SMARTDRAW IN EDUCATION:

Dean of Academic Records Improves Communication with SmartDraw Graphics

Danny Brooks is Dean of Academic Records at Birmingham Southern College, a private liberal arts school with more than 1,300 students from 30 states and eight foreign countries. Danny is responsible for managing the school's student information system, enrollment research, registration, commencement, and the degree audit.

Danny was looking for an easy way to create graphics and diagrams such as admission territory maps, student demographic density maps, system user diagrams, and more. He found SmartDraw, and learned that it was an easy fit for the type of polished, professional-looking output he needed.

"Compared to the other programs out there, SmartDraw has an easy interface, and it's very user-friendly," said Danny.

Although Danny had no graphic design experience, he found that SmartDraw made easy work out of the charts and graphics he needed to complete his work. Unlike other programs that provide users with a blank screen and expect them to draw, users select from a template that is specifically designed to create the type of illustration they need. For example, SmartDraw contains dozens of SmartTemplates for maps, software systems, org charts, and more.

For example, Danny was able to quickly create polished, detailed graphics such as an Admission Map for the 2007-2008 school year which denotes recruitment for each geographic area. He was also able to create a graphic illustrating which campus employees were able to access the student information database.

"I'm very impressed with the results," said Danny. "SmartDraw really helps me get my point across."

SmartDraw allows users to select an appropriate template, and then enter in the relevant information. The software does the rest: building the graphic automatically using built-in rules and professional design themes to guarantee polished, presentation-quality results in just a few minutes. In addition, SmartDraw also features one-click export to popular document types such as PDF and PowerPoint^®, making it easy to share SmartDraw creations with others in presentations.

"SmartDraw really delivers a lot of flexibility in creating graphics, charts and other graphics," said Danny. "Visuals allow me to communicate much more effectively."