UM-Dearborn’s Web Services team recently partnered with a cross-functional, cross-campus team to integrate Salesforce/TargetX and Drupal to promote Undergraduate and Graduate Admissions events on the new campus calendar.
In late 2017, the team introduced a new events calendar using the campus-wide Drupal content management system. The calendar is refreshed and modern, featuring a responsive design, filterable search, and the ability to showcase the same event across all of umdearborn.edu without the need for duplication. Dearborn is rolling out Salesforce/TargetX CRM, and events and event registration management is part of the platform. The goal was to use both Drupal and the CRM to support the user experience of the events calendar as well as the business processes managed through CRM.
Through collaborative efforts, the calendar now seamlessly integrates event data and registration forms pushed to it. The events are then findable on the campus calendar and can be shared sitewide like all other Drupal events. The event data and event registrant information is entered in one place and pushed either to Drupal or to Salesforce/TargetX, eliminating the need for duplicate data entry. UM-Dearborn Web Services and its partners worked with the CRM team to determine requirements and desired workflows. Further refinement was done through writing scenarios of use, taxonomy mapping, and testing by experts and non-experts. The integration is being piloted now with plans for future phases in the works.
“One of the most exciting parts of Drupal is its extensibility and ability to be tailored to any particular groups’ needs,” said Laura Garling, assistant director for web strategy and service. “The calendar and its integrations are putting that into practice, showcasing the wonderful things happening on our campus, improving content management and supporting units’ business processes.”
Thanks to: Undergraduate and Graduate Admissions, ITS, External Relations, Cole Motley, Judy Modelski.
Laura Garling, UM-Dearborn assistant director for web strategy and service, contributed to this article.
