Organization Hack for Your Portfolio: Bookmark Master Setup
I manage the cycles of 18 study abroad programs, and I learned a lot about systems of keeping myself organized. The fewest clicks it takes to access all of the necessary resources to do your job, the less fatigue, and the more energy is preserved to do your job well.
My Key Bookmark Sections
One-Click Links
-
My team's collaborative spreadsheet we use to track progress of all of our faculty-programs (we call it a "Master Sheet")
-
My office's shared Google Drive folder
Folders
-
TEMPLATES: Email templates and standardized tools created by your team
-
FACULTY-LED PROGRAMS (FDP): Folder containing the list of ALL the programs you manage
-
OVERVIEW: A folder that holds your handbooks, operation documents (team responsibility breakdown, team meeting agendas, password sheets, etc.)
-
ENROLLMENT SYSTEM & TOOLS: quickly access important parts of your student enrollment management system or other online systems needed to support the administrative work of your office
-
ADVISING/STUDENT SUPPORT: Have a collection of advising tools and pages that come in handy during your advising appointments.
Folder: TEMPLATES
I've learned a lot of patterns in communicating between students, providers, faculty leaders, our financial associate, and other common stakeholders. It is nice to build a collection of email templates I can easily copy & paste for various scenarios.
In addition, my "Templates" folder holds all of the templates we use and reuse every year: contract template, billing sheets, interdepartmental transfer invoice templates, enrollment reports, emergency pack spreadsheets, etc.
TEMPLATES Organization (Common Examples)
Organize your email templates based on whom you contact:
Subfolder: Students
Subfolder: Providers
Subfolder: Faculty
Subfolder: Contracts & Billing Contact
Subfolder: Student Workers
Examples of emails for different stakeholders:
Subfolder: Students
Get in Touch: an email template for students that ask how to talk with someone in our office
Finish Application (pre-decision): When supporting the recruitment for one of your programs, use this template to contact students to encourage them to proceed with your program by finishing their application.
Finish Application (pre-departure): In our office, students have access to more important seps in their application once they commit to a program. Certain requirements are important so that we can complete the emergency pack spreadsheet that requires their info (emergency contact, health & wellness disclosure, flight itinerary info, etc.)
Can I Buy My Flights Yet? This is a common question we get from students on faculty-led programs. We have certain requirements that are part of the processes of running a program, and until those are met, we do not want students to buy their flights. Come up with an email that prepares for this question.
Subfolder: Providers
Solicit Proposal for Renewal: Use a template to contact your providers to renew your different programs for the upcoming academic year.
Follow Up: Obtain Proposal: Prepare a follow-up template to support ensuring the providers keep you updated with the progress on your pending proposal.
Roster Updates: Prepare a template to send a roster update to your providers and a template to send a final roster to receive the official invoice for the program.
Risk Review Q's: Have a template to use if your risk review team has questions regarding the provider's itinerary or credibility to ensure the program is safe to go.
Post-Program Refunds: When your program ends, now it's time to contact your provider to see if you should be expecting refunds or an extra program invoice for additional/unexpected expenses onsite.
Subfolder: Faculty
Registration Invite: New year, time for faculty to submit their intent to renew their programs and fill out the application requirements!
Finish Application: Ensure your faculty are updated on what still needs to be completed in their registration.
Weekly Enrollment Reports: A template to update your faculty on how enrollment numbers are going.
Emergency Pack: Instructions on how to access and use the emergency pack that contains important student information.
Arrival Check-In: A standard welcome and encouragement to a great start to the program on the first day.
Return Tasks/Closeout: A standard email to welcome faculty back to campus and have clear steps to take to officially close out the program.
Subfolder: Contracts & Billing Contact
Contract Ready for Processing: A template to send the contract and other key information needed by your contact that manages the processing of your partner contracts.
Invoice: A template to send an invoice sent by your vendor to your contact that starts the process for paying the vendor.
Billing Adjustments: A template to notify your financial associate for billing adjustments to your program or student(s).
Folder: Your Main Portfolio
This will look different for everyone, but here is how I ensure I have easy access to the documents and tools needed for me to manage my portfolio of faculty programs on a day-to-day basis.
Program Sub-Folder Organization
For each subfolder of my programs, there are direct links that take me to my day-to-day documents and tools:
Drive folder: We keep all of our programs organized in our Google Drive, so here's a direct link to your program folder instead of clicking through the folders and subfolders to find it!
Applications for our primary leader and accompanying leaders: We use Terra Dotta, so I bookmark all of the leaders' applications so I have them accessible from one place.
Student registration updates: In Terra Dotta, I bookmarked what is called a "search query" so I can monitor changes in the applicant pool and status of complete applications to report to faculty.
Brochure (edit view): A direct link that takes you to your enrollment system where you can edit the brochure for your program.
Brochure (live view): A direct link to the live brochure that you can access when showing students the program.
Account balance: A link to quickly access the financial state of your program's account balance.
Folder: Enrollment System & Tools
This is creating direct links to different parts of your enrollment tool or other online tools needed to do your administrative duties.
Direct Link Organization Examples
Direct Links for Our Enrollment System:
Enrollment System: Ours is Terra Dotta, so having access to the system is great.
Applicant Search: Terra Dotta is slow, so I would rather have a direct link to look up a student (very common in my day-to-day work) instead of wasting a bunch of clicks and time getting to this feature on Terra Dotta.
Create New Application: Direct link to create an application on behalf of someone on your enrollment system.
Program Search: A direct link to find a program from the administrative side and make appropriate edits.
Dynamic Forms: A system we use to manage our forms that need to receive signatures from various departments.
Folder: Advising & Student Support
This folder helps me access links I may need to be able to advise students, learning from common questions they ask.
Direct Link Organization Examples
Direct links on our website: (helping students navigate the website)
Home Page: In case you need to demo to students how to navigate our website and find our search portal.
Search Portal: This helps me start the processing of helping our students find options for programs.
Funding Opportunities (in a sub-folder called "Funding"): I can hep redirect students to find scholarship information.
Direct links to tools: (administrative side)
Advising Booking Link: Very helpful to redirect them to book an appointment!
Advising 101 Template: I made my own document to help me take a student through a comprehensive evaluation on important things to consider when exploring their options.
Proof of Health Insurance for Consulate: From experience, I added this to support students that need this requirement for preparation for their visa consulate appointment.
