Customer stories


Marquette University

Building on Tradition

At first glance, Marquette University in Milwaukee is an educational institution steeped in tradition. But sometimes the best way to carry forward a proud tradition is to make progressive use of the latest technological tools -- tools like Filemaker Pro, the award-winning database software application from FileMaker Inc.

"Marquette University is a Catholic, Jesuit university dedicated to serving God by serving our students -- and contributing to the advancement of knowledge," explains Jeff Lochowicz, Marquette's assistant dean of admissions. "My office focuses on traditional high school juniors looking for an exceptional educational experience." And while the college admissions process has traditionally been a long and complex one, filled with often-intimidating levels of paperwork -- that's one area where Marquette is ready to break with tradition. "Students are more tech-savvy than ever," Jeff continues, "and having deployed FileMaker solutions helps us provide self-service and customized information."

FileMaker Pro serves three workgroups out of Jeff's department -- students, support staff, and professional staff, with an additional group made up of guest users. More than 260 users have access to the system, finding it valuable for a variety of functions. "We needed specialized databases for our online credit transfer evaluation system, for our visit programs, and for event registration," explains Jeff. Furthermore, these databases had to be compatible with integrationnto the University's legacy systems, including Word, Excel, and similar desktop applications. "The biggest factor in deciding to use FileMaker was ease of use," Jeff adds. "As with many institutions, our IT department is fairly taxed in maintaining current systems and providing user support. We needed an intuitive way of tracking visitors and a very easy way of familiarizing even the most non-technical person with our system access."

The visitor tracking system is one example of FileMaker Pro efficiency in action. "Prior to our FileMaker visit system it could take us literally hours to plan a student visit to Marquette -- arranging classroom visits, scheduling counselor appointments, hand-typing each confirmation letter," recalls Jeff. "Now, we can complete a visit and batch-process confirmation letters in just a few keystrokes."

Equally impressive is the Marquette online credit transfer evaluator. "It's really quite a simple database we implemented online which has saved numerous phone calls," Jeff says. "Students wishing to transfer to Marquette can actually see what courses will transfer for credit before they apply."

Also available online is a travel database -- detailing which schools and which classes are scheduled for visits by Marquette staff, allowing prospective students to coordinate their own visits with the availability of faculty members they'd particularly like to meet. Currently, the admissions office is running over 25 individual databases -- with the largest, most integrated databases containing nearly 100,000 records.

Some things never change -- like the importance of a good education. But methods for bringing students and schools together are in a constant state of improvement -- and at Marquette University, FileMaker Pro is creating a new tradition of service.


Filemaker Contact:

Kevin Mallon
Public Relations Manager
FileMaker Inc.
408-987-7227
kevin_mallon@filemaker.com
http://www.filemaker.com


Overview
  • Bringing students and school together -- at Marquette University, FileMaker Pro uses online database technology to simplify key steps in the recruitment process.
Industry
  • Higher Education