Clearinghouse Spotlight: Rob Groot, Director of Product Management, Education Services
Rob Groot, Director of Product Management, Education Services
Our Clearinghouse Connections series offers you a more intimate look at the National Student Clearinghouse by introducing you to our people and the work they do. Today, meet Rob Groot, who oversees Product Management in Education Services at the Clearinghouse.
Q: How long have you been at the Clearinghouse, and what is your role?
A: I started one year ago at the Clearinghouse in April 2017! I am the Director of Product Management, and my job is to ensure that our products stay current with education, the market and the industry.
Q: What does a day in the life of the Director of Product Management look like?
A: I spend most of my time understanding how our products satisfy the education community and aligning them to meet our clients’ needs while ensuring we stay creative as we develop new and better solutions.
Q: What questions do you and your team get most frequently?
A: Different people ask different questions. Our business analysts get a lot of questions about the capabilities and features of our products, while our product managers are often asked when features will be available and ready to present to the education community. Our Education Services team also gets a lot of requests for webinars and online content.
Q: What has been the biggest accomplishment from the Product Management team since your tenure with the Clearinghouse?
A: Becoming a team that is trusted by the rest of the organization. Our Transcript Services redesign, now underway, is a great result of that collaboration!
Q: What’s your favorite aspect of working at the Clearinghouse?
A: What’s there not to like? The mission orientation is fantastic. I could never have imagined how dedicated to a mission that a team could be until I started here. Therefore, my favorite aspect is that we have a motivated team that can achieve great objectives to benefit students and the education community.
Q: What do you expect the Product Management team to provide the education community in the coming year?
A: We expect to make great strides in each product line, including:
- Enrollment Reporting: Delivering continued reporting efficiencies for the community, such as our recent five-point match enhancement
- Transcript Services: More improvements to the user experience for school staff and students
- EnrollmentVerify/DegreeVerify: A la carte academic data verification
- StudentTracker: More and different detail reports to help provide a greater understanding of student pathways and outcomes
- Clearinghouse Academy: New learning presentation tools
Q: Outside of the Clearinghouse, what do you like to do for fun?
A: That is a tough question. I am very action-oriented and like to stay busy, but I also have three daughters and a wife, who are my priority at all times. Real fun for me outside of family is:
- Field hockey: I am very active in the community through coaching and playing
- Outdoors: I love to jump in my kayak and go down rivers, hike with my dogs, or jump on my motorcycle and just ride
- Around the house: I like to cook and fix stuff
“I never could have imagined how dedicated to a mission that a team could be until I started here.”
Rob Groot
Director of Product Management, Education Services
