Consider the following scenarios based on actual experience that illustrate opportunities for utilizing cost-effective technology with websites to cap operating costs and enhance productivity.

Scenario 1: A New Home Page Now; More Complex Elements Later

A school recognizes the need to update its website's look and feel, and provide added functionality in order to attain greater acceptance and usage by the school's community. Acceptance of the Internet and skill levels of community members spans a wide spectrum. Existing site content is a mix of retainable and out-of-date elements. Faculty and administration are already working at capacity and share responsibility for the site; and budget considerations are definitely a factor. What to do?

Most schools have the gravitas to proceed at the appropriate and prudent pace dictated by the project, rather than simply responding to pressure to act. Money should be spent wisely.

The redesign and completion of the navigation and information architecture within a short time period should proceed. This will:

• Establish much-needed look and feel elements, color palette and style guide that is reusable.
• Improve navigation and user experience, leading to greater enthusiasm for and usage of the site.
• Enable the user community to use some simple tools and functionality for uploading and editing content, and in the process provide meaningful feedback. Surveys consistently show, that once users actually see, touch and use functionality, they provide the best feedback.
• Update/purge stale content.
• Facilitate implementing a program to win fans for and achieve greater utilization of the website within the school community.

Web system ownership must also be determined and policies established to govern:

• Multiple access levels and authorizations.
• Uploading procedures and authorizations.
• Firewalls and virus protection.
• Hosting considerations.

Before delving into these steps, a school should reconfirm that its website goals and objectives are aligned with the action plan to achieve them. Absent internal expertise, the school should strongly consider hiring expertise that will provide trusted guidance and advice to the school on this project. Responsibilities would include:

• Evaluating proposals received for the project.
• Confirming criteria and metrics for determining success.
• Assessing the Buy vs. Build decision. This is important as users rarely utilize all the functionality in ready-made products, and inevitably have to customize them to their unique requirements.
• Establishing a realistic project plan and time lines.
• Establishing a realistic budget (it may be that the project must be phased in over more than one fiscal year).

By implication, the school should slow the process in those areas requiring further review, while moving forward in those areas that are well understood. Avoiding rushing and knowing project implications will likely insure it is done right.

Scenario 2: Additional 20 Seniors & 20 Juniors and Implications for the College Office

A school is considering adding 20 members to both its junior and senior classes. The College Office, which is responsible for making appointments for visiting admissions officers, scheduling appointments for interested seniors, guiding seniors and juniors through the steps and rigors of the process must now address the needs of 40 more students. What to do?

Currently, the process beginning with college admissions offices contacting the school for fall appointments, to the confirmation of those appointments, and ongoing communication with juniors and seniors is manual and performed by a superb and hard working staff. Effective calendaring, combined with automated emailing would likely assuage the need to hire an additional staff member to accommodate the additional 40 juniors and seniors.

A calendar would be available for prospective visiting college admissions offices to view available timeslots for visits. (This will never eliminate the school's receiving phone calls from traditional schools of long-standing connection, wanting to insure meeting with the college advisor when they visit; but this too can be facilitated.)

Colleges (or the school office) would view the available timeslots, sign up for the desired slot on an online form, submit the form for approval (should that step be required) via email to the appropriate person(s) in the school office, and with the approved response via returned email the calendar is automatically updated.

Emails could be automatically sent to various stakeholders of this event: location schedulers, juniors and seniors as appropriate, and advisors. Email responses would be required for signing up to meet colleges, reports generated as required, etc. On a weekly basis as the calendar is updated, appropriate emails would be sent to update relevant parties of additional college signups or cancellations.

The cost of this functionality can be compared with the cost of its manual procedure equivalent over a three to five year period. Additions to staff in the college office is minimized or eliminated; existing staff is freed to focus on other critical functions, justifying the expenditure for such applications. Typical payback is less than two years.

Such productivity-enhancing features and capabilities cap operating expenses, achieve significant ROIs, and assure maximum share of tuition falls to the school's bottom line.

Scenario 3: Reducing Mailing, Production and Handling Costs

While most schools have made strides with their bulk mailing procedures, the Internet provides opportunities for even greater savings at a higher service level to parents and students. How to do it?

With the redesign and greater usage of a school's website, parents will be more accepting of email notifications as part of the school process for most mailings.

Regular mail will remain for certain functions such as grades, but parents would very likely agree to substitute email for regular mail in the name of cost savings.

Parents with more than one child attending the same school will not be deluged with redundant mailings.

Medical forms can be available to parents online for their downloading, storing, updating, printing, and mailing as prompted. This would be a win - win as the school would save mailing and handling, and parents would save time filling out the form manually several times a year depending on grade level. Parents would store such documents on their own computers, update, print, and mail them on receiving an email request from the school.

Parents insisting on regular mail can be accommodated as needed, at the school's option rather than as an obligation.