Management System Implementation: Int. Air & Hospitality Academy
Synopsis:
COVID hit and everything went online. This client, an accredited Technical School, needed to keep their courses organized with a first-time Learning Management System, and they only had 4 months to implement!
AJC’s Project Manager kept the team on track and accountable for successful and on-time results; leaving the client with a Roadmap for future course uploads.
“I don’t think we could have done it without you!”
Nancy Miller, Owner – International Air & Hospitality Academy
Learn how AJC helped the International Air & Hospitality Academy (IAHA) launch their new Learning Management System in just over four months!
Introduction
The International Air & Hospitality Academy (IAHA) is a nationally accredited Technical School located in Vancouver, WA, launching technical careers for their students for over 40 years. Their four divisions are:
The International Air & Hospitality Academy
The Northwest Reliable Energy Institute
The Northwest Culinary Institute
The Northwest Railroad Institute
The Problem
In March 2020, COVID-19 shutdowns caused IAHA to pivot overnight. They immediately transitioned from their entirely in-person instructional model to a fully virtual model including channels such as Teams, Zoom, and YouTube to continue delivering high-quality instruction to their students.
In this quick transition, however, courses were being housed from a myriad of platforms, and there was a concern about student retention; specifically that IAHA could possibly lose students and/or delay the effectiveness of their instruction in the complexity of the many different virtual platforms being used. IAHA realized they needed to get all of their instructional materials co-located in one system, specifically a Learning Management System.
“We were trying to build the plane while we were flying it!”
Nancy Miller, Owner, International Air & Hospitality Academy
Figuring Out the Solution
IAHA knew that they wanted to hire an outsourced Project Manager to help keep them organized and on track.
Goal 1
Launch the new Learning Management System within ~4 months to launch with January classes.
IAHA had selected the Canvas LMS system in August, and knew that adding a first time system would require significant effort on their own side to ensure the system could be used as needed in January; AJC’s PM kept the team aligned and on track to ensure the timeline was met.
Goal 2
Ensure that the content required for January’s classes were in the system at launch.
Not only did the LMS System need to be ready by January, but all the content for a new cohort to begin taking courses through the system needed to be uploaded in time for that as well. The team of instructors worked with the Core Team and AJC’s PM to ensure this goal was met as well.
Goal 3
Develop a Roadmap for adding additional courses over time to meet additional program start dates in the new year.
At the end of the heavy lift of the Learning Management System’s implementation with courses to begin right away, there would be ongoing needs to add additional courses for the other schools, as well as to update and modify existing courses over time. AJC’s PM developed a roadmap to handoff the next steps for IAHA to test and bring new courses online, that they can continue to follow even after AJC’s PM transitioned off the project.
“We knew that in order to free up everyone’s time it would have to be orchestrated through someone else.”
Colleen Piller, CEO International Air & Hospitality Academy
Conclusion
IAHA is now using their new LMS system, actively uploading additional content, and is able to promote their business and continuous improvement accomplishments as they cater to a new generation of students and continues to grow over time.
IAHA’s CEO calls the transition to their online Learning Management System “Transformational.”
“It has really helped us step up our game.”
