When 18 separate data sources crippled student data services, the University of Notre Dame turned to case management to consolidate every record into a tailored interface.
One student record split 18 ways
Notre Dame’s relationship with a student begins before the first class through the First-Year of Studies (FYS) office. The FYS advises every incoming undergraduate, and the quality of that advising depends on how quickly and completely an advisor can understand the person sitting across from them.
For years, that understanding was scattered across 18 different Microsoft Access databases, with supporting material found in spreadsheets, shared folders, and filing cabinets. No single system held the whole picture. The result was slower service and very poor visibility for advisors, and the dean needing the bigger picture.
Equipped with Hyland’s OnBase case management system, the university already had a content platform in place but lacked a way to unify scattered student information into a single record that an advisor could actually work from.
Every student is a unique case
Case management is a way of organizing work to fit a specific, niche, or variable use case. Because every student will require nuanced advisement regarding their education, a nuanced solution was needed.
To solve its split-ways data problem, the university leveraged its relationship with Hyland and its implementation partner, KeyMark, to rapidly deploy a unique interface within OnBase that could assemble each first-year student’s information and documents into a single digital file.
What keeps the file current is its link to Notre Dame’s systems of record. Beyond stored admissions paperwork, the new app draws live data straight from the Banner by Ellucian student information system (SIS), surfacing FERPA status, schedules, grades, and pending course drops as they stand the instant an advisor opens the record.
"Advisors now have one place to go for all student information. While students are in the waiting room, advisors can pull up their electronic files, see their pictures and view details like FERPA status, academic schedules, grades and pending course drops. They also have access to all related documents — giving them a quick synopsis of each student."
The interface is also where the advising work happens. From a single record, advisors can log visit notes, attach documents, message faculty, and handle change-of-intent and program-declaration events, while a running list of tasks and appointments keeps their day ordered. Permissions keep advising notes and sensitive student data restricted to the right people, and every action against a file is logged, so the record carries a complete, auditable history.
That same structured case data is what gives leadership a view it never had before.
"There's so much more to OnBase than making our documents electronic. The solution provides so many opportunities for us and the reporting mechanism has been fabulous."
Reporting and dashboards let the dean monitor operations in real time — distributing caseloads, pairing students with the right advisor, and stepping in where attention is needed. The data also exposes patterns the office would otherwise miss, such as an unusual cluster of drops in one course, early enough to act and safeguard the first-year experience.
"We finished processing course drops three days earlier than we have in the past, so it's a huge increase in efficiency. Yet, one of the real hallmarks of success from the advisors' perspective is that work continues as normal. OnBase didn't change the core of what we do — all it did was make it better."
The difference
- One record. The whole student. Advisors see everything in a single file — visit notes, admissions documents, every dropped course, and live Banner data — rather than reconstructing it from scattered systems.
- Time redirected to students. Advisors don't have to spend as much time on back-office paperwork or keeping track of data.
- Real-time visibility. The dean can see who's in the waiting room, who's coming in, and why, and can offer support to other advisors.
- Paper handoffs eliminated. Keeping student files as complete electronic views that track progress throughout a student's academic career means everything is ready with minimal prep work for file transfer.
- Built fast, on the platform. The FYS application was configured on OnBase rather than custom-coded, so it stood up quickly and left room to grow. Notre Dame planned to extend the same model to college dean-level advising and graduate programs.
Learn more or ask about case management
If your institution, organization, or enterprise needs a dynamic workflow that’s case-dependent similar to Notre Dame’s, we’d love to help. Reach out and tell us about your process sticking-points, or ask us more about case management.
