Dear Colleague,
Thank you for your interest in the Patriot Connect program! We are excited to share recent updates with you.
Building Appointment Scheduling for Patriot Connect
The product build team, which is responsible for decisions on the functionality and design of Patriot Connect, is currently focused on configuring appointment scheduling. The team is carefully considering all aspects of the process from staff, faculty, and student perspectives to ensure a seamless experience for all users. This may include scheduling in-person, virtual, and phone appointments with both assigned and unassigned support services, group appointments, drop-in availability, check-ins for appointments and spaces (e.g., LGBTQ+ Resources Center or athletics study hall), Outlook calendar syncing to set staff and faculty availability, and automated reminder notifications to reduce last-minute cancellations and no-shows. Additionally, the product build team is creating intuitive workflows for post appointment tasks, such as documenting notes in interaction summaries, making referrals, and sending post-appointment surveys. Supporting these features in a single, centralized tool like Patriot Connect will enable improved efficiency, consistency, and the overall appointment scheduling experience for students, faculty, and staff.
Salesforce Knowledge Share with Macquarie University
Last month, George Mason welcomed representatives from Macquarie University, who traveled all the way from Sydney, Australia, to participate in a Salesforce Knowledge Share with members of the Patriot Connect team. Macquarie is also in the process of implementing Salesforce Education Cloud, which made this a valuable opportunity to exchange success stories, learn from each other’s challenges, and think critically about how to move forward with Salesforce. Macquarie representatives emphasized their own investments in change and project management to support their implementation and provided useful advice for our Patriot Connect team. In return, George Mason showcased current operations within the outgoing TargetX tool, the incredible forward-thinking work we are doing with the transition to Patriot Connect, and how we are using technology to have a positive impact on the student experience. These meaningful discussions with peers from near and far illustrate George Mason’s commitment to innovation, strengthen our own technology transformation efforts, and underscore the impact and recognition of our work with Salesforce across higher education.
On the Horizon: Training Curriculum and Content Development for Release 1
The Patriot Connect training team has been focused on conducting a detailed training needs assessment to define the necessary topics, right audiences, and best delivery methods to help prepare impacted users for Patriot Connect. This month, the training needs assessment will be used to generate the next step in the process, creating the training curriculum. The training curriculum outlines the templates and tools that will be used for training delivery and serves as the official list of live courses and on-demand learning materials that will be provided for Patriot Connect users. Once the curriculum is complete, the team will begin designing and building the training content this winter. Throughout this process, the training team seeks feedback from the project management team, unit liaisons, and members of the product build team. This helps facilitate a vetted, thoughtfully considered set of training materials so that when end-users receive training in March 2025, the content is best positioned to meet the needs of the George Mason community. For more information, check out these training FAQs.
Patriot Connect Change Champion (PCCC) Spotlight Series
This series introduces the PCCCs who are dedicated to supporting you and the George Mason community as we transition to Patriot Connect. Discover their roles, what motivates and inspires them, and a fun fact or two. Get to know the November spotlights, Jessie Lee and Michael Ouellette!
In Case You Missed It
- Meet your Patriot Connect Change Champions
- October PCCC Spotlight: TJ Pegg
- Did you know you can find last month’s update on the program website?
As always, we welcome your feedback. Please feel free to share the sign up form with your colleagues who are interested in staying up to date with Patriot Connect.
Sincerely,
The Patriot Connect Program Management Team