Florida State University Standardizes on Business Objects

Business Wire, Dec 1, 2004

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Business Intelligence Solution Helps Leading University Achieve Student Enrollment and Retention Goals

Business Objects (Nasdaq:BOBJ)(Euronext Paris ISIN code: FR0004026250-BOB), the world's leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced that Florida State University has standardized on a BI solution from Business Objects. Florida State University uses Business Objects to track, understand, and manage performance across multiple operational areas including student admissions, student affairs, human resources, and finance. Using Business Objects, Florida State University is pioneering the use of BI to help the university attract and retain a diverse, high-quality student population.

Like many universities, Florida State University's enrollment and retention process has moved to a strategic enrollment management model that depends on access to integrated student information from multiple operational areas. Business Objects facilitates interdepartmental communication during all aspects of the admissions process from funding decisions to recruiting strategies. The system provides an integrated student information management solution that provides administrators and faculty with easy access to comprehensive information on recruitment and retention data, student demographics, and enrollment records. With this information, administrators can determine the optimal recruitment strategy, create targeted marketing programs, make informed decisions about admissions criteria, and develop successful retention strategies

"Business Objects is the backbone of our student information management system," said Dr. Rick Burnette, director of student information management at Florida State University. "It has provided the necessary infrastructure to allow us to combine data from disparate databases and analyze them via a user-friendly interface. We now have a tool that demystifies the process of mining data, thus allowing a broader audience the opportunity to access a shared data pool. We are able to track the enrollment process more effectively, and can make more strategic marketing decisions to achieve the university's overall business and educational goals."

Business Objects has empowered administrators by giving them self-service access to information and eliminating the dependence on the IT department to create and maintain reports. Users now have immediate access to a library of approximately 1000 standard reports, and can easily create new ones and share them with their colleagues. Administrators have also created a decision matrix that simultaneously utilizes many factors and considers data from several databases to determine which prospective students have the best probability of success at Florida State University. With Business Objects, Florida State University administrators can now make more informed admissions decisions in order to attract a diverse student population with a balance of in- and out-of-state students, and maintain its high academic standards.

"Universities like Florida State University have recognized that administrators and faculty members must have immediate access to student information to help them improve academic programs, student retention, inter-departmental communication, and financial management," said Greg Lorden, vice president of Government at Business Objects. "Standardizing on Business Objects has enabled Florida State University to create a truly innovative student information management system that helps administrators achieve the goals of their university. Florida State University is a model for universities that are challenged with the daunting task of improving performance while complying with both internal and state mandated requirements."

About Florida State University

Florida State University is a comprehensive, public, research university located in the capital city of Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the eleven state universities that compose the State University System of Florida and offers over 300 degree programs for undergraduate and graduate students. Florida State University maintains campuses in Panama City, Florida, the Republic of Panama, London, England, and Florence, Italy. Florida State University is a national leader in providing study abroad opportunities as well as online learning opportunities for its students. As host site of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Florida State University is noted for its extensive research while also maintaining internationally recognized programs in the fine and performing arts. The current student population is at 38,887 after a record enrollment year at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

About Business Objects

Business Objects is the world's leading business intelligence (BI) software company. Business intelligence enables organizations to track, understand, and manage enterprise performance. The company's solutions leverage the information that is stored in an array of corporate databases, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and customer relationship management (CRM) systems.