SurePact is expanding into the education sector, working closely with CQUniversity Australia (CQU) on a new pilot program.
Universities are diverse and complex organisations with many different divisions and departments, at CQU, there is the additional challenge of having a large campus footprint across the nation meaning collaboration and breaking down silos is critical to preparing and submitting the best possible grant application.
CQU will trial SurePact’s Grant Management Solution, which is designed to assist funding bodies and grant recipients alike with the administration, tracking, transparency and reporting of grant programs. CQU is working with SurePact in designing new grant search features that will be integrated with external grant providers, supporting faster and more efficient identification and application of grant opportunities and increasing collaboration.
This relationship aims to not only strengthen CQU’s collaboration and cohesion in grant applications, creating a systematic approach to grant management and procedures to alleviate pain points, but to provide SurePact with direct feedback on the problems currently faced within this industry that can be applied to the company’s future offering for the education sector.
Originally founded in Rockhampton in 1967, as the Queensland Institute of Technology Capricornia, CQUniversity was granted full university status in 1992. Following a merger with CQ TAFE on 1 July 2014, CQUniversity became Queensland’s first dual sector university, providing a more comprehensive approach to education, training, research and engagement. Now CQUniversity has more than 30,000 students studying online and on-campus across Australia.
SurePact is proud to be partnering with an institute that is recognised as Australia’s most inclusive university, with some of the highest ratios of students from disadvantaged, mature age, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and first-in-family backgrounds.
Aligning with SurePact’s mission to expand its reach in regional areas, CQU’s strong focus on participation and accessibility has seen it establish itself as one of the largest universities based in regional Australia, and the only university with a physical presence in every mainland state of Australia.
Having reviewed the marketplace for a suitable solution for a university environment and coming up short on all the features required, Senior Executive Officer at CQU Trisha Clifford says she jumped at the opportunity when she heard of SurePact’s solution.
“I first heard the name SurePact in an online session delivered by Impact Innovation and sponsored by Innovate Queensland,” says Trisha. “They were discussing the entrepreneurial talents of SurePact’s Founder and CEO Megan Avard, who had developed a Grant Management Solution.
“From that presentation, I came to understand that Megan had identified a gap in the market in terms of grant management solutions and had built a more comprehensive solution from the ground-up, based on extensive industry experience.”
Within 24 hours of Trisha’s enquiry, Megan spoke directly with the CQU team about the intricacies of a university environment. She understood CQU’s need for better visibility and collaboration across relevant areas, divisions and departments.
“Megan was genuinely interested in tailoring a solution to our needs,” Trisha says. “It’s something we feel we need to ensure we have greater visibility of grant opportunities and are preparing and submitting our most competitive grant applications.”
SurePact offers CQU the capability to create a centralised hub for its range of grants, from application, eligibility and submission to execution.
“SurePact will provide us with visibility of relevant grants across key areas of the University,” Trisha says, “and allow individuals and teams to collaborate across divisions, departments and area lines.”
Within its pilot usage of the solution, CQU will have the opportunity to provide feedback that will help SurePact to develop new features for its Grant Management Solution, which will ultimately benefit the education sector as a whole.
“We are looking forward to informing the further product and IP development of SurePact’s solution by providing best-practice product ideas and features based on experience and insights into university operations,” Trisha says.
“We understand better than anyone the pain points and downfalls of current grant management practises within this environment, and we welcome the opportunity to enhance processes and governance of grant management in this space in the future.
“SurePact has the potential to make a huge impact on the grant management processes of all universities. It provides increased visibility of grants across the University; the ability to efficiently filter grants on applicability; and breaks down silos with better collaboration on grant applications to ensure the most competitive applications are submitted, leveraging resources and expertise across the entire University.”
In the early stages of the pilot program, Trisha says she’s been impressed by the willingness of the SurePact team to take feedback on board and adapt their solution.
“The team’s willingness and commitment to invest in industry-specific product R&D, and taking on stakeholder feedback to produce a more effective grant management solution that meets industry needs, is outstanding,” Trisha says.
“Megan has been incredibly helpful, flexible and understanding in building our pilot relationship, and we look forward to what the future of this partnership holds.”
SurePact CEO Megan Avard is also excited about the learnings that will come from this pilot program.
“We are thrilled to be working alongside CQU on tailoring SurePact’s Grant Management Solution to universities,” Megan says.
“This is a great opportunity to strengthen SurePact’s offerings and provide greater outcomes for this industry.”
The new Grant Management Solution features are expected to commercialise later this year.
