Customer Profile

Northwestern University is proud to be "an innovative, collaborative, and multidimensional community, delivering an impact that is rare in higher education." Their innovative nature was a critical trait when, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, classes as well as all adminstrative processes were suddenly moved online. Northwestern chose frevvo to help with this transition in part because of the world-class client services team that could complete this project on budget and on time.

Business Situation

Northwestern came to frevvo with three of the registrar's paper-based processes that needed to move online due to COVID-19 safety protocols that kept students and staff at home. The workflows to add a course, withdraw from a course, and withdraw from the quarter needed to be online in a matter of days and with limited resources. frevvo's Client Services team was up for the challenge.

Solution Summary

The workflows were created, tested and rolled out to users in less than two weeks and using just half the estimated project hours. Not only did frevvo workflows eliminate the need for in-person meetings, but they also enhanced the original processes by providing data validation to help users complete forms error-free, rejection to allow approvers to send the form back for more information, and escalations to ensure workflows were completed on time. Because frevvo works with their existing Active Directory, students and advisers are able to login with their existing credentials – no need to remember yet another password.

Northwestern was so happy with these new workflows that they decided to immediately have the frevvo Client Services team coach them through building another workflow – the Petition to Graduate. In this workflow, students have the flexibility to petition for one or more majors and minors. Each department can approve or reject their respective petitions, and all of an individual student's data is stored in one submission document. frevvo's drag-and-drop precondition and rejection features make this very complex workflow possible and allowed for the flexibility needed to handle a decentralized process with ease.

Northwestern also used the frevvo Google Sheets Connector to add dynamic dropdown lists to the form that allow the student to choose a department, corresponding major or minor, and concentration. The same Google Sheet also populates the correct adviser for each step so the workflow routes dynamically without the need for complicated logic.

Key Features

• frevvo - Google integration provides dynamic dropdown lists and step assignments.
• Rejections & escalations keep communication active and workflows on time.
• Security integration keeps users in sync with the university’s Active Directory and protects data.

Benefits

• Fast transition from paper to digital in the face of a crisis.
• Online workflows are user-friendly and save time.
• No need for in-house technical staff - frevvo's world class Client Services can build workflows for you or support Do-It-Yourself projects.

Northwestern's frevvo workflows are user friendly and save time. Advisers and staff appreciate the value added by keeping processes on time and error-free. Though these workflows were motivated by a global health crisis, they are here to stay, and Northwestern plans to roll out several more workflows in the future.