Best Campus Management Software

What is Campus Management Software?

The contemporary educational systems focus more on smart learning. The school staff spends most of their time finding innovative ways to train students. The invention of new technology has made it possible for the teachers and staff to handle the management operations without having to spend hours recording data, searching for documents, marking the student’s attendance, and so on.

Thanks to the campus management software solution. This single centralized system can automate a plethora of school management operations in an efficient way. Many colleges and schools have already embraced this technology.

The software is used for managing the entire campus operations. It covers the library, canteen, classes, staff rooms, and so on. The main purpose of this automated software is to streamline the manual campus administrative tasks, making it easier for teachers and staff of the school to focus more on the educational and teaching tasks rather than the management activities.

Common Capabilities of Campus Management Solution

Campus management isn’t only about automating students fees and attendance. Of course, these are integral parts of the software. However, the campus management solution offers a broad range of features that cover different areas of the campus. For instance, the software handles the management activities of the library, cafeteria, placement, attendance, exams, and so on. Let’s take a look at the common features of the school management software.

1. Library Management Software

The librarian issues books to students daily. They usually note the information about the books purchased, issued, and returned in a manual register. It gets quite challenging for the librarian to manage these records as they are supposed to issue hundreds of books every day.

The library management module in the campus software enables the librarian to enter the book name, the student’s ID, and details, the expected return date in one place. If you ever find a book missing in the library, all you need to do is search for the book in the library management module. Some library management solutions feature the barcode scanning function.

You can also store the library members’ reports and other details in the software. With the library management system in place, you can easily track all the books you have issued to the students and their return dates. You could also use this software to charge a fine for late returns.

2. Admission Management

Admission happens to be the most complicated task for teachers. Schools and colleges keep a bundle of files that hold the admission details of the students. This makes it quite challenging for the staff to find information about new and old admissions quickly. Teachers end up scanning a large number of files and registers to find student's admission details.

The admission management module of the campus software simplifies the task by allowing you to handle the student’s admission database in a single centralized system. Some modules feature separate sections for new and old admissions. It prevents manual errors and keeps all the files organized.

3. Cafeteria Management System

Most colleges have a canteen for students and staff. You can’t manage the canteen operations manually. Think about it – you are supposed to re-fill the inventory on time, track the beverages and food you serve every week, and figure out the top-selling products.

The good news is that you don’t have to spend extra on separate canteen management software. Most coaching class software solutions come packed with a module that streamlines canteen management operations. The module allows you to track the movement of inventory, prepare invoices, track ordered beverages, record the outstanding amount, and so on. 

You don’t have to hire a workforce to manage the inventory. The software will keep you up-to-date with the current inventory levels. You will even get an automated notification as soon as you run short of inventory. Some advanced modules come loaded with modern features that can generate purchase and sales orders, send personalized messages to customers, and allow your students to make payments through their mobiles.

4. Built-in Calendar

Another important feature of the education software is the integrated calendar. You no longer need to hand those traditional calendars to your staff and students. Forward the online calendar to each student and make it easier for them to stay updated with the overall campus schedule. Using the online calendar, the teachers can plan their lectures considering the upcoming events and holidays.

5. Reporting

In order to track the performance of your students, you need to generate regular reports. In addition to the annual reports, educational institutions need to generate monthly reports to assess the overall performance of a student. You could forward these reports to the parents and highlight the areas the student can improve.

The reports are based on the student’s attendance, exams, responsiveness, behavior, discipline, attitude with peers, interest in sports and co-curricular activities, personality, and punctuality. The reporting module of the online assessment management software simplifies this task and generates an automated report based on the student’s performance. Some modules are available in template form. You could customize the reports for smoother management.

6. Grants and Scholarship Management

Hundreds of thousands of students receive grants and scholarships every year. They receive these scholarships from NGOs and the government. You need to track these scholarships, create an eligibility criterion for students to apply for the scholarship program, compare the student’s score with the minimum scholarship requirements, and accept/reject their applications using the campus management software. The system features a scholarship management module that enables schools and colleges to record the scholarship details efficiently. 

7. Campus Billing and Finance System

The incoming payments, receipts, invoices, staff salaries, and students’ fees are difficult to handle without a dedicated software solution in place. Not only does the billing module of the campus management software open source makes transactions smoother and faster for the educational institutions, but it also allows parents to transfer the fees in one click.

Parents don’t have to wait in long lines to pay the fees. They can rather transfer the payment from the comfort of their home. The billing and fee management gets a whole lot easier and faster with the campus billing module.

You could also use this feature to pay salaries to the teachers and campus staff. It enables you to record the salary details of all the teachers and transfer their payments to their bank accounts in one click.

8. Attendance Management

Gone are the days when schools and colleges would record the attendance of the students manually in a register. Even today, many schools follow the manual attendance recording system. Recording attendance gets super challenging as the teacher has to spend a good amount of time recording the attendance. The manual registers have small grids that make it difficult for the teachers to mark the attendance without errors.

Moreover, tracking the total attendance of each student at the end of the year is a time-consuming process. With the attendance module, you can record the attendance of each student electronically. Not only does it save time, but this automated process allows you to monitor the student’s overall attendance. You could also send a daily notification to the parents, notifying them about the student’s attendance.

9. Campus Placement

Many companies visit colleges to hire fresh talents. The professionals are often on the lookout for skilled individuals. Colleges must keep their students up-to-date with the information about the companies that will be visiting the campus, the skills they are looking for, the date they are visiting the college, and the total vacancies.

All this information is crucial for your students. Not only does it inform them about the college placement schedule, but it makes it easier for students to plan their future.

10. Students’ Database

You are supposed to record student's information including their grades, interests, co-curricular activities, discipline, attendance, performance, and other basic information in an efficient management system.

You might need to use this data when drafting their report cards at the end of the year. You may also need to record student’s details, such as information about their parents and siblings, address, contact details, and more. The campus management software houses a large volume of students’ data efficiently.

You can access the required information of any student at any time. To make the best of this system, we recommend you choose cloud-based campus management software. It gives you an opportunity to manage the student database from the comfort of your home.

11. Transport Management

Most educational institutions offer transportation facilities to students. If you too have school or college buses for students, then you need an efficient software application that could track the number of students who opt for school transportation. You can add additional charges to the students’ monthly fees based on the transportation facility they choose.

12. HR and Payroll
Educational institutions face quite a few challenges when it comes to managing human resources. Your staff and teachers perform better when you manage to boost their engagement. That’s what the HR and payroll management software helps you achieve. The module is designed to monitor the performance of the teachers, issue paychecks, and create a reward program.

Most importantly, it records the attendance of each employee. Now, transferring salaries to your teachers isn’t going to be challenging with the campus management system. Your staff can use the system to send a leave application request without having to walk to the principal’s office.

Who Uses the Campus Management System?

The educational institutions can use the campus management ERP software to build a seamless and strong connection between multiple departments. The system not only helps you simplify the regular management operations, but it facilitates smooth communication and perfect coordination between multiple departments.

This makes your administrative tasks a whole lot easier and smoother. You don’t have to spend hours recording the attendance, executing the admission process, handling a bundle of files, and scanning registers to find information about your students. The SAP campus management software is your ultimate solution that automates a plethora of management tasks.

Campus is private and public educational institutions can deploy the campus management software application to handle multiple tasks. It isn’t only for the teachers and the principal. In fact, campus software is designed for parents and students too.

Students can use the system to track their reports, monthly schedules, upcoming events, exam dates, timetable, attendance, and more. The software enables parents to process the fees and other monetary transactions online. Your parents can send the transportation, canteen, and school fees in one click.

Similarly, teachers use the campus software to conduct exams, record attendance, generate report cards, and update parents about their child’s performance. The HR department of your school can use the software for issuing employee paychecks.

Why do You Need the Best Campus Management System?

Better productivity and reduced workflow are two of the main benefits of campus management software. There is no denying that the software comes packed with a plethora of modules that simplify a broad range of operations. Let’s take a look at some of the top benefits of the campus management software system.

• Paperless Admission and Attendance
  The campus management software allows you to transform your traditional school into a digital campus. You can go paperless with the campus management system. The model comes with the attendance and admission modules. This enables the faculty to mark attendance and handle admission records seamlessly. You can generate reports based on the attendance records. All in all, it reduces your workload by facilitating digital attendance and admission management.

  It also eliminates the requirement for printing multiple papers and storing them in the cabinet. You could transfer the attendance, admission, students’ reports, teachers’ salaries, and a large volume of data to the cloud. It also helps you create an eco-friendly environment by shifting to digital and computerized systems. It saves you a good amount of money on regular expenses. Think about it – you don’t have to spend hundreds of bucks on papers, exam sheets, attendance registers, admission files, report cards, and more.

• Avoid Communication Gap
  Lack of proper communication and coordination between different departments are often considered as the leading cause of delayed projects. Gone are the days when teachers would ask the students to inform their parents about parent-teacher meetings, upcoming events, annual functions, exams, and more. With campus automation software, communication is no longer confined to notes and letters.

  Now, you can send an automated notification to the parents notifying them about the student’s schedule. You could also send a notification to the parents if the child is absent. The campus management solution enables teachers to send regular assignments to students and track the progress of each task. Likewise, the software works as an interactive platform that makes it possible for the students to communicate with the teacher should they have any doubts or academic queries.

• Electronic Payments
  One of the most annoying tasks for parents is fee submission. Usually, parents get stuck in a long queue waiting for their turn to pay the fee. Not only does it consume their time, but the traditional payment method often leads to manual errors.

  The good news is that the campus management software can handle hostel, admission, monthly fee, transportation, canteen, library, and other payments seamlessly. It allows parents to transfer their children’s fees online. The educational institution can send the payment notification to the parents. You can also use the software to deduct the late fee payment.

• Improved Productivity
  When you have a dedicated and centralized campus management software application, you don’t need to use your energy on hectic management tasks. You can leave all the complex administrative activities to the software. It saves you a lot of time that you would otherwise spend on administrative tasks.

  By automating the manual operations, the campus management software enables the students and teachers to focus more on productive activities. For instance, teachers don’t have to record their attendance manually. They can use this time for teaching. Students don’t have to call teachers to get updates on upcoming events. They can check the online calendar to gather details about the co-curricular activities, exams, assessments, projects, and more.

  Your staff doesn’t have to perform repetitive tasks as long as you have the campus management software in place. The automation of manual operations speeds up manual processes and makes it easier for your staff to be more productive.

• Manage Data Efficiently
  Data management happens to be one of the most complicated tasks for the faculty. Managing students’ data isn’t as easy as it seems. You have to record their attendance, store the details of their admission, monitor their performance, save their report cards, and track the fees. Not only the student database but the educational institutions have to store information about the staff and teachers as well. Usually, colleges have separate registers that handle student and staff information.

  Things get a little challenging when you have to search through a large bundle of files to find information about a particular student. The campus management software provides you with a centralized system that stores a large volume of students and teachers' data efficiently. The next time you need to find information about a student or staff member, you don’t have to scan the registers and files. All you have to do is type the name of the student in the software and it will fetch all the information you need.

• Encourages Students to Perform Better
  Students are most likely to perform better when they get to connect with fellow students, teachers, and staff members in a centralized system.  You can integrate the campus management software with the learning management systems to allow teachers to share notes, lectures, and other study materials online. The best part is that the software gives you access to the student’s portfolio, strengths, and weaknesses. Based on this information, teachers can create an effective learning program for each student.

• Improve Campus Security
  Schools and colleges have to deal with a mountain of information. This includes the sensitive details of the students and some confidential data of the institution that needs to be protected and secured. The campus management software comes equipped with advanced security protocols that are designed to enhance the security of the solution and prevent unauthorized access.

  Though people can access data using their smartphones and other devices, the principal and HR team can implement certain restrictions on sensitive data. This means you get to set access restrictions for people based on their roles and authority. Some software applications support ID verification, photo-biometric verification, and other such advanced security tools. You can get the software application customized for better security.

• Best  Assessment and Examination Management
  Schools and colleges need to conduct regular assessments and exams to ascertain the potential of each student and determine their skills. Whether you choose multiple choice questions for the exam or a long-answer pattern, you need a dedicated software application that can automate exam management for you. That’s exactly what the campus software management system helps you with.

  You get a chance to conduct the examination within the software. Alternatively, you can create the question papers for the assessments on the software and ask your students to complete the exam in the traditional way. You can upload the result of the exam on the quiz maker software, allowing students to check their results and grades.

• Keep Parents Up-to-date with their Child’s Progress
  The campus management software builds a seamless connection between teachers and parents. Now, teachers no longer need to call parents to share their students’ progress and performance reports. They can rather generate the reports on the software and share them with their parents in one click.

  Usually, parents do not have adequate time to track their child’s performance. They hardly visit schools to discuss students’ academic performance with the teachers. Using the campus management software application, you can provide the parents with a platform to check their child’s progress and the projects they are assigned.

Market Trends for Campus Management Solution

As more and more educational institutions are embracing smart learning concepts and online learning management systems, researchers expect major growth in the campus management software market in the coming years.

Research suggests that digital learning methods have a good impact on the student’s memory power. They tend to remember things easily when they learn it using digital mediums. Let’s take a look at the common trends researchers expect to witness in the campus management software industry in the coming years.

• Cloud-based Campus Software for Data Management
  With a large number of students enrolling in educational institutions for their primary and higher studies, it is getting challenging for schools and colleges to handle a large volume of data efficiently. Nowadays, educational institutions are investing in cloud-based software solutions that can handle a considerable amount of data seamlessly.

  One major advantage of the cloud-based campus management software is that it enables users to store a large volume of data and sync it with other devices. You can operate the software anytime and across any device as long as you know the login credentials. It also strengthens software security and prevents any kind of unauthorized access.

• AI-powered Analytics
  Analytics and reporting are two of the most crucial components of campus management software. The automated software application gathers information from different sources and presents it in a statistical format. For instance, it collects data concerning your students’ grades, past performances, participation in co-curricular activities, and so on. AI-powered analytics make it easier for teachers to monitor the performance of the students and plan a perfect learning strategy for them.

• Interactive Learning
  The campus management software supports interactive learning. It allows you to connect with your students through a digital channel and clear all their doubts. Interactive learning is all about advanced and effective learning methods. For example, you can use social media tools, subject videos, tutorials, and online learning management systems to allow your students to get a better understanding of the subject.

• Mobile-compatible Campus Management Software
  Children are familiar with smartphones. Even kids do not need the training to be able to operate mobiles. This makes it easier for educational institutions to deploy mobile-compatible campus management software. Not only the teachers, but students will be able to use the automated software solution daily. Whether they need to submit a leave application or check the calendar, they can handle everything using the mobile-compatible software solution.

Of course, the management team can restrict their access to certain modules that hold sensitive data. You can set up their access rights and enable children to use the software anytime they want. Similarly, the mobile-friendly software application allows teachers to access the software anytime and anywhere.

You don’t need to be at school or college to upload assignments or enter certain information in the software app. All you need is the login credentials, a smartphone, and a reliable internet connection.

Type of Buyer and While Solution Fits their Needs

Most educational institutions need the same basic modules in the campus management software. That’s because the administrative tasks in schools and colleges are almost similar. However, some organizations are larger than others. If you have thousands of students studying in your educational institution, chances are you are going to need a smart campus management solution that features add-ons and modern features.

Basic: You can invest in the basic campus software if your requirements are limited to attendance, admission, and other such regular administrative tasks.

Enterprise-level Software: If you are planning on expanding your institution, then the enterprise-level software that can cater to your growth requirements will make a perfect fit for your school/college. The enterprise-level system comes packed with a broad range of modules that streamline all sorts of administrative tasks.

Overall, you must consider your business requirements before buying the campus management software. Don’t settle for the cheapest one.

Choosing the Best Campus Management System for Vendors

To reap the benefits of the campus management software, you need to pay special attention to its features and the long-term benefits the software offers. Each educational institution has different standards. You don’t want to purchase a solution that doesn’t match your requirements. Here, we have mentioned a few important factors you must take into account when shopping for campus management software. Let’s take a look:

• Features or Modules

  Consider the modules that campus management software offers. Just like the ERP software application, campus software comes packed with an extensive range of features that simplify multiple tasks. You need to consider the type of module the software features and how it can benefit your organization. Consider the long-term benefits of the module.

  Prioritize the software that has functions that can streamline the manual processes and help you save time on the hectic management operations. It must help you deal with the challenges your institution has been facing. Each module integrated into the campus software is useful for the educational institution in some way. However, that doesn’t mean each module will help your organization. So, it makes sense to list all the features you would like to have in the campus management software and purchase the solution that fits your requirements.

• Customizable
  If you are planning to manage the entire campus with the campus management software, then you need to look for scalable or customizable software that can cater to your growing needs. There is a chance you might receive a higher number of admissions in the coming years. If that happens, you will need to expand your operations by hiring a larger workforce. The reliable campus management software is the one that can be customized to your requirements.

  The software that can’t handle your growing business will be useless. You will probably need to replace the system with the upgraded version. That being said, make sure you check the customizability of the solution before making a purchase. A customizable software application will allow you to expand your educational institution without having to replace the outdated campus management solution.

• Customer Support
  It isn’t only the software you are buying, but you are signing a long-term agreement with the vendor. Remember that the campus management software system can get a little complex for beginners. There is a good chance you are going to need to contact customer support to understand the interface, navigation, and modules of the software application. You need customer support during and post-implementation. The vendor must be willing to assist you after the implementation of the software. Look for a company that offers 24/7 support.

• User-friendly Interface
  Campus management software will be used by the teachers, students, parents, the HR department, and the entire faculty. There is no point in investing in a system that is hard to operate. Running your campus and the hectic management tasks are possible when you have a dedicated campus management system in place. The best way to determine the reliability of the software is by using the demo. Most vendors offer a free demo, which allows the buyer to get familiar with the top modules and the user interface. Do not settle for a complex solution.

  Remember that you are buying the campus management software to make the lives of your teachers easier. You don’t want to complicate the management tasks for your staff by investing in a complex system. Look for a solution that features a user-friendly interface and offers seamless navigation.

• Integration
  The all-featured campus management software is more than enough for an educational institution. No matter how many students enroll in your school/college every year, campus software has adequate features to streamline all the management operations. However, some schools and colleges may require additional software solutions for easier and smoother management operations.

  For instance, if you often have co-curricular activities, such as sports and entertainment programs conducted on campus, then it makes sense to invest in a separate software application that helps you organize these activities. Likewise, you may want to integrate the learning management systems and training programs with the campus management software to improve the students’ productivity and performance. You must be able to integrate third-party apps and software systems with the campus management software application.

• Training
  Your vendor will offer training to your entire staff to make them familiar with the modules and the software application. The training is included in the package. After the implementation of the software, the vendor will train your employees and explain each module to the teachers.

  However, post-implementation training will not suffice. You may want to organize a couple of training sessions to understand the software. Discuss the implementation and training plan with your vendor to know what they are willing to offer

• Cost
  The campus management software doesn’t break your budget. However, it does cost a high upfront fee and a monthly subscription fee. The total cost of the software solution depends on the modules included in the system. The more features you need, the higher the price you pay. Some vendors accept price negotiations, while others have a fixed price.

Closing Line

There is no denying that the best campus management software can make the teacher’s and student’s life a whole lot simpler. With everything organized in a centralized system, you don’t have to worry about losing crucial information.