Ellucian Announces 2024 Experience Idol Winners

Higher education institutions demonstrate innovation using SaaS technology to boost the student experience

SAN ANTONIO and RESTON, Va., April 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ellucian, the leading higher education technology solutions provider, today announced the 2024 winners of Experience Idol. This new competition showcases best-in-class customer innovations using Ellucian Experience, a user-friendly, centralized dashboard that simplifies how students and staff engage with, access, and act on relevant information from their institutions.

"Our inaugural Experience Idol winners demonstrate the power of Ellucian Experience's vast array of resources to elevate the higher education experience and showcase the platform's user-friendly interface enabled through SaaS," said Mike Wulff, Chief Product and Technology Officer, Ellucian. "Customer innovations within Experience are tailored for the unique needs of an institution and its students. Our community is learning together ? sharing best-in-class examples of what's possible and inspiring others to explore creative new ways to improve outcomes for learners."

The Experience Idol competition invited higher education institutions to customize Ellucian's Experience dashboard for today's students and staff. Judging focused on three categories: innovation, student success, and overall dashboard. Finalist institutions were voted on by peer institution leaders and presented on the mainstage at Ellucian Live 2024, higher education's premier technology conference.

Winners will receive a $5,000 Student Experience Scholarship, an Ellucian Flex Plus Professional Services Package to support further innovation within Experience, and a four-hour session with an Experience Software Development Kit (SDK) Engineer. The 2024 Experience Idol winners and finalists include:

Best Overall Dashboard

Winner: Northeast Mississippi Community College (NEMCC): NEMCC created a dashboard in Experience that intentionally blends the branding of the institution using cards featuring the college mascot, a tiger. By querying ERP roles records to surface cards that are targeted to certain students, NEMCC also ensured that the information provided to students is relevant only to them. This guarantees that students are not overstimulated with irrelevant information, and can act on their most urgent tasks such as paying bills, registering for courses, and ensuring they remain eligible for financial aid.

Finalist: Albany State University: Albany State's MyASU Portal focuses on delivering the most critical information tailored to each student at the university while maintaining a consistent visual brand that gives it a cohesive look. Students are able to easily identify information that they may need to act on quickly, such as their financial aid packages, account balances and GPA.

Most Innovative UI/UX Design

Winner: Westfield State University - Network Events: A new feature allows students to scroll through a slideshow of upcoming events like sporting events, career fairs, and student group meet-ups so students can identify events they may want to attend. Built using the Experience software development kit (SDK), students can see the name, date, time, and location for every event in addition to a relevant picture. Students are able to click on events they are interested in and add them to their calendar.

Finalist: Schoolcraft College - PPL Employee Registration: This innovation empowers employees to register themselves and their dependents in continuing education classes. The user is able to select from their dependents and search for classes that they can automatically enroll in. Employees can also update information about the class attendee and provide an e-signature. Schoolcraft also introduced an 'impersonation' option where support staff can view the page from the perspective of a different employee. This enables support staff to understand why users may be having difficulties registering for a course without making changes on behalf of the employee or their dependents.

Greatest Impact on Student Success

Winner: University of Bridgeport - Course Add/Drop Form Status: University of Bridgeport students have the ability to add and drop classes throughout the semester and review the status of their requests without leaving the Experience Platform. Students can see the status of their existing add/drop requests that are managed in a third-party tool and can create new/add drop requests which ensures students get the right information and act on their highest priority items from a single interface.

Finalist: Albany State University - Financial Aid SAP Status: The Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Status innovation provides up-to-date information to a student about whether or not they're meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress to ensure they remain eligible for financial aid.

To learn more about Ellucian Experience, visit: https://www.ellucian.com/solutions/ellucian-experience 

ABOUT ELLUCIAN
Ellucian powers innovation for higher education, partnering with more than 2,900 customers across 50 countries, serving 22 million students. Fueled by decades of experience with a singular focus on the unique needs of learning institutions, the Ellucian platform features best-in-class SaaS capabilities and delivers insights needed now and into the future. These solutions and services span the entire student lifecycle, including data-rich tools for student recruitment, enrollment, and retention to workforce analytics, fundraising, and alumni engagement. Ellucian's innovative solutions, vast ecosystem of partners and user community of more than 45,000 provides best practices leading to greater institutional success and achieving better student outcomes.

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SOURCE Ellucian