship wanted to make sure that students could really benefit from the robots. So they’ve integrated with the TouchNet OneCard Campus ID so that students can use their declining balance accounts within the Starship app. Students can use the balance stored on their campus ID just like other payment methods such as a debit card to have the robots deliver from campus restaurants and other places where campus ID payments are accepted. This customized user interface makes the robots more accessible to students, and keeps students spending money on campus, which maintains revenue streams for institutions.

The future rolls forward

https://www.starship.xyz/

Special Guest: Chris Neider .

Dr. Susan Whealler Johnston passed away on August 12, 2022. We admire the leadership she gave to NACUBO and the entire higher education community. She was thoughtful, caring, and passionate. May we all remember her lifetime of contributions to the pursuit of reinforcing the value of higher education. We were honored to have her as a podcast guest and hope you enjoy listening to this episode of FOCUS in which Susan shares insights into how higher education is evolving. Recorded April 2022.

Dr. Susan Whealler Johnston, president and CEO of the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), shares her thoughts on the role of the Chief Business Officer (CBO) as higher ed institutions look towards the future. Her recent initiative has led her on a series of campus visits to shadow CBOs and learn how the organization can better support them. These conversations are uncovering key insights for CBOs as they prepare to tackle new trends in higher ed.

CBOs Need to get Strategic

Conversations about the CBO’s future in higher education have been in the works for years. The role of an institution’s CBO is more than the one who ensures the balancing of budgets and handling campus finances. CBOs are often left out of early planning conversations, but their input is vital to a school’s mission and needs. Johnston believes that it's imperative that the CBO is a strategic thought partner with the president and their cabinet.

“[The] keyword that I hear, really, when I talk to the Chief Business Officers, and to the president, is the word strategic,” said Johnston.

The position is integral in strategic planning because they understand institution finances and what it takes to accomplish goals more than other campus officials.

As CBOs and other campus leaders prepare to take on this new strategic role and learn how to better serve students, Johnston advises them to ask themselves:

Crossroads of Change in Higher Education

Johnston also shared trends for the future of education that coincide with the role of the CBO. Institutions have created more access to online resources and taken down barriers in online learning. Campuses have heightened student experiences from in-depth degree and job counseling to orientations for previously online students.

Schools have seen declines in 18-22-year-old students and increases in adult learners, which institutions must learn to accommodate. Overall admissions have fallen, which poses the question to CBOs of how financially sustainable a large campus can be with smaller student numbers.

There are also new focuses on educational equity, diversity, and technology. As the demographics and needs of the student population changes, colleges and universities are exploring solutions to address new needs, such as access to technology, on-campus childcare, and creative ways to use buildings and space.

With new opportunities in institutions across the nation, Chief Business Officers can change from “Office of No,” to the “Office of How.”

Special Guest: Susan Whealler Johnston.

Heather welcomes David Mainenti, AVP of enrollment, finance and compliance at Long Island University. He shares his strategy for using payment plans to set students up for success.

Special Guest: David Mainenti.