Work needs to be done
June 25, 2021

Work needs to be done

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Blackbaud Education Management Solutions

It is Being used across the whole organization. Switched SIS almost 1 year ago. I had used Education Edge for 3 years prior to changing jobs. Currently platform manager and user of Blackbaud Education Management Solutions, Enrollment Management, and School Website. Multiple problems have been discovered throughout this school year and it seems that the people who coded and work on the production of this product perhaps don't actually use it. There are some very simple problems I have come across with lists and the learning profile that, in my opinion, would not exist if the creators actually had to use them./
  • For the most part, user friendly
  • Content is accessible through all platforms; desktop, mobile
  • Training/webinars/product information easily accessible
  • Lists -unable to just create a simple list of say 100 students of varying grade levels. Need to export, then whittle the list down. Super time-consuming. Not possible to run a list and then click the students needed from there.
  • Reports - [I feel there is] not enough of a selection of "canned reports" and no ability to create your own reports
  • Advanced lists - [in my experience] THE WORST - again creating more work - I spent over 3 hours trying to make an advanced list of all NHS eligible students, that included email addresses for the students AND the parents. Way too difficult and needs to be simplified
  • Learning Profile: [I feel] Fields for the person creating a learning profile for a student are too small. It would seem like the developers creating this have literally no idea how complex some accommodations are. Many accommodations come directly from a physician.
  • Checklists: Should be in Academics not just Enrollment Management
  • Ideas: [I feel it's a] good concept, poor execution. Many of the people who are actively using BB do not have the time needed to submit an idea, know it even exists or have time to search and vote.
  • Some aspects of Enrollment management should follow a student into Education Management. For example, [I feel]The Candidate Summary should be viewable once the student is enrolled. Converting a process from all paper to electronic-only works if the information is accessible to all pertinent staff
  • [I feel] There are many more - do better!!!
Decent support however the chat feature can take a great amount of time out of the workday. If for instance you are waiting for someone to respond in the chat and there is a fire drill, if you are not responding within a few minutes, you are disconnected and have to start all over again. It would be great if you could submit your problem and then whoever has the most experience, can respond.
The training in the Blackbaud University is good but also time-consuming - a 3 hr training in the middle of a workday is a lot to ask. I like the 90-minute sessions. It would also be great to offer a shorter webinar to update on any changes implemented. Other than the email I subscribed to, there is no information on how these updates actually work.
Well suited: Grading in real-time, locating students in real-time, communication with staff/advisees