Customer stories

How St.Gallen Now Manages Programmes, Events, and Alumni in One Platform

The Institute of Management & Strategy at the University of St.Gallen transformed its executive education operations by adopting Full Fabric. With growing complexity across programmes and a need for more streamlined coordination, the team sought a smarter, centralised solution to reduce manual tasks, improve cross-team visibility, and scale their offering without increasing workload. Today, Full Fabric plays a key role in supporting applicant management, event coordination, and alumni engagement across the Institute.

The Challenge

The Institute is part of the University of St.Gallen, one of Europe’s leading business schools. Its executive education portfolio includes seminars, Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS), and Diploma of Advanced Studies (DAS) programmes in strategic management, finance, general management, leadership, and self-management. In addition to programme delivery, the Institute runs a wide range of internal and external events. All of these are now managed in Full Fabric.

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The Challenge: Fragmented Tools, Repetitive Tasks, Limited Collaboration

Prior to adopting Full Fabric, the Institute relied on spreadsheets, email inboxes, manual processes, and a basic CRM to manage its growing programme portfolio. These disconnected tools made it difficult to track applicants, share updates across teams, and maintain oversight of day-to-day operations.

  • Applicant data had to be collected from different sources, entered manually and checked repeatedly.
  • Follow-ups were handled by phone or email when forms lacked complete information.
  • Collaboration across teams was limited and often delayed due to the absence of a central system to access and manage all necessary information efficiently.

Despite the team’s commitment to professional communication with applicants, these inefficiencies were becoming increasingly unsustainable. This was especially true with more programmes planned.

“Our tools no longer supported the growing complexity and volume of applications across our executive education programmes. We needed a more integrated and user-friendly solution that could handle everything.”
Nina Luber
Head of Marketing & Communications @ St.Gallen

The Challenge

‍The Solution: A Platform Built to Streamline and Scale

Full Fabric offered a unified, user-friendly solution that brought together lead capture, application management, communication tools, and event workflows. Unlike generic CRM platforms that focused on sales or marketing, Full Fabric provided the academic structure the team needed to manage modular executive programmes.

Key drivers behind the decision included:

  • The ability to manage the full applicant journey in one place.
  • Strong support for modular programme structures.
  • Integrated communication tools and real-time visibility.
  • Dedicated support services included at no extra cost.

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“Since campus management was our top priority, Full Fabric stood out as the most suitable option. We also knew we could cover additional marketing needs with other specialised tools if necessary.” – Nina Luber, Head of Marketing & Communications @ St.Gallen

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The Institute also integrated Full Fabric with its Learning Management System, website, and Zapier. These connections automatically transfer contact details and capture leads from online forms and LinkedIn Ads, removing the need for manual data entry.

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The Results: Sustainable Growth Through Operational Efficiency

Since implementation, the Institute has seen measurable improvements in both day-to-day operations and long-term coordination:

  • An estimated 20% reduction in manual administrative work for the team.
  • More programmes launched without increasing headcount, thanks to time saved.
  • No follow-ups required, as application forms now capture and validate all key information up front.
  • Improved cross-team collaboration, especially among part-time and remote staff.
  • All programme and event data is now centralised and accessible from anywhere.
  • A structured process and timely, targeted communication help support higher conversion over time.

Follow-ups have decreased significantly, as applicants now complete a structured application form that collects all required data. Exceptions, such as invoicing complexities from large organisations, are now the minority.

“We could launch more programmes, but the number of people in our team stayed stable. They now have more time to focus on the programmes because they don’t have so much administrative work to do.”
Nina Luber
Head of Marketing & Communications @ St.Gallen

The Challenge

‍A Connected Team, No Matter the Location

With most team members working part time and remotely, Full Fabric has made it easier to share programme updates and applicant progress. Previously, information was stored in different places, making it challenging to access key details, especially when colleagues were out of office.

Now, everything lives in one platform, improving responsiveness and professional consistency.

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“We only have to open Full Fabric and look at the programme from another person. The information is transparent, so it’s there. That helped us since we all work part time and in different locations.” – Nina Luber, Head of Marketing & Communications @ St.Gallen

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Supporting Events and Lifelong Engagement

Beyond admissions, Full Fabric is used across the Institute for managing research congresses, internal events, and alumni activities. From registration forms to landing pages, the platform acts as a central hub for communications and attendee tracking.

The Institute also uses Full Fabric for alumni engagement, keeping contacts organised and re-engaging former students for new course offerings and events.

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“We get students back to enrol again in another course, which is always our aim. We also have an active alumni community with different events every year, all managed in Full Fabric.” – Nina Luber, Head of Marketing & Communications @ St.Gallen

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About the Institute of Management & Strategy of the University of St.Gallen

The Institute of Management & Strategy is part of the University of St.Gallen, a globally recognised business school based in Switzerland. The Institute not only delivers executive education programmes across a range of business disciplines but is also one of the leading academic institutions for research and teaching in the field of strategic management. By combining excellent academic research with practice-oriented teaching, the institute makes an important contribution to the transfer of knowledge between academia and the business world.

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