Case Study: Taylor University

At a Glance

• Industry: Higher Education
• Location: Upland, Indiana
• Organization Type: Private Christian university
• Modules Implemented: ParkAdmin, ViolationAdmin
• Key Integrations: Ellucian Banner, Single Sign-On (SSO)
• Key Result: Replaced a difficult legacy system with a cloud platform that met 100% of operational needs — at a price the university could afford

Overview

Taylor University is a private Christian university in Upland, Indiana, focused on delivering a strong student experience while maintaining efficient campus operations. When parking and enforcement workflows became increasingly difficult to manage using a legacy system, the university began searching for a modern cloud-based platform that could simplify administration, improve automation, and reduce overhead for both IT and parking staff.

What they found exceeded their expectations.

“We absolutely love the system. It has been a huge improvement for us — and honestly, working so well, we have not had to contact you all anytime recently.”

— Chris Jones, Chief Information Officer, Taylor University

The Challenge

Taylor University’s previous parking management system had become increasingly difficult to maintain and operate. Manual workflows, limited automation, and outdated administrative processes created inefficiencies across parking operations, enforcement management, and financial reconciliation.

The university needed a modern platform that could support:

• Cloud-based parking permit management without heavy IT infrastructure
• Real-time parking enforcement workflows for field officers
• Online violation payments and appeals for students and staff
• Automated synchronization with student financial systems
• Secure campus authentication through Single Sign-On
• Centralized parking and violation visibility for administrators
• Reduced infrastructure and IT maintenance requirements

Affordability was also a critical factor. The university needed a platform that delivered enterprise-grade functionality at a price point that made sense for a private institution managing its budget carefully.

“What sold us on OperationsCommander was the ease of use for a budget we can afford and excellent references.”

The Solution

Following a recommendation from another institution, Taylor University selected OperationsCommander (OPSCOM) to modernize campus parking operations. The implementation focused on replacing disconnected manual workflows with a centralized cloud-based platform connecting permits, violations, enforcement, payments, and financial synchronization in one system.

The system was deployed quickly and integrated with the university’s existing authentication and financial systems — with minimal disruption to campus operations.

ParkAdmin — Parking Management

ParkAdmin replaced Taylor’s manual permit process with a flexible, self-service online environment:

• Online permit purchasing for students and staff
• Self-service parking account management — parkers manage their own accounts without visiting the office
• Real-time payment processing for permits and renewals
• Centralized parking inventory management
• Improved administrative visibility into permit activity across campus

ViolationAdmin — Parking Enforcement

ViolationAdmin modernized Taylor’s enforcement and citation resolution process:

• Digital citation issuance in the field
• Online violation payment for students and staff
• Online appeals submission and review
• Real-time violation tracking and case management
• Print-on-demand ticketing — eliminating the need for pre-printed ticket inventory and reducing supply costs
• Automated workflows from issuance through resolution

Learn more about how connected enforcement systems improve consistency and reduce administrative overhead for campus parking operations.

Single Sign-On Integration

Through SSO integration, students and staff access parking services using their existing campus credentials — simplifying the user experience while reducing authentication management complexity for Taylor’s IT team.

Banner Financial Integration

OPSCOM integrated directly with Taylor’s Ellucian Banner environment, automating the synchronization of unpaid parking violations with student financial accounts. Manual posting workflows were eliminated, improving financial accuracy and reducing reconciliation effort across the parking and finance departments.

The Results

Taylor University’s OPSCOM implementation delivered on every operational goal the university had identified — and then some.

100% of Operational Needs Met

After implementation, Taylor University’s CIO offered a straightforward assessment of the platform’s performance:

“OperationsCommander has met 100% of our needs, very easy for non-technical folks to use, highly responsive customer service.”

— Chris Jones, Chief Information Officer, Taylor University

For a university that selected OPSCOM partly on the strength of its references, having the platform fully deliver on those references is the best possible outcome — and the foundation for a long-term operational partnership.

Simplified IT Administration

The cloud-based platform eliminated infrastructure maintenance overhead for Taylor’s IT department. Rather than supporting an aging on-premise system, IT now manages a hosted SaaS platform that receives continuous updates and improvements without requiring internal development cycles or upgrade projects. As a hosted platform, OPSCOM handles maintenance so the university doesn’t have to.

Improved Student and Staff Experience

Students and staff can now purchase permits, pay violations, submit appeals, and access account information entirely online — without visiting a parking office. The self-service experience is intuitive enough that non-technical users adopt it without training friction, which was a specific concern for Taylor’s team before implementation.

Automated Financial Workflows

Unpaid parking violations synchronize directly with student financial accounts through the Banner integration — eliminating the manual posting process that previously consumed staff time. Financial reconciliation between the parking and finance departments is now handled automatically, improving accuracy and reducing administrative effort on both sides.

Reduced Supply and Operational Costs

Print-on-demand ticketing eliminated the university’s dependency on pre-printed ticket inventory — reducing supply costs, eliminating waste from unused stock, and giving enforcement staff greater operational flexibility. Learn more about how connected parking management systems reduce operational overhead across the full parking lifecycle.

A Platform the University Trusts to Run Itself

Perhaps the most telling indicator of a successful implementation is what doesn’t happen: the university rarely needs to contact support because the system simply works. That reliability — day in, day out — is what makes the platform a genuine operational asset rather than a system that requires ongoing management attention.

Why OPSCOM

Taylor University selected OPSCOM based on three factors: simplicity, affordability, and the strength of references from other institutions. All three held up through implementation and into daily operations.

The combination of a cloud-based architecture, Banner and SSO integration, self-service workflows, and a pricing model accessible to private universities made OPSCOM the right fit — not just for Taylor’s current needs, but for a long-term operational foundation.

“What sold us on OperationsCommander was the ease of use for a budget we can afford and excellent references.”

— Chris Jones, Chief Information Officer, Taylor University

Taylor University is also exploring the future addition of IncidentAdmin to further unify campus safety and operational workflows within the same platform — connecting parking, enforcement, and incident reporting in one shared system.

For other private universities evaluating a similar modernization, the Anderson University case study offers a comparable perspective, and the Cambrian College case study demonstrates what the platform delivers as operations scale. See also how OPSCOM supports higher education parking and security operations across North America.

About Taylor University

Taylor University is a private Christian liberal arts university located in Upland, Indiana. Known for its commitment to academic excellence, character formation, and community life, Taylor serves students across a residential campus environment where the quality of everyday services — including parking — directly supports the student experience. The university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and offers undergraduate programs across a broad range of disciplines.