Continuing Education Platform Implementation (Modern Campus)
Launching a digital continuing education platform with e-commerce functionality, system integrations and cross-functional workflows to create a new institutional revenue stream.
Context
- Institution sought to expand continuing education (CE) as a new revenue stream
- CE programs offered flexible, shorter pathways using existing course inventory
- Students did not need to apply; they could instantly enroll, pay, and participate
- No existing infrastructure to:
- Deliver CE programs online
- Process payments
- Manage enrollment workflows
- Need to integrate CE into existing academic systems without disrupting operations
The Problem
- No system for course browsing, enrollment or payment processing
- Manual processes made CE offerings difficult to scale
- No “shopping cart” or e-commerce functionality for students
- Lack of integration with:
- Student Information System (SIS)
- Learning Management System (LMS)
- Limited visibility into CE enrollment, revenue and program performance
- Significant internal resistance due to perceived workload increases
My Role
As Associate Vice President for Teaching and Learning, I led the implementation from the academic side, partnering across the institution and with the vendor to design a system that would:
- Enable seamless course browsing, enrollment and payment
- Integrate CE offerings with SIS and LMS systems
- Support academic advising and student services workflows
- Ensure course quality and instructional readiness
- Drive adoption across multiple stakeholder groups
- Establish CE as a scalable, revenue-generating model
Approach
1. Vendor Evaluation and Strategic Alignment
I led engagement with the vendor from the initial exploration through selection of Modern Campus. I developed and posed critical questions to evaluate platform capabilities and identified academic priorities, constraints and success criteria. I surfaced and addressed faculty and stakeholder concerns early in the process.
2. Cross-Functional System Design
I collaborated with the Registrar, Advisement, Enrollment Services, Instructional Design, the Library, Student Support, the Deans, Department Chairs, the Provost and C-Suite leadership. I designed workflows to ensure CE students could enroll seamlessly, access courses in the LMS, receive grades and transcripts and utilize academic support services.
3. E-Commerce and Student Experience Design
Working with Modern Campus, I implemented a user-facing platform where students could browse CE programs and courses, add offerings to a shopping cart and complete payment via credit card or digital payment methods. I partnered with web and marketing teams to ensure clear navigation, intuitive UX design and strong program visibility.
4. Systems Integration and Testing
I led the coordination of integrations between the Modern Campus platform, our Student Information System and our Learning Management System (course delivery). I also conducted extensive cross-functional testing to validate enrollment workflows, payment processing, course sequencing and prerequisites, certificate requirements and transcript generation and access to tutoring, library and advising services.
5. Change Management and Stakeholder Buy-In
I addressed institutional resistance by communicating the benefits and long-term impact of Modern Campus adoption, demonstrating that workflows would not increase staff burden and framing CE as a solution to resource and staffing challenges. I built alignment across highly distributed teams and functions.
6. Course Readiness and Quality Assurance
I mobilized instructional design teams to review and prepare courses for CE delivery and ensure quality, consistency and accessibility. I ensured courses were fully ready for integration into the new platform.
Impact
Institutional Impact
- Launched a fully functional continuing education platform
- Established CE as a new, scalable revenue stream
- Generated $500,000+ in revenue within the first year
Operational Impact
- Automated enrollment, payment and course access workflows
- Eliminated manual processes and improved system efficiency
- Enabled real-time tracking of enrollment, retention and completion
Student Experience Impact
- Created a seamless, e-commerce-style enrollment experience
- Reduced friction in accessing courses and certificate programs
- Received positive student feedback on ease of use and accessibility
Strategic Impact
- Provided visibility into high-performing programs and revenue drivers
- Informed marketing and outreach priorities based on enrollment data
- Enabled analysis of underperforming courses to improve design, instruction and positioning
Tools & Capabilities Demonstrated
- Product implementation & platform strategy
- Cross-functional systems integration (SIS, LMS, payments)
- Revenue strategy & operational design
- Stakeholder management & change leadership
- User experience & service design