Success Story IU International University
Rapid growth of IU – academyFIVE takes over administration in all areas
IU and Simovative have been collaborating since 2010. Since then, the university has grown rapidly, with academyFIVE always on board. Starting with face-to-face studies in Bad Honnef and Bad Reichenhall, academyFIVE now manages all processes of dual studies at more than 20 locations as well as distance and part-time studies. Thus, the campus management system is used for all university processes at IU and has always supported the growth of the university.
The University
The International University of Applied Sciences in Bad Honnef was founded in 1998 and has since then been divided into five independent areas: Campus Studies with an international management orientation, Distance Learning, Dual Studies, Part-time Studies and International Studies. Before academyFIVE, a third-party system was in use, which was to be replaced. The new software had to be able to map the different requirements that were regularly changing due to growth, meet the challenges of the future, and be integrated into the existing software landscape. In addition, other systems, such as the Moodle learning management software, had to be connected.
The challenge
Switching to a new campus management system during ongoing university operations presents certain challenges for both the university and the provider. From the start of the project, the smooth running of student operations had to be guaranteed: students had to be able to apply online, the admission process had to run cleanly, enrolment had to be carried out and all important processes had to be mapped. In addition, with the introduction of distance learning and later other forms of higher education, a massive increase in students began within a very short time for the IU. In order to keep up with this growth and the accompanying new requirements and changes on the part of the campus management system, academyFIVE had to prove its motto: as much standardisation as possible – as much individuality as necessary.
The solution
academyFIVE was able to cover all required functions and was successfully integrated into the current study operation. In parallel, the ‘distance learning’ module had to be developed and made operational for the new area. Thus, the implementation project of the IU was also significantly involved in the further development of academyFIVE and supported the way of the Campus Management System towards a modular standard software. Within the framework of this partnership, which still exists today, new modules were created, while the new requirements could be individually implemented in the desired standard software.
The customer's conclusion
Marco Kukulies, CTO at IU, is responsible for the Campus Management System project on the university side. Together we reviewed the past years and talked about the challenges and successes:
‘Of course, we always keep an eye on the market, and academyFIVE is still the campus management system that impresses us the most, both technologically and functionally. The product slogan 'As much standardisation as possible – as much individualisation as necessary' is particularly noteworthy here. This is one hundred per cent true and you won't find this flexibility with any other provider.’
According to Marco Kukulies, the greatest challenge of university administration at IU lies in its complexity – five business models have to be mapped in one system, as standardised as possible and yet customisable:
‘academyFIVE supports all types of higher education institutions in a single product and can be seamlessly integrated into our system landscape thanks to SOAP and REST interfaces. In the collaboration, we also benefit from the know-how of the employees – Simovative specialises in campus management, thus understands the processes of a university and can always offer best practice solutions that have proven themselves. Changes in higher education law are also proactively covered in the system. Finally, it must also be mentioned that with academyFIVE we have a future-proof solution – because the product moves with the times and is constantly being further developed. Therefore, we can recommend the use of academyFIVE to colleagues at other higher education institutions, especially if they are looking for a long-term solution!’
IU International University of Applied Sciences
Bad Honnef - Germany
