North of Pittsburgh, Penn., Slippery Rock University (SRU) is home to 8,362 students annually and has successfully integrated Symplicity Advocate into its student conduct operations, resulting in enhanced efficiency, data-driven decision-making, and robust support systems. Since 2013, Advocate at Slippery Rock University has proven to be a game-changer for the university's administration, providing invaluable tools and support to better manage student conduct case.
Comprehensive Case Management
Advocate has significantly improved operational efficiency at SRU. Scott Irlbacher, Director of Student Conduct, joined SRU when Advocate was new to the school, and had to quickly learn the product. Yet, due to Advocate’s comprehensive system, Irlbacher easily was able to transition, "It's nice to have that all in one place," Irlbacher told Symplicity. Simplifying workflows and reduces procedural steps, Advocate has made, “My life is a little easier, taking what used to be a ten to 15 step process and making it a three to five step process is really nice.” Irlbacher continued. This reflects a broader move towards streamlined operations, enhancing the management of student conduct cases and administrative tasks. “Advocate allows me to create a custom report or a dashboard that allows me to monitor or to find those immediate numbers that I can easily pull, instead of downloading everything in bulk and having to do an additional process of importing it into a spreadsheet; it just saves me so much time,” said Irlbacher. Plus, by going paperless with Advocate, the office has minimized the risk of lost or misplaced documents and enabled controlled access for different user roles and easily find documents.
By housing all student cases within Advocate, the university gains a holistic view of each student's journey, enabling better-informed decisions and interventions. Advocate's flexibility allows different types of cases to be managed cohesively while maintaining separate reporting streams when necessary.
Data-Driven Decision Making
The data capabilities of Advocate are a game-changer for SRU, enabling Irlbacher and his team to make informed decisions quickly. He values the robust reporting features, "The reporting side is really important for us... Those dashboards to look at our statistical piece, the number of cases, number of students involved, and the locations and types of infractions. I can very quickly put these things together." These tools allow the university to proactively address areas of concern, such as specific locations with high incident reports, critical in enhancing campus safety and student services.
Additionally, Advocate's reporting capabilities have proven invaluable for Irlbacher and his team. Custom reports and dashboards provide real-time insights into case trends, student involvement, and more:
These reporting tools enable data-driven decision-making, allowing the office to identify areas of concern, allocate resources effectively, and drive proactive interventions and programming.
Holistic Student Support Through Integration
A key strength of Advocate is its integration capabilities with Symplicity’s Accommodate, a disability services management solution. This interconnectivity empowers SRU to provide truly holistic support to students. As Irlbacher explained, "Having those systems that talk to one another is going to be vital… We’ve been able to calculate overlap in our student case, our case totals, and right now we're seeing about a 20 percent overlap between student conduct and disability services. So what that is allowing us to do is streamline their support network in terms of what professional staff work with students who are frequently seeking accommodations and support from disability services then now have a relationship with another office to support them.”
SRU, like a lot of other campuses, has a quickly emerging population of students who disclose an autism spectrum diagnosis and some neurodiversity. By syncing Accommodate and Advocate together this will enable faculty and staff to better support these students, particularly with the federal government expanding 504 Accommodation eligibility to include. Neurodivergent. “We're going to have a lot more students who are going to be claiming accommodations, but we also know there's just naturally going to be some conflicts that are related to that,” said Irlbacher. “And so having multiple people who can see the systems and see how the relationship to these students, the student discloses an autism diagnosis, well, that might be why it seems like they're constantly having a roommate issue or their attitudes seem to be off and someone reported them or shared a concern about them.”
“Having those systems that talk to one another is going to be vital… We’ve been able to calculate overlap in our student case, our case totals, and right now we're seeing about a 20 percent overlap between student conduct and disability services. So what that is allowing us to do is streamline their support network in terms of what professional staff work with students who are frequently seeking accommodations and support from disability services then now have a relationship with another office to support them."
Scott Irlbacher
Director of Student Conduct, Slippery Rock University
By integrating Advocate with Accommodate, staff can access a comprehensive picture of a student's situation, from conduct issues to disability accommodations. This level of insight enables more personalized support strategies and helps break down silos between different support services. This includes during the conduct process ensuring that students have the proper accommodations to make the process better for students and effectively advocate for themselves.
With this integration, SRU can coordinate support efforts more efficiently. Information can be shared seamlessly, enabling multiple stakeholders to contribute to a student's success without duplicating efforts or working in silos. For instance, when addressing bias/discrimination reports, Advocate facilitates collaboration between Student Conduct, the Dean of Students office, and task forces focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion. As Irlbacher said, "When that box is checked, that triggers a bunch of notifications with our bias response team.” This integrated approach ensures that no student concern falls through the cracks and that a coordinated, multi-faceted support network is in place.
Furthermore, SRU plans to integrate Advocate with their Career Services office, recognizing the importance of supporting students' career readiness and future employment prospects, particularly for those with disclosed disabilities.
Customer Support and Community
The ongoing support from Symplicity’s customer service team has been a cornerstone of SRU’s positive experience with Advocate. "The people behind Symplicity, the individuals I meet and have worked with us are just first class,” said Irlbacher. “I love that so many of the people that we work with the most have done this work. Sympliciyt isn't just hiring some customer service manager or someone who's worked in sales in some other industry… Symplicity is usually hiring someone from a campus who has an understanding of not just of what Advocate does, but how it's used and why I need it to do the certain things for what I am trying to accomplish is critical.”
The reliable support network from implementation to today to help facilitate the system's integration into daily operations has nurtured a strong partnership that extends beyond technical assistance.
“It’s nice to be able to have one company that you trust providing multiple products is very nice and makes me feel a lot more comfortable for our campus… Symplicity is more than just a vendor to us,” Irlbacher remarked. “For Slippery Rock and for me, it's the people and that as one company, Symplicity is able to come to our campus with a multifaceted menu of solutions. And so that's very attractive for us.”
“The people behind Symplicity, the individuals I meet and have worked with us are just first class... I love that so many of the people that we work with the most have done this work. So Symplicity isn't just hiring some customer service manager or someone who's worked in sales in some other industry… [Symplicity is] usually hiring someone from a campus who has an understanding of not just of what Advocate does, but how it's used and why I need it to do the certain things for what I am trying to accomplish is critical"
Scott Irlbacher
Director of Student Conduct, Slippery Rock University
Conclusion
Symplicity Advocate has played a transformative role at Slippery Rock University, revolutionizing how the institution manages student conduct and utilizes data for strategic decision-making. Overall, Symplicity Advocate has empowered Slippery Rock University to streamline operations, enhance collaboration, and provide comprehensive support to students through an integrated solution. By leveraging the full capabilities of Advocate and its interconnectivity with other Symplicity solutions, Slippery Rock is paving the way for more efficient processes, data-driven decision-making, and, ultimately, improved student success outcomes.
