Success Stories | Symplicity

Siena College Supports Experiential Learning with CSM

Written by Helena Okolicsanyi | Feb 4, 2021 7:14:21 PM

Located in upstate New York, Siena College is a private, liberal arts college that has been utilizing Symplicity CSM since 2007 to help its students gain valuable internship and work experience through their experiential learning programs. Utilizing CSM has enabled the staff at Siena College to effectively collect student experiential learning (EL) and career services data in one central location that is easily accessible for data reports and working collaboratively with staff to support students.  

Highlights:

  • Since adopting CSM in 2007, Siena College has been able to streamline processes for tracking and reporting on experiential learning programs;
  • CSM enabled Siena College to add additional language for COVID-19 safety protocols for internships, all within one platform; and
  • With Symplicity's support team, Siena College has been able to successfully host and customize virtual career fairs.

CSM Reporting Helps Improve EL Programs 

 At Siena College, utilizing CSM has enabled the Office of Internship Programs to better understand the internships their students are taking and understand the internship program as a whole. With the reporting features, the staff can now comfortably report on how many internships resulted in full-time job offers, how many internships are paid vs. unpaid, gain insight on what skills should be incorporated into a student curriculum, and gain valuable feedback on who the students are working with to see if the university should continue its partnership. Instead of having to work within an in-house system or an Excel spreadsheet that can lose students data, CSM has streamlined the process for tracking and reporting on experiential learning programs across the university to layout a strategic plan to better support their students.  

"I would say it has absolutely allowed us to take a more strategic approach to the internship program as a whole. The data extracted from the module is used to identify strengths and opportunities within our curriculum.”
– Alicia Pepe, Director of Internships at Siena College

Central Repository of Student Information   

In early 2020, Siena College used CSM to track student placement at internship sites and manage COVID-19 protocol. By inserting language into student and employer agreements, expectations were set early on for students that had an internship that required them to be on site (Environmental Science, Business, Communications, etc.). Siena College took one step further to ensure student safety by requiring that the Dean of each college had to approve the placement for any in-person, or hybrid, internshipUtilizing the EL module, the Dean could easily manage and approve student placements. Additionally, the online appointment feature has enabled the Siena College staff members to more effectively communicate with students and has allowed students the flexibility of setting up career counseling support at their own time.  

The EL module has been a welcomed addition to our technology. Information that was previously siloed within the academic departments are now at our fingertips. We've transitioned to a paperless system which has streamlined the approval process, reducing lead time by two weeks.”
– Alicia Pepe, Director of Internships at Siena College

Unparalleled Support 

When Siena College first adopted CSM and revamped their EL reporting, Symplicity’s support team was right there every step of the way. Anytime a staff member had a question, they were able to connect with Symplicity’s support team right away or resolve an issue quickly by utilizing the Online Help Desk. When Siena College hosted its first Virtual Career Fair, Symplicity supported staff members to successfully host the event with step-by-step instructional videos, on-call support, and helping them learn how to personalize their virtual career fair to meet their needs. 

“The VCF was new for us, but we had so much help and support and the pre-made videos you had for employers and students were helpful… I live and die by the help desk for support whenever I have a question and I’ve always been able to easily get an answer.”
– Courtney Honeywell, Assistant Director of Professional Development Technologies at Siena College
 

University Information: 
Institution Name | Siena College
Symplicity Users Since | 2007 
Institution Type | Private Franciscan College
Location | Loudonville, New York
Student Enrollment | 3,200