Aligned to the new vision “To be an innovative, flexible educational ecosystem that, committed to our principles and values, offers transformative experiences for each person and the society”, Universidad de Monterrey was looking to send a strong message about their commitment to digital transformation and the holistic development of their students by adopting an end-to-end degree management platform, a modernization that will empower their students to manage their academic and personal journey and engage with their university using similar technology they use in their everyday life.

UDEM is the first Mexican institution to adopt Stellic’s Degree Management Platform utilizing its multilingual mode with both English and Spanish settings, but UDEM has a long-standing history as pioneers and visionaries. The first institution to join the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) and the only Mexican university to be accredited for both their professional and graduate education by AATSP, UDEM is always striving to provide best-in-class education to today’s (and tomorrow’s) generation of students.

“For me, it has been very exciting to see that the students are going to have a tool they can use to work on their own journeys. They will be able to see and track what is happening, how far they have come and decide their own personalized pathways. And, most of all, we're excited to be the first University in Mexico to use Stellic.” - Lucía Ma. Treviño Villarreal, Dean of Admissions and University Registrar at UDEM

In that vein, student-centricity was critical in UDEM’s search for the right degree management tool. They chose Stellic because of its ability to not only meet the expectations of their digital-native students, but enable them to make wise choices on every aspect of their student life. The planner they envisioned for their students would go beyond courses, majors and electives, including co-curricular courses for personal development, international experiences, community service commitments, and internships. Stellic fit the bill.

“We’re very excited to be using Stellic for student academic planning as it’s so easy and intuitive. It’s going to help every student with any profile plan ahead on their journey and take the biggest advantage of all the opportunities that the university provides, allowing them to get the best experience possible during their student life and beyond.” - Alicia Cantón, Dean of Student Affairs and Director of Wellbeing at UDEM

Like many institutions these days, the limitless choices for students at UDEM can overwhelm students when managing their academic journey, especially those who may be first-generation students and have little reference for navigating postsecondary institutional processes.

“We have a very complex model of general education in Mexico, it’s flexible and so diverse. When the student has so many options and if technology isn’t helping them out, they don’t know the possibilities. So, I’m very enthusiastic about Stellic and it’s ability to help our students navigate both formal academic courses and co-curricular courses, all in the same platform. It sends a very strong message of who we are and why we believe in the holistic development of a student and their wellbeing.” - Alicia Cantón, Dean of Student Affairs and Director of Wellbeing at UDEM

While providing students with modern tools for degree management was an important component of this initiative, equally important was providing their advisors with better tools for scaling personalized student support. Having access to rich data in Stellic on students’ past performance and future plans will ensure that advisors always have a real-time understanding of where students are in their academic journey from orientation to graduation. They can leverage this data to create alerts and quickly identify students who may need more personalized engagement. Advisors may be alerted any time their students deviate from their plan for example, and then are able to quickly assist them on setting forth a new plan.

“With this platform, advisors can now put more attention on other things that students need - not only curriculars. Before Stellic, degree planning was complicated and advisors dedicated all their effort on that, but it shouldn’t be that way. With the changes happening in our world, students may need psychological or financial support. Stellic will help accelerate our advising processes so we can focus on what matters most.” - Zita Nerí López Bedolla, Product Owner of Digital Transformation at UDEM

Although UDEM initially planned to adopt two new tools - one for degree planning and advising and one for audit and analytics - they quickly realized they could reach their objectives much faster with an end-to-end solution like Stellic.

“We were more focused on finding a tool for students, but realized it was all interconnected. Combining this effort will optimize resources and ensure consistent, real-time and accurate information for students, professors, administrators and leadership. In the end, better forecasting and improved internal processes will help lead us towards our ultimate goal of being a more student-centric institution. ” - Lucia Ma. Treviño Villarreal, Dean of Admissions and University Registrar at UDEM