RUBIKA, which was founded in 1988, trains more than 1,300 students every year at its four campuses: in Valenciennes, France, where the head office is also located; Pune, India; Nairobi, Kenya; and Montreal, Canada. Created in 2016, the Montreal campus had scarcely 10 students when it launched. “Now we have close to 100 students registered in one of our two programs,” notes Cristelle Khatiri, Director of Studies and Programs at RUBIKA Montreal. “We’re continuing to design new programs, including one in 3D animation/visual effects, which is currently being approved. Ultimately, we should have about 200 students.”
During its early years, RUBIKA Montreal used in-house tools for most of its management. For example, report cards were prepared individually. However, once there were more than 30 students, it became clear that the school needed a more efficient solution. “We wanted a platform where we could centralize all the information that was dispersed in various documents,” Ms. Khatiri explains. “It had become essential to make it easier to access information and manage our activities.”
Initially, RUBIKA Montreal considered two interesting platforms. The school finally opted for COBA Collegial because of its ergonomic qualities and its accessibility. “We had a series of criteria, which Berger-Levrault was able to meet, including the possibility of creating permanent codes and the ability to transfer student files from COBA to the Système de gestion des données d’élèves au collégial (SOCRATE),” explains Ms. Khatiri. “Furthermore, we loved the COBA Collegial interface.”
The solution was installed at RUBIKA Montreal in fall 2019, with a plan to commission it in the winter 2020 session. The implementation went smoothly and, after four days of training given from mid-October to early December, data entry in COBA Collegial was complete and the software was ready to use.
The school started to use COBA Collegial to issue report cards. The professors entered grades directly into the software, which made the process much simpler. “This is a marked improvement,” states Ms. Khatiri. “However, we want to go even further. For now, only two people are really using COBA Collegial, but we’re working actively to expand its use. For one thing, we’d like all 40 professors to enter grades in it as they go, throughout the session.”
Having all the information centralized in COBA also makes life much easier, according to Cristelle Khatiri. “That really reduced our workload. We avoid having to constantly consult numerous files, and we reduce the risk of error by eliminating duplicate data entry. In addition, it simplifies the transfer of data to the ministry. COBA Collegial has really allowed us to optimize our time, especially in creating report cards.”
COBA Collegial is also used to create permanent codes for new students at RUBIKA Montréal and to communicate with Ariane, the student identification data management system at the Ministère de l’Éducation supérieure. “We’re still learning about this function,” notes Ms. Khatiri. “We have to adapt and get used to how this new tool works. We still need support, and the people at Berger-Levrault are there to guide us and help us get the most out of COBA Collegial.”
Director of Studies & Programs
“Because of our growth, we needed a fully integrated solution that would allow us to manage our students’ files and our college-level teaching activities more easily.”
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