CCC, four other colleges announce partnership

CLOVIS — Clovis Community College, along with four other New Mexico colleges, announced a partnership Monday they anticipate will create a more efficient higher education experience.

Joining CCC in the Enterprise Resource Planning project are Central New Mexico Community College, Northern New Mexico College, San Juan College, and Santa Fe Community College. The ERP project is a shared system of services for students and workforce.

“About three years ago, as the leadership of these institutions talked about the biggest challenges we were facing, it was clear that it was critical to address our ERP and student information systems,” CCC President Charles Nwankwo said in a school release. “We realized we could and should explore this collaboratively.”

Under the agreement, all five colleges will share various systems with benefits including reduction of application paperwork for enrollment or employment and a streamlining of the student transfer process. The five colleges will share decision-making, data and processes to find efficiencies, but each college retains the independence to directly address the unique workforce needs of their own communities.

Mindy Watson, CCC’s executive director for planning and sponsored projects, said currently the colleges have a wide variety of databases and processes for enrollment and financial aid. By building one system incorporating all of those components, each element is more user-friendly and there’s less learning curve from one element to another.

On the administrative side, Watson said, the ability for colleges to share resources will pay dividends.

“We don’t have to have every single knowledge expert on every single campus,” Watson said. “If we don’t have somebody in the business office with a specific skillset (because of a sick day or a job vacancy), we might be able to borrow that skillset from another institution.”

When asked if shared services could mean downsizing, Watson didn’t think that would be an effect. Right now, she said, CCC and other colleges rely heavily on third-party contracts and sharing resources would mitigate that.

The collaborative is soliciting proposals from vendors and system implementers to provide a single EPR with a shared data repository. Responding proposals will address recruitment, admissions, registration, financial aid, advising, and student services systems as well as student records, accounts, and scheduling transactions in addition to aligning human resources and financial operational processes.

A multi-year phased implementation is planned.

Information: Watson, 575-769-4065.