A Leading Research University Returns Students to Campus Safely

The Opportunity

For more than 170 years, the organization has been a reputation as one of the most accomplished academic institutions in the world. Headquartered in Evanston, Illinois, the university includes reputed arts, sciences, business, and legal undergraduate and graduate programs that are best in class and have a growing footprint with campuses in Florida, California, Washington D.C., and even Qatar. The university's vision of excellent teaching, innovative research, and a commitment to student intellectual growth in a diverse academic community has helped sustain its success, even in adverse times.

The Approach

The COVID-19 pandemic turned the world of education upside down. Students and educators at all levels had to adapt at a moment's notice to new learning models, virtual classes, and an "arm's length" approach to learning that was unprecedented in living memory. Like most educational institutes, this university implemented a virtual instruction model for its students and educators. The university realized its mission of student growth could never co-exist with a campus that introduced potentially serious health risks and took action to protect both students and the staff that served them.

As the university began the pivot back to campus, it realized that the complex choreography of resources needed to ensure the safety of students and instructors was beyond the capabilities of legacy systems and processes. The university engaged INRY and ServiceNow to configure the Safe Workplace / Return to Workplace solution to address the challenge using the following:

• Securely capture student and employee health details via surveys to trigger follow-on taskings like contact tracing and quarantine.
• Integration with the systems of record like Peoplesoft used to track student and employee Health to:
  • Capture details on new incidents, including exposed contacts and anticipated return.
  • Feedback to the system on the results of student surveys on recent infections, exposures, or quarantine measures taken.
• Case Management, with automated tasking based on inbound student survey results
• Contact tracing to understand the source and potential downstream impact of a new COVID case

The Return to Workplace solution was configured in a few weeks and went live in less than six weeks, bringing critical capabilities online in time for the start of the Fall semester.

The Rewards

The organization was one of many facing the educational and logistical challenges posed by the pandemic. However, thanks to their partnership with ServiceNow and INRY, they saw positive results emerge that include:

• A secure, scalable, repeatable process that can be leveraged long-term, not just for COVID but for any future health emergency. The emerging health challenges for the 21st century demand more timely, interactive tools and processes. The ServiceNow solution has demonstrated a capacity to meet the evolving needs of the future.
• Increased trust and confidence for students, parents, and staff. Thanks to a more timely, transparent, and systematic approach to identifying and addressing health risks, educators and students could take comfort in knowing that the university was taking all possible measures to ensure that the return to campus would be safe.

As the pandemic evolved, INRY, ServiceNow, and the organization continued to partner on new enhancements to the solution to ensure that it is fully adapted to meet the evolving needs of students and staff. The University demonstrates its commitment to students and educational excellence with a robust solution for managing health crises.