It's all about customizing at CTS. And, while their mission is to work with businesses and individuals who desire to expand their technical, supervisory and computer skills, their thinking revolves entirely around customizing. For CTS it's not just a buzz word, it's a business style.

"Our staff is amazing at following up with customers and helping instructors customize on the fly." says Tammi Norris, Computer Training Coordinator of the Custom Training Solutions division at Northwest State Community College in Ohio. "Student Manager is an important tool for us. It's able to take all those individual pieces and pull them together in a database that allows for unique situations, and at the same time collates the data in a form that meets the requirements for state reporting."

"No matter what we brainstorm, ACEware handles it. Somebody is always right on top of our requests or problems. Whether the course is offered via video, in the classroom, or on the web we have the perfect tool to keep it all straight and report it accurately."

Classes are offered on three campuses that serve a five county area. Online and video conference classes have become a large part of the course offering in the last few years, and that's growing. "With the auto industry eliminating jobs, a lot of our clientele are thinking about new jobs, or are becoming entrepreneurs." says Norris. "Non-traditional forms of delivery are critical when the service area is widespread and your main campus is past several cornfields." Several roaming laptop labs are also employed to deliver onsite training.

"Our old system had become cumbersome, and implementing Student Manager was a big change for us, not only in the way we worked, but in the confidence level in our data. It's easy and intuitive for us to put the data in, and pulling it out has helped us notice trends and respond to customer demand. That's critical because we need good numbers to prove our existence."

Must be why Norris proclaims the query and reporting features of Student Manager as her favorite part of the program. Indeed: at CTS, it's all about customizing even the reports.

ACEware Software

Student Manager, Email Module

Database

The database consists of approximately 4,000 names and records 3,000 annual registrations in 200 programs. The data is relatively young, at only two years old. Nothing was imported from the previous database.

Programs

Programs are offered in three main areas: computers, technology (HVAC and electrical), and leadership.

Featured Program

"It's not so much a specific program as an attitude toward all our programs: we give the customer exactly what they need." says Norris. "Anytime, anywhere, any topic, delivered on any media. We are completely responsive to our clients needs."