Driving Innovation at Brewton-Parker with Collēgix
An SIS that Delivers Agility, Unmatched Service, and Savings
Educating students in the rural setting of Mount Vernon, Georgia, Brewton-Parker College (BPC) plays a pivotal role in the vitality of its community. As the sole SACSCOC-accredited four-year Christian college in Georgia south of Macon, BPC’s administration recognizes the significance of innovation and operational efficiency for this small, private institution. Student enrollment and retention are paramount, particularly with the impending demographic challenges on the horizon.
To heighten the team’s agility and effectiveness, BPC relies on Aptron Corporation’s Collēgix Student Information System (SIS) to power its entire range of operations. Having used various iterations of Collēgix for decades, the BPC team is firmly convinced that this SIS is the ideal solution for them, as Collēgix offers:
- A comprehensive SIS that manages the majority of business processes.
- The flexibility to easily and affordably configure the platform for unique scenarios.
- An exceptional client services team that stands out in the industry.
- A robust SIS at a fraction of the cost of other major competitors.
Streamlining Academics with Collēgix
At the heart of BPC is its academic mission to create a “transformational experience” for students. BPC’s innovative leaders, who are driving this transformation, require a powerful SIS—and have found it in Collēgix. “With Collēgix, we manage our course schedules, create class rosters, and facilitate class registration and degree audits for students and counselors,” shared Toni Banks, Associate Provost for Institutional Research at BPC. For degree planning, the team inputs the requirements for each degree, concentration, and minor into Collēgix, allowing students to track their progress. Additionally, Collēgix is used to track chapel attendance, a college requirement.
Innovating Student Success Strategies
Recognizing the importance of student retention, BPC’s administration embarked on an innovative initiative. They observed that many students dropping out were close to the requirements for an associate degree. This insight sparked an idea: while the ultimate goal of a four-year degree remained, advisors began identifying students with roughly two years worth of courses and encouraged them, if teetering on dropping out, to complete their associate degree.
Initially, this process was entirely manual, placing significant demands on the advisors, who are also faculty members. Recognizing the need for efficiency, Brewton-Parker sought assistance from Aptron Corporation. Now, BPC utilizes Aptron’s mvQuery reporting tool to identify students with 50-75 credit hours. Subsequently, the team leverages Collēgix ‘s degree audit feature to pinpoint the remaining courses required for an associate degree and encourages students to at least complete those courses. “In just the past year, we’ve witnessed a remarkable 155% increase in associate degree recipients,” Banks said. Moreover, the team has noticed an increase in students who, upon earning their associate degree, are rejuvenated and motivated to continue their educational journey.
Expanding Student Success Through an Early Alert System
In line with its commitment to student success, Brewton-Parker College recognized the necessity of implementing an early alert system to identify students at risk of stopping out. While standalone early alert systems are available, they often come with a hefty price tag, a steep learning curve, and require dedicated resources for management and maintenance. Turning again to Aptron Corporation for support, Brewton-Parker decided to integrate Collēgix’s early alert functionality.
Utilizing Collēgix’s early alert system, BPC established teams for various student groups, including athletic teams, dual enrollment participants, and musical ensembles. Each team comprises a BPC staff leader, a student success staff member, and the students associated with the group. When a faculty member is concerned about a student, they access the Collēgix MyWeb portal and activate the early alert feature. This action automatically notifies all team members that the student may require assistance and immediately initiates BPC’s retention workflow.
In just the past year, we've witnessed a remarkable 155% increase in associate degree recipient's.
Automating Adjunct Faculty Contracts
The automation of adjunct faculty contracts stands out as one of BPC’s most impactful efficiency advancements. Leveraging faculty course assignments, Collēgix calculates the hours each faculty member will teach, along with their corresponding pay rates, and seamlessly generates the faculty contracts. Once generated, the Provost’s office is automatically notified. Following the Provost’s review, which allows for manual adjustments, faculty members receive a notification in their portal containing a link to review and electronically sign their contract. The file is then transmitted to the college’s human resources team for upload into the electronic payroll system. “With this automated workflow within Collēgix, we eliminated a resource-intensive, manual process that required hours that our team just can’t spare,” Banks said. “This one customization enabled us to reclaim two weeks of work for our team!”
Enhancing Efficiency in Campus Housing
Facing a challenge in managing on-campus housing, the BPC team engaged Aptron Corporation for help. Previously, room assignments were handled through a shared Google sheet, which complicated the coordination with other departments, such as the business office, for billing purposes. The real complexity emerged when housing changes occurred, such as a student requesting a switch from a shared to a private room. This necessitated room reassignments, adjustments to room rates, prorating of payments, and communication of these changes across offices—often resulting in organizational chaos.
Now, this entire housing process has been automated within Collēgix. Not only has this streamlined workflow boosted the team’s efficiency, but it has also enhanced the overall student experience.
Utilizing Collēgix and mvQuery Reporting for Budget Operations
BPC manages its entire budget within Collēgix. Whether it’s a department head, faculty member, or plant manager, anyone overseeing a budget with a general ledger (GL) code utilizes Collēgix. They can submit purchase requests, view available funds, facilitate budget approvals as needed, and generate purchase orders. Chasity Davis, BPC’s Senior Accountant, handles daily financial reconciliations. For this task, she relies on Collēgix and Aptron’s reporting tool, mvQuery. “I use Collēgix daily to manage thousands of GL lines. It’s incredibly effective for all my tasks,” Davis noted. “For additional reporting needs, mvQuery has been invaluable. Its user-friendly interface requires no programming background.”
Beyond an SIS: Gaining a Trusted Partner at an Affordable Price
While Collēgix and mvQuery are hailed as powerful, robust, and highly configurable by the BPC team, Aptron’s exceptional support and affordable pricing truly shine for Banks and Davis. “I transitioned to Brewton-Parker from a large state system where we had what was considered a top-of-the-line SIS with numerous features, but it was ten times more expensive than Collēgix. Moreover, if I needed assistance, I had to navigate through a customer support number or a chatbot,” Banks elaborated. Davis added, “With Aptron, I know the support team by name. I simply pick up the phone, say, ‘I need help,’ and receive a response the same day. They’re eager to hop on a call and discuss any issues I encounter.”
The BPC team further emphasizes the inability to configure other SISs as effectively as they have with Collēgix. Banks concludes by affirming that “Collēgix is an exceptional tool for promoting efficiency within a college, and Aptron goes above and beyond merely providing a student information system.”
"With Aptron, I know the support team by name. I simply pick up the phone, say, 'I need help,' and receive a response the same day. They're eager to hop on a call and discuss any issues I encounter."
About Brewton-Parker
Established in 1904, Brewton–Parker College is a private Baptist institution in Mount Vernon, Georgia. Today, BPC boasts undergraduate programs across seven academic departments, encompassing 19 majors. The college prioritizes hands-on learning, offering internships across most programs to provide practical experience alongside academic coursework. With approximately 900 students, Brewton–Parker College is uniquely positioned as the sole independent college in rural southeast Georgia. Recognized for its pivotal educational role in one of the state’s economically disadvantaged regions, BPC serves a significant number of first-generation college students.
