November 10, 2025 - Panola College has been awarded a $210,991 grant from Greater Texas Foundation to implement Element451, a comprehensive customer relationship management (CRM) platform designed to improve communication and engagement with students.
As enrollment continues to grow, maintaining personalized, timely connections with students is more important than ever. Element451 will allow Panola College to centralize and streamline all student communications, ensuring that every learner receives clear, consistent, and personalized outreach. The platform will also include proactive communication tools and 24/7 multilingual chatbot support to answer student questions anytime, day or night.
“This project was designed to make it easier for students to get the information they need, when they need it,” said Lori Ballard, project lead for the initiative. “Element451 will help us communicate in a more personalized way and will free our staff to focus on individual student support.”
By integrating communications across departments, Element451 will help eliminate communication gaps, improve efficiency, and support students from their first inquiry through graduation. The new system reflects Panola College’s ongoing investment in technology and innovation that enhance student success and engagement.
“We are so grateful to Greater Texas Foundation for their support of this important initiative,” said Dr. Jessica Pace, President of Panola College. “Their investment helps Panola College reimagine how we serve our students and reinforces our commitment to providing the highest level of care and connection.”
“We are excited to support Panola College as they innovate to provide more personalized supports for their students,” said Sue McMillin, President and CEO of Greater Texas Foundation.
About Greater Texas Foundation: Greater Texas Foundation is a private foundation based in Bryan, Texas that supports efforts to ensure all Texas students are prepared for, have access to, persist in, and complete a postsecondary education. Since its 2001 inception, the foundation has approved more than $150 million in grants to support Texas students. For more information, visit http://www.greatertexasfoundation.org.
