In the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, James Madison University (JMU) is a public, four-year institution home to over 22,000 students a year. With many students living off-campus in the community, JMU’s Office of Student Accountability and Restorative Practice (OSARP) manages all reports of alleged violations of university policy on and off campus. At JMU, Cover Heishman, Associate Director of OSARP, is pivotal in managing reporting violations of university policies. Heishman is responsible for evaluating all alleged policy violations, determining appropriate course of action, and coordinating the administrative aspects of each case through the lens of restorative practices.
To help manage the ins and outs of case management, JMU in 2020 moved its case management operations to Symplicity Advocate. The system's online accessibility, mobile responsiveness, and robust reporting capabilities significantly enhanced JMU’s case management efficiency.
Implementation and Benefits
Transitioning from a paper-based system to a digital solution, Heishman led the search for a more efficient alternative to the outdated databases used by OSARP, the Title IX office, and the Dean of Students office. After thorough evaluation, Advocate emerged as the optimal choice to meet the diverse needs of all three offices. Essential to deciding on a platform was accessibility and reporting capabilities. “We wanted something where we could access our files online, wherever we were. We wanted something that was also mobile responsive with robust reporting. Advocate met all of our needs,” said Heishman.
There were many logistical things that made Advocate the best choice at JMU. First other platforms couldn’t send direct communication to students without forcing the student to log into a system to read a message, “We didn't want there to be another layer for a student to have to go and log in or go to this other place just to see the information that we were sending.” Second, other platforms didn’t enable JMU to issue more than six alleged policy violations at one time in one case. Adopting Advocate at JMU solved both of these barriers, and more.
Switching to Advocate also increased the usability of the system, whereas before JMU's previous system “required an immense amount of expertise to figure out and navigate” This old system also meant that anytime someone left the office, they took all that system knowledge with them. The implementation of Advocate not only streamlined case management, but its user-friendly platform ensures that JMU’s team can easily transition from team member to team member without losing critical data and knowledge.
Reporting and Transparency
One of the most significant benefits of Advocate is the quick access to data analytics and reporting facilitated by Advocate. JMU’s seen a significant shift in how cases are managed with fewer tasks falling through the cracks with instant access to specific data and generated custom reports that used to take days or even longer. This has increased transparency and operational efficiency within the university’s disciplinary process.
Advocate has empowered Cover to track caseloads, identify trends, and advocate for additional resources based on concrete data. “I think it helps us have a better grasp of what's pending, what's outstanding, what we need to work on,” Heishman told Symplicity.
The integration with the student administration system provided unparalleled access to data analytics, empowering Heishman and the team to respond promptly to inquiries and make informed decisions. “The quick access to those numbers. It’s pretty powerful to be in a meeting and be able to have all of that right at your fingertips if you need it,” Cover said. With customized reports, JMU can build reports for whatever they need in just a few minutes. “I know a lot of schools have had this for years, but it was new to us and it’s been really helpful… from creating cases, closing cases, everything routes through me for processing or closing. It’s great to have everything in one place and I’m in it daily. “
With the reporting, Heishman and his team have utilized the data to also report on positive numbers to show the impact the office is having on reducing cases, violations, and more with year-to-year reporting. “It’s been very helpful for a few different situations for us to have better access to data and numbers for say our VP or our Board of Visitors and share the number of students we saw this year, or on the flip side someone might think something isn’t going as well and we can show data on what is really happening with our students,” said Heishman. “It's enabled us to reinforce more easily what our caseload is and how that's increased over the years to advocate for new positions.”
“The quick access to those numbers. It’s pretty powerful to be in a meeting and be able to have all of that right at your fingertips if you need it.. It's enabled us to reinforce more easily what our caseload is and how that's increased over the years to advocate for new positions."
Cover Heishman,
Office of Student Accountability and Restorative Practice, James Madison University
Restorative Practices with Advocate
JMU has embraced restorative practices as a cornerstone of its approach to addressing conflict and harm within the university community using Advocate. Restorative practices serve as an alternative method to address conflict or harm, going beyond mere policy violations and instead focusing on the impact individuals and actions have on the community. These practices involve acknowledging harm, identifying obligations, and collectively determining the need that arises to to address the harm caused.
With transitioning from a paper-based system to Advocate, Heishman and his team are better able to facilitate this approach by tagging each activity, which differs case by case, with what the student has done. You can see a student’s entire journey from violation to closing the case and track what restorative practices were implemented to address the violation. The platform's role in reinforcing positive narratives through data-driven insights and advocating for additional resources based on concrete data underscores its significance in shaping a more transparent and efficient university environment. JMU has future plans to utilize Advocate’s latest feature, Advocate Flex, to build different workflows , working with client managers to think of how this new feature will work.
Conclusion
Since adopting Advocate, JMU has built its system to meet its needs with the support of Symplicity. “Our experience overall has been outstanding, and we’ve enjoyed the partnership. It’s allowed us to do a lot of things that we would never have been able to do and we’ve gotten to a place of really enjoying using it on a daily basis,” Heishman said. For more information about virtualizing student services, email info@symplicity.com or schedule a conversation.
“Our experience overall has been outstanding, and we’ve enjoyed the partnership. It’s allowed us to do a lot of things that we would never have been able to do and we’ve gotten to a place of really enjoying using it on a daily basis."
Cover Heishman,
Office of Student Accountability and Restorative Practice, James Madison University
