About Universities Canada
Universities Canada is the voice of Canada's universities. They advocate for higher education, research, and innovation. Universities Canada provides a forum for university leaders to share ideas and address challenges. They foster collaboration between members, governments, the private sector, international partners, and communities. Overall, they promote access to education by administering approximately 130 scholarship programs per year.
An antiquated process in need of updating
The system Universities Canada had in place dated from 1999 and was configured in Oracle. “Our system was outdated and there was no room to expand or modernize our processes,” says Justin Perrier, Scholarship Systems Analyst. “As automation standards evolved, our users needed the latest features and functionality that our existing system just couldn’t provide.”
“Our old system was managed by an external contractor,” continues Justin, “And we really wanted a more self-sustaining option so we didn’t need someone’s help every time we wanted to make a minor change. We needed a company that would partner with us to improve our processes; someone who would work with our standards, while keeping our program current as new technology and practices evolved.”
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We now know the minute anything is completed, from submissions to payments to reviews. That’s greatly improved our tracking. It’s like comparing apples and oranges from our old system to SmartSimple Cloud.
Heather Cayouette
Director, Programs and Information Management, Universities Canada
Real flexibility, accounting integration, among key requirements
When it came time to look at upgrading to a new grants management system, the team built a spreadsheet to outline the functionality required in a new platform. “The list included the ability to support highly detailed workflows, meticulous tracking capabilities, powerful flexibility, the ability to manage multiple languages, upload documents, function in real-time, be self-sustaining, and seamlessly integrate with our current accounting software,” says Justin.
They agreed to consider any vendor who met at least 80% of their requirements, but, unfortunately, discovered that most vendors couldn’t even meet half of the organization’s goals.
Then, Heather Cayouette, Director, Programs and Information Management, found SmartSimple Software through a Google search. “It looked like we had found a potential partner, so we invited them to come in and show us what they had. SmartSimple Cloud was the only platform that looked like it would be able to meet our complex requirements. It seemed this was the solution we’d been looking for.”
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We needed a company that would partner with us to improve our processes; someone who would work with our standards, while keeping our program current as new technology and practices evolved.
Justin Perrier
Scholarship Systems Analyst, Universities Canada
More functionality means more self-sufficiency
“Our programs work on an annual cycle. We manage between 10 and 12 review committees per year, and each reviewer can be responsible for up to approximately 150 files. The majority of our committees have about 5 reviewers, but we’ve had as many as 34 in a single committee. So, for us, a key improvement was being able to eliminate paper applications, and reduce the amount of time and energy expended by applicants, internal staff, and reviewers,” says Heather.
“We were so pleased with the amount of flexibility available in the platform, that we were able to extend our reach and use SmartSimple Cloud for other programs we manage,” says Justin. “And since changes could be done on the fly, I became excited to learn how to do much of the configuration work on my own, making us not only much more efficient, but more self-reliant as well.”
Justin used elements of SmartSimple Cloud to create integrations and tools, including the instantaneous transfer of information between their SmartSimple Cloud platform and financial software, giving them instant access to the data required for cutting checks and managing invoices. “SmartSimple Cloud makes it so easy to ensure payments are accurate, timely, and trackable.”
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SmartSimple Cloud was the only platform that looked like it would be able to meet our complex requirements. It seemed this was the solution we’d been looking for.
Heather Cayouette
Director, Programs and Information Management, Universities Canada
Saving time, saving paper, saving money
“Automated workflows mean Universities Canada staff can review applications quickly, so they’ve been able to increase the volume of programs they support. Everything is tracked differently now,” says Heather. “Instead of giant bins of paper indexed on a spreadsheet, everything is online. Because students can also better track their applications we have seen a reduction in the number of incomplete applications, and an increase in the number of viable ones. We now know the minute anything is completed, from submissions to payments to reviews. That’s greatly improved our tracking. It’s like comparing apples and oranges from our old system to SmartSimple Cloud.”
“Thanks to SmartSimple Cloud, reviewers no longer have to take shipping time into consideration when planning their schedules. They can access the system through their own secured, personal portals at their convenience, no matter where or when they prefer to work. This new review process has received more praise than any other improvement made by SmartSimple Cloud,” says Justin.
“SmartSimple Cloud has given me the freedom to focus on more strategic planning activities. As a nonprofit, we’re also able to leverage the financial savings gained by having our entire process online,” adds Heather. “My team has become much more efficient, reducing the need to perform monotonous administrative tasks like sorting and stamping papers.”
“Thanks to the success of SmartSimple Cloud, we plan to continue refining our system and bringing more of our work online. Having all our projects operating on a single platform means we can have several workflows running at once, so we get more done in less time. And with the integration of SmartSimple Cloud and our accounting software, everything is organized, accurate, and easily trackable.”
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We were so pleased with the amount of flexibility available in the platform, that we were able to extend the reach and use SmartSimple Cloud for other programs we manage.
Justin Perrier
Scholarship Systems Analyst, Universities Canada