Higher ed runs on mission, but too often, it’s held together by inboxes, spreadsheets, and institutional memory. In this webinar, leaders from Trine University’s online and international programs shared what happened when rapid growth forced them to rethink “the way we’ve always done it.”
In just a few years, Trine’s online and international enrollment jumped from roughly 1,000 students to more than 10,000. The team was working hard, but their processes weren’t built for that scale. Course development relied on back-and-forth emails. International compliance documentation could take weeks to assemble. Advising notes lived on sticky pads and personal spreadsheets.
So Trine decided to start a 14-day trial with monday.com and rewired how work actually happens—introducing shared workflows and automation to create visibility, reduce friction, and protect what mattered most: student experience, compliance, and the sustainability of their staff.
Here’s how it unfolded and what wins you can steal for your own team.
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Start where friction is highest
When you’re staring at disconnected tools and manual processes, the instinct is to fix everything at once.
Trine didn’t attempt a sweeping overhaul when they began their 14-day trial. They chose a single workflow that was creating daily friction and started there. For them, that was course development — a multi-step process with multiple stakeholders and no shared, real-time visibility. By centralizing just that one process, they immediately reduced status-chasing and manual coordination.
Then they moved to the next high-friction area: international student requests. Intake forms were already being used, but they weren’t visible to everyone who needed them. Integrating those into a shared workflow eliminated handoff confusion and made progress trackable.
The key wasn’t the specific processes they chose. It was the discipline of focusing on one at a time — starting with the one generating the most friction.
When you solve a painful, visible problem first, you build confidence. And confidence builds momentum.
Win to steal: Don’t modernize your entire operation. Identify the single process that creates the most follow-ups, delays, or frustration — and redesign that one first.
Redesign the workflow to redesign the student experience
When you’re trying to improve the student experience at your university, it’s tempting to start with better messaging. But Trine’s story is a reminder that the fastest way to reduce student frustration is often to fix the workflow behind the scenes.
One of the clearest examples from the webinar was Trine’s change-of-location request for international students—like moving from their Detroit location to Reston in the DC area. It’s not a simple handoff. The academic team has to review whether the move can be supported (classroom availability, course needs), and international services then handles the downstream steps.
What used to make this stressful wasn’t the work itself—it was the lack of visibility around it. At Trine, many requests used to arrive via email and get passed between staff, especially when multiple teams were involved. And from the student’s side, after submitting a request, they’d often receive a “thank you” and then hear nothing until the request was fully processed. That silence is what triggers the follow-ups: “Where is my request? Is anyone working on it?”
Now the process moves through defined stages in monday.com. When academics marks a request approved or denied, the student is notified automatically. If it’s approved, it shifts to international services and triggers the next update—so students get progress along the way, and staff can instantly see where the request sits if someone checks in.
Win to steal: Start with one student-facing process that creates repeat follow-ups. Clarify the internal stages and handoffs first. Then make those stages visible so students aren’t left guessing.
Focus on mindset as much as mechanics
When you introduce new tools or systems, the instinct is to focus on features and functionality.
Trine didn’t approach their 14-day trial that way. They understood early on that this wasn’t just about software — it was about how people work. They adopted what they called a “project management mindset.” Not certifications. Not bureaucracy. Just clarity. Who owns this process? What does success look like? What are the milestones? Is it documented so someone else can step in tomorrow?
They were also deliberate about how they framed the change. Automation wasn’t positioned as oversight or replacement. It was positioned as relief — fewer status meetings, less manual tracking, more time focused on students. They started small. One or two workflows. Proof of concept. Expansion. They involved the people actually doing the work in building the boards. And they treated iteration as normal instead of waiting for perfection.
The key wasn’t the tool itself. It was the discipline of clear ownership, incremental rollout, and a human-centered “why.”
When people understand the purpose behind the change, adoption follows. And when ownership is clear, scale becomes sustainable.
Win to steal: Before launching any new workflow, finish this sentence: “This will reduce ___ so we can focus more on ___.” If the answer isn’t clear, refine the approach before you roll it out.
Final thoughts
Once Trine experienced a tangible shift during their 14-day trial, they couldn’t justify going back to the way things were. Because once you see what it feels like to have work visible — to have ownership clearly defined, handoffs structured, and communication tied to real stages — it’s hard to return to fragmented systems.
And that shift came at the right time. In a moment when higher ed teams are being asked to do more with fewer resources, Trine’s story offers something practical: scaling doesn’t have to mean squeezing people harder. It can mean building systems that remove the administrative weight from their shoulders.
The systems didn’t replace the human side of their work. They created the space for it. And in higher ed, that’s the real measure of progress — not just growing enrollment, but protecting the time and attention it takes to serve students well.
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