Beyond Academics Announces the Acquisition of Smart Panda Tools And Launches Subsidiary To Serve Higher Education Technology Needs
Friday, August 14th, 2020
Chicago, IL: As colleges and universities around the country wrestle with decisions around the short-term and long-term impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic, and what many are calling the “new normal”, technology is a major point of transformation. Becoming digital is so much more than just delivering classes online. Every aspect of the campus experience for a student has to transform to be faster, and available on-demand. That doesn’t have to involve multi-million dollars investments anymore.
“Costly ERP implementations should not be the focus of any college or university at this time of existential change”, says Beyond Academics founder Matthew Alex. “Our acquisition of Smart Panda Tools allows us to bring low-cost, nimble, high-value technology that can bolt on to existing IT infrastructure so schools can deliver more human-centric solutions that students actually need.”
With in-market technologies like the industry-exclusive Raptor Transcript Importer™, Transfer Gateway™, Pathway Finder™, Transcript Express™, and Rule Maker™, Smart Panda Tools is focused on helping universities and community colleges automate tasks that historically have taken a tremendous amount of human capital and time. Unlike large ERP implementations that are hard to justify ROI for, these tools are typically 5-figure investments with virtually immediate ROI. While colleges see an increase in efficiency, reduction in costs, and higher capacity for enrollment, students see much faster access to information (such as transfer credit and transparency to degree outcomes), and greater portability of their data.
“We are entering a new era of digital freedom. That means freedom to learn and achieve, and critical is the freedom to move those achievements in and among schools all along the educational journey,” said Paul Rhinehart PhD, co-founder of SmartPandaTools. “For the last three years, at SmartPanda we’ve been pushing the envelope on what is possible in automating student transfer. Now by combining forces with Beyond Academics, and with a growing network of allies in higher education, we are positioned to help higher ed deliver exactly what the next generation of students will expect.“
Smart Panda Tools technologies are already in use at over 15 colleges and universities around the country. Partnerships and joint venture alliances are available for interested parties.
ABOUT BEYOND ACADEMICS
A higher education think tank, incubator, and advisory firm, Beyond Academics exists to help its university and college leaders navigate the mission-critical decisions involving the future of work, and the future of the campus enterprise. The company uses a highly collaborative approach to industry partnerships in order to bring clients diversity in guidance and solutions.
To learn more about these tools, click here.
Press Contact:
Tiffany Mullins
Beyond Academics
tiffany@beyondacademics.com
312-988-0185
935 W. Chestnut Street, Suite 470
Chicago, IL 60642
