When your institution moves to a new admissions or academic cycle, a few areas of CollegeVine need a refresh so your agent reaches the right students with current information. Work through this checklist at the start of each cycle. Each section links to a detailed guide.
💡 Most institutions do this in late spring or summer, before the next entering class becomes the focus. Transfer, graduate and spring-start populations often run on their own calendars, so use this checklist whenever a population turns over.
Constituents
Confirm your target population for the coming cycle (for example, next fall's entering class).
Review your properties and decide whether to add or remove any to help your agent personalize messages. Add new properties in CollegeVine before mapping them on import.
Create segments for your new target population. You'll use these to update your active workflows.
Integrations
Update your CRM or SIS export query to match your new target population and properties. If you don't have an active integration, use a manual import.
Update your import mappings for any added or changed properties.
Adjust your export segment so you only export the students you want (for example, exclude last cycle's constituents).
Update your export mappings for any added or changed properties.
⚠️ Keep sending last cycle's constituents to CollegeVine until all outreach to them has ended. If imports stop while a workflow is still contacting those students, your agent may reach out with outdated information.
Remove or replace assets with outdated information, such as expired deadlines, past events and old policies. Check PDFs, factsheets, staff interviews and other uploaded files in particular.
Refresh all URL assets to pull in the latest web content, then publish your changes.
Check for broken links after refreshing (404 or 301 errors). Replace them with updated links and publish again.
Add new content for the coming cycle, including changes to programs, deadlines, scholarships and events.
Apply knowledge base tags to every new asset.
Publish your changes.
Missions
Pause or end any missions that are no longer relevant.
Plan new missions for your updated target population. Planning your year has ideas by time of year.
All workflows
Point each active workflow at your new segments (for example, update Email Marketing to exclude last cycle's class and include the incoming one).
Check each workflow's auto shutoff date so outreach doesn't stop at an old deadline.
Review custom instructions and other inputs, and remove anything cycle-specific, such as old deadlines.
Update email templates for the new cycle (calls to action, photos, contact details).
Review how last cycle performed before you end missions or change segments. Interaction history stays on each constituent's record.
Create or adjust the reports you use to track your agent's activity. See Understanding reporting and insights.
Email sending
Before your first large send of the cycle, check your daily send limit. Open your Email settings, click a subdomain, and use What to expect to see how long the send will take.
If you're planning several large sends close together, space them out and launch the most important one first.
See Understanding email: sending, cadence and metrics for details.
Network (if applicable)
Pause or end campaigns targeting prior classes. See What are campaigns and how do I use them?
Create new campaigns for new classes. See How do I set up a campaign?
Keep accepting connections regularly (we recommend at least once a week). See What are connections and how do I connect with students?
Adjust your Network integration settings to export only relevant class years to your CRM. See Update an active network export [Slate].
💡 Your CollegeVine team can help with any of these steps. Reach out to [email protected].