Leading Through Listening: The Collaborative Story Behind Del Mar’s Civitas Learning Adoption

When Del Mar College reintroduced Civitas Learning to campus, reactions were mixed — not because faculty and advisors were resistant to innovation, but because they were already using tools that worked for them.

Across departments, advisors relied on Excel trackers, QLESS queues, and existing scheduling systems to manage student interactions. Each tool served a purpose. What was missing wasn’t effort or care; it was shared visibility.

“We had advisors and faculty who were still managing everything through Excel,” said Sara Greer, Director of IT–Web Services. “It wasn’t that they didn’t care about innovation; they just hadn’t seen how Civitas Learning could make their work easier.”

What began as careful curiosity from departments across campus soon grew into one of Del Mar’s strongest examples of cross-unit collaboration — driven not just by technology, but by shared insight, open communication, and a commitment to improving the student experience together.

A Familiar Challenge, Revisited Thoughtfully

Like many institutions, Del Mar had lived through earlier technology implementations. Faculty remembered Civitas Learning from prior years and carried understandable hesitation about revisiting it.  Like many tools introduced to address a specific need, Civitas Learning initially saw strong results tied to a defined use case—but once that goal was met, usage naturally tapered as campus priorities evolved. The challenge wasn’t convincing people that a new system was necessary — it was acknowledging past experiences and respecting the workflows that departments had built over time.

“There was some baggage with the name,” Sara acknowledged. “My goal wasn’t to rebrand Civitas Learning, it was to reintroduce it in a way that prioritized what people actually needed from it.”

That approach resonated with faculty leaders across disciplines. For Dr. Amy Mintz, Program Director and faculty advisor in Del Mar’s NAEYC-accredited early childhood program, any system supporting student success had to align with existing advising practices and documentation needs.

“What mattered most was that the system supported the way we already work with students,” Mintz said. “Once that connection was clear, it felt like a natural fit rather than another requirement.”

By validating faculty experience and program-level realities, Del Mar created the conditions for trust before asking for adoption.

When Conversation Replaced Demonstration

Rather than launching another campuswide training session, Sara and her team took a different approach. They met with academic departments individually, not to demonstrate features, but to understand workflows.

Advisors explained where data lived and how they tracked student progress. Faculty walked through advising conversations, program requirements, and documentation needs. Department chairs raised questions about scalability and consistency.

“When I showed how advisors could get to the data they needed — without jumping between spreadsheets — that’s when the lights went on,” Sara said.

Faculty echoed that shift. Korinne Caruso, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Technology Committee Chair, noted that Civitas Learning became useful once it reflected real advising needs rather than abstract functionality.

“It didn’t ask us to rethink how we support students,” Caruso said. “It helped us see our work more clearly and share information more effectively.”

Momentum grew quickly. Two department chairs who had initially expressed skepticism became early supporters after hands-on demonstrations.

Soon after, Del Mar hosted a live training session that drew over 100 participants and led to more than 250 activated accounts — a clear sign that the value resonated broadly across campus.

A Campus Effort, Not an IT Initiative

Ask Sara what made the difference, and she’s quick to redirect credit.

“Leticia Wilson was instrumental,” she said of Del Mar’s Director of Advising Initiatives. “She helped connect advisors for data validation, hosted professional development sessions, and kept momentum moving across departments.”

But the collaboration extended well beyond advising. Embedded advisors, faculty representatives, department chairs, student services teams, the registrar’s office, financial aid, admissions, and IT all contributed feedback and participated in working sessions.

From a department leadership perspective, that inclusivity mattered. Paul G. Gottemoller, Ph.D., Chair of Social Sciences, emphasized that faculty engagement grew because adoption never felt mandated.

“This didn’t feel like something IT rolled out to us,” Gottemoller said. “It felt like something the campus was shaping together.”

Each group played a critical role. And because their insights informed every iteration of the rollout, the final result reflected the needs, priorities, and daily realities of teams across the college.

Beyond Adoption: Building Institutional Readiness

As confidence in Civitas Learning grew, Del Mar began exploring broader opportunities to simplify systems and improve coordination. Conversations emerged around consolidating tools — including scheduling platforms and queue systems — into a more unified experience for staff and students.

The benefits extended beyond efficiency. With shared visibility into student interactions came stronger alignment across departments and a clearer picture of how students moved through the institution.

“It’s not just about software,” Sara said. “It’s about getting people to see what’s possible when we work together and then building something that reflects everyone’s needs.”

That collaborative muscle continued to prove valuable as Del Mar navigated other large-scale efforts, including its Colleague SaaS transition. Collaboration across departments had already been underway for several years, and while SaaS upgrades are marathons rather than moments, the Civitas Learning reintroduction reinforced the open communication, cross-department input, and iterative problem-solving that helped confirm the college was on the right path.

One Conversation at a Time

When asked how she persuaded so many departments to engage, Sara smiled.

“It wasn’t persuasion — it was conversation,” she said. “When you take time to listen and let people see the impact for themselves, they start pulling with you instead of against you.”

Today, Civitas Learning at Del Mar College isn’t viewed as a system IT implemented. It’s a platform shaped by faculty, advisors, department leaders, and staff — a shared solution built one conversation at a time.

Interested in learning more? Contact us to explore how Civitas Learning can help institutions build collaboration and shared insight across teams. You can also dive deeper into Del Mar’s impact with Civitas Learning, including how the college achieved a 34% increase in graduates.