Video observation rarely stays contained to one program for long at a community college, especially when the result is student success and improved achievement of program outcomes.
At that point, other departments on campus often start thinking about how audio/video capture technology could enhance their programs. These programs typically will integrate their own platforms, often with different vendors, capacities, and challenges from the initial video technology integration.
The common result: A patchwork of disconnected video technology systems.
But what if there was an opportunity to start a different kind of conversation around a better way to scale video observation and audio/video capture technology campus-wide?
This post looks at the patterns behind successful deployments and expansions, from sequencing programs to standardizing workflows before adding new ones.
The Flagship Approach: Why Community Colleges Should Start with One Audio/Video Capture Lab
It’s quite typical for community colleges to first integrate video capture technology in a single lab with a clear use case and an established funding path. But there are other reasons why many community colleges think small when first integrating new A/V technologies.
The Impact of Budget and Staffing Realities on Video Technology Integration
Standard community college capital and grant cycles often favor smaller, well-defined first projects over campus-wide commitments.
Operating budgets rarely have room for campus-wide technology rollouts from the start. Most community colleges use Perkins V, capital improvement funds, or workforce grants to fund video capture program integration.
Finally, with many community college IT departments working with limited financial and staffing resources, single-program technology integrations are often considered more manageable in the short term.
But the realities of budget and staffing limitations on A/V technology integration often lead to the patchwork nature of implementing disconnected systems; departments just trying to get something in place, but not always considering long-term usability. It isn’t until the disparate systems are in place — and the IT team is dealing with multiple technology stacks — that this approach reveals its limitations.
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When the Single-Room Model Starts to Strain
Single-room video technology models often begin to reach their limitations at the same time they become successful. As other programs and departments see that the technology is proven, they often want to integrate the same technology into their programming.
Often, this interest comes from a variety of sources, for example:
- Counseling programs may express interest in video capture technology for treatment session recording in therapy clinics.
- Allied health and speech-language pathology programs may see a similar benefit in observation and recording sessions, as well as training recordings.
- EMS programs might consider video capture technology for simulation labs or live training that can be streamed to multiple campuses.
- CTE and workforce development programs could see a potential benefit in deploying video capture technology in learning and simulation labs, where it can be used for instruction, but also for assessing student learning and competency.
Each program request will likely come with its own timeline, its own funding source, and its own slight variation on requirements. Without an established plan for effectively scaling the technology further on campus, many community colleges end up adding new tools rather than expanding the capacity of a single system.
This approach often introduces:
- Divergent retention policies, access rules and naming conventions
- Vendor sprawl, including renewal challenges with multiple support contracts, training and renewal cycles
- Reduced cost effectiveness in the long run, as the costs of individual program technology stacks can add up
A successful first program often provides the internal proof point needed to justify the next round of investment. Still, it is more effective to approach it with a longer-term focus on campus-wide video capture integration than a case-by-case approach.
Let’s define what campus-wide integration can look like.
Five Patterns Behind Successful Multi-Program Rollouts
Making a few shared decisions at the outset provides a solid start for future scalability of video capture technology at community colleges. These foundational decisions will compound over time as new classrooms, simulation lab expansions, and integrations come online in the future.
These initial decisions shouldn’t be focused on a specific product. Instead, these early decisions can guide how a video capture technology is sequenced and governed for the long term.
Before making the first video capture technology investment, consider these elements:
Choose Technology Built to Scale Beyond One Room
A platform that is a good solution in a single-room application can quickly reach its limits in a multi-room, multi-building or campus-wide integration. Planning for an eventual footprint, rather than the starting one, creates a more effective approach.
Look for systems that support:
- Multi-program governance
- Role-based permissions
- Multi-building infrastructure
Looking for a deeper dive on this subject? Visit our 10 Reasons to Standardize on an Enterprise-Wide Audio/Video System for more information.
Standardize Before You Expand
An initial, single-room deployment offers an easy way to set standardization before a later-phase deployment. Use this opportunity to set:
- Role-based access
- Retention rules
- Naming conventions
Once more rooms and labs come online, retrofitting standards become more difficult. By documenting initial workflows for capture, review, feedback, and archival efforts, all future programs have a proven template to follow.
Sequence Programs Strategically
When it’s time to expand multi-program video observation at a community college, look for logical and strategic sequencing to expand the program.
Some examples of this include:
- Programs that share use cases, as they can reuse most of the work from the initial classroom or simulation lab.
- Programs with overlapping workflows. Counseling, speech-language pathology, and behavioral sciences often follow similar workflows closely.
Build Advocacy at Multiple Levels
Often, it is a single faculty champion who gets the first program off the ground. For further expansion to a campus-wide rollout, seek allies in IT, facilities, deans, procurement, and finance to help support your plans.
Each new program brings new stakeholders into the conversation. Plan to bring these supporters and champions on to the project early rather than after decisions are made.
Align Scaling with Funding Cycles
Scaling video observation technology at community colleges requires funding allocation, which occurs through capital budgets, grant resources, and workforce funding. These funding cycle resources rarely line up.
Phased rollouts give community colleges the flexibility to add programs when funding comes through. Scheduling new additions through a phased rollout can be particularly helpful for CTE or workforce education integration, as these can be funded through Perkins V, workforce development grants, or donor funds designated toward a specific area of need.
Expansion plans can also be tied to new construction or projects, such as simulation lab expansions at community colleges. Major renovations also provide an opportunity for expanding multi-program video observation technology on campus. These types of project budgets often include flexible funding that can be used for improvements and new technology integration.
VALT has improved student learning and faculty observation in Penn State’s Center for Educational Diagnosis and Remediation Clinic. Read the case study.
What “Campus-Wide” Video Integration Looks Like in Practice
While a campus-wide deployment can be completed at once, it’s more likely that scaling video capture technology will be done in phases. The goal is that, regardless of when the individual rooms or applications are installed, everything runs on the same technology backbone.
Campus-wide consistency offers:
- Campus deployments that use the same software, with permissions and workflows configured for each department.
- A common interface for all faculty members to simplify training, increase user comfort, and reduce support tickets.
- Uniform recording, observation, and review regardless of classroom, lab, or building.
- Reduced administrative overhead and improved reporting in multi-campus deployments.
- Access control, retention and audit logs that work the same way for every program.
- A single platform and vendor relationship.
Most of these consistency benefits come back to a single decision: the platform itself. A system designed for one room rarely delivers consistency across many, no matter how thoughtfully the rollout is sequenced.
The next section looks at how VALT: Video Audio Learning Tool is built to support multi-program, multi-building scaling at community colleges.
How VALT Supports Scaling at Community Colleges
VALT is IVS’s video observation and recording platform, designed to support multi-program, multi-building environments from the start. The platform was built with the kinds of institutions and workflows community colleges actually use, not just limited to single-room sim labs or a video recording and observation classroom.
VALT offers multi-program campuses the ability to record, observe, annotate, review, and provide feedback in a single platform. With role-based access and secure storage, VALT is aligned with FERPA retention rules and standard public institution governance.
In addition to offering VALT technology, we support community college facility and project planning from early design conversations through go-live. IVS installation and project management support includes cabling, room layout, network, and storage decision guidance; all areas that need to be considered before any equipment arrives and is installed.
We work through an established network of AV integration partners, so colleges with an existing integrator relationship don’t have to start over. For colleges without an integrator already engaged, IVS can introduce one with the right experience.
Finally, multi-campus colleges or institutions without on-prem infrastructure at every site can run on VALT Cloud. A cloud deployment reduces local IT burden and supports rapid expansion to new buildings or satellite campuses that may not have the infrastructure in place.
Learn about how Mount Royal University (MRU) successfully integrated VALT into its child development and nursing simulation labs in our case study.
Scaling Is About Foundation, Not Just Footprint
Successfully scaling video observation technology at a community college is not about installing more equipment. Rather, it’s about creating a solid plan for thoughtful expansion through established workflows and access policies. This foundation helps build a starting point for an initial deployment and future multi-program expansion.
If you're thinking about the next phase of video observation at your college, IVS can help you plan it.
Talk to a specialist about your programs and timeline, download the Community College Planning Guide [link], or request a VALT demo to see what multi-program deployment looks like in practice.
Ready to Scale Video Observation Campus-Wide?
Download the Community College Planning Guide for a step-by-step framework on programs, funding, and phased deployment.
