Strategic Business Process Management Consulting and Training Since 1993
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Higher Education

Orion is proud to have been a trusted resource of colleges and universities since our inception in 1993. Our unique combination of insider and outsider perspectives makes us especially effective at helping higher education leaders:

  • Increase admissions and improve retention
  • Modernize processes
  • Maximize the ROI from IT investments
  • Reduce the cost of operations
  • Transform the student experience

Modernizing Higher Ed

As Kevin Manning, retired President of Stevenson University, recently blogged: The new motto for all of higher education might be “Change is Constant” or “Innovate or Die.”  Your institution can and must marshal its resources to deliver better services to more students at lower cost. Orion –a long-time partner of colleges and universities– is here to help.

Streamlining & Simplifying Processes

Legacy behaviors and silo thinking to result in operations where good people work hard but produce outcomes that are frustrating to students, educators, and administrators. Using Lean and/or classic process redesign techniques, Orion will help your team rethink workflow resulting in shorter service times, lower costs and more capacity.

Transforming the Student Experience

Competition for students and student retention are tougher than ever. By leveraging a unique, integrated approach, Orion can facilitate a comprehensive student experience transformation initiative that will increase admission and retention rates while simultaneously reducing operational costs for your college or university.

Technology Integration

Information technology brings great promise and great cost to higher education. Too often, new IT systems result in broken business processes and employee resistance. Orion will help your team define the right IT solutions and gain buy-in from staff across the University.

Strategic Planning & Change Management

New challenges require new leadership approaches. Orion will help your executive team use strategy maps and scorecards to clarify, prioritize and communicate strategic initiatives so that positive change is implemented and sustained.

These services can be delivered via a consulting engagement applied to real projects or via custom training. For more information, contact email Margaret Powers or call her at (800) 510-2117.

Orion is proud to have provided mission-critical training and consulting services for institutions from coast to coast.  They include:

  • University of Pennsylvania
  • California State University System
  • Michigan State University
  • Princeton University
  • Schoolcraft College
  • University of the Arts
  • University of California, Davis
  • University of Delaware
  • Baldwin Wallace University
  • University of North Carolina Charlotte
  • University of Texas
  • University of Utah
  • Cornell University

Practice Leader – Ralph Smith

Ralph Smith is Vice President, Strategic Services for Orion Development Group.  He has personally supervised the performance improvement efforts in more than 100 organizations worldwide, including hospitals, corporations, and universities.

Mr. Smith is intimately familiar with strategic planning.  He is a recognized expert in this discipline and author of the highly rated text Business Process Management and the Balanced Scorecard. Ralph is uniquely qualified to help colleges and universities align process improvement efforts with the organization’s long-term strategy.

Mr. Smith has a Masters degree in Operations Research from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Bachelors degree in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Georgia.

Practice Leader – Amanda Dietz

Amanda (Mandy) Dietz is Vice President-Solution Integration for Orion Development Group.  She has more than 25 years of experience in process innovation, operations management,  technology deployment and customer service.  Ms. Dietz is able to leverage her diverse expertise and strategic outlook to help clients implement and fully realize the benefits of process and technology change.

Prior to joining Orion, Ms. Dietz attained quality and process management experience in the corporate world, with extensive work in the field of Financial Aid. Ms. Dietz earned her BS in Finance from Indiana University and MBA in International Management from the University of South Florida.  She is a Certified Quality Manager (ASQ).

Practice Leader – Bob Boehringer

Robert (Bob) Boehringer is the Vice President – Business Process Management Services for Orion Development Group. He has more than 30 years of experience helping leaders and professionals improve quality/productivity. His expertise in process design and problem-solving is a recognized globally.

Mr. Boehringer is the architect of several of Orion’s seminars, including Process Mapping.  His clients have included Michigan State University, Princeton University, Cornell University, the University of Utah and the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Boehringer has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University and is a member of the American Society for Quality.

Let Orion help you overcome today’s business challenges.

Call Margaret Powers today at (800) 510-2117.

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