University of La Verne

The annual Ellucian Impact Award recognizes higher education institutions that use technology to solve challenges, operate more efficiently, and create better student experiences. The University of La Verne, located in Southern California, just east of Los Angeles, is a 2024 Impact Award winner, which they earned for their cutting-edge use of artificial intelligence (AI) in their software platforms.

The Challenge: Low-Maintenance Efficiency at High Speeds

In the past, University of La Verne (ULV) tried to take a proactive stance to any disruptions or emergencies within their institution, and even though they made commendable strides doing so, they found that it was neither as thorough nor efficient as they knew it could be.

"As we were getting ready for the 2024-25 FAFSA changes, our ISIR import and export needed to be improved," Isaak Serrano, Information Systems Specialist at ULV, said. "There were some duplication errors that made it really difficult to open up the server."

Another pain point at ULV was the data retrieval process. At one point, they had manually processed data such as financial aid forms. ULV recognized an opportunity to improve data retrieval speeds and shorten the amount of time in which they could deliver student financial aid packages. The sheer volume of data the school had on-hand led to high financial costs linked to data storage. Even their data download speeds suffered because of it.

Finally, since higher education is always changing, the university knew that it would need its AI and its tech solutions to be able to adapt to the future. This philosophy of being ready for what’s to come mirrors ULV's hopes of optimizing their proactive stance on emergency preparedness.

To solve these issues, ULV had to find a way to streamline their processes and simplify their workflow without it costing them an arm and a leg or taking up too many of their resources. They also needed to produce an integrated synergy between their tech solutions and the AI they would teach to handle certain tasks for them.

Put together, it sounds like an almost impossible request, but they knew their staff would be up to the task. They just had to invest the resources and use the proper tools and best practices to make it happen.

The Solutions: Artificial Intelligence and Automation

The University of La Verne's success is owed to their advancements in AI, which they have developed and shaped to meet their individual needs.

The university uses Ellucian Banner and CampusLogic to integrate with their AI, and this integration enhances both the implementation and effectiveness of their AI-driven initiative. The combination of a tailor-made AI with Banner and CampusLogic has put the school far ahead of many other higher education institutions in terms of technological innovations.

"One of the goals for our financial aid department is to make sure that we are as technically efficient as possible," Serrano said. "This year, there are a lot of changes and we need to make sure that we're on top of our game to make sure that our university is ahead."

"And using Banner is one of the ways that we do that."

One of their chief accomplishments has been in dynamic overwriting driven by AI algorithms. ULV's approach to file management enables its AI generated Script to intelligently adapt to daily download patterns, which significantly increases their data retrieval speeds while enhancing user experiences. This increase in data retrieval benefits students, faculty and staff who rely on timely access to any number of files. This keeps their system agile and responsive, and the institution says it wouldn’t be possible without Banner.

ULV has also taken an approach of prioritizing scalability and adaptability, teaching its AI to adapt to changes in the 2024-25 financial aid year. For example, their system can seamlessly and easily adapt to accommodate new file types that are presented to it. By effortlessly handling diverse file formats, the system contributes to a smoother experience. It can also take data downloads from Federal Financial Aid and integrate them into their processing workflow, going beyond automation and entering the domain of proper learning.

The institution also put the practices of intelligent adaptability in AI to use in their proactive emergency preparedness. They did this by using AI algorithms focused on the systematic download and retention of relevant files in anticipation of potential challenges. Now powered by AI-driven predictive analytics, their response mechanism is secure, efficient, and truly proactive.

Together with Banner and CampusLogic, ULV's powerful AI optimizations operate within the Office of Information Technology (OIT) and Financial Aid (FINAID). They have formed a cohesive solution to their problems, addressing challenges of data retrieval and processing.

The Results: Working Smarter, Not Harder

ULV's extensive deployment of AI has optimized the speed and efficiency of its Banner utilization, enhanced communication with students, and give its financial aid department a considerable tune-up. These successes have been quantifiable and tell the data-driven story of a school on the cutting edge of utilizing AI in the higher education sector.

Since implementing its AI-driven dynamic overwriting, ULV has seen a 50% increase in its download speed. The university tested this by tasking the system with retrieving 26 CRxx files across all file classes, which it did in just 15 seconds. That translates directly to an enhanced operational efficiency, as it ensures the fastest possible access to critical files for anyone at ULV.

This dynamic overwriting also manifested in space optimization. By avoiding the accumulation of non-vital files in Banner, the school saw a "substantial" reduction in its storage requirements, which translates into cost savings and a better allocation of resources.

"Using AI, I was able to write scripts that were downloading the student files correctly and were able to improve the download speed of our automations by 50%," Serrano said. "Using CampusLogic and Ellucian, we can quickly export that packing data and send it very quickly—way faster than we ever have."

Once ULV had automated some of its processes with AI, they reported a more streamlined workflow, which has reduced the likelihood of errors during file uploads to Banner. This minimizes potential disruptions and optimizes operational efficiency at the institution.

We'd all love to have one fewer thing to worry about. By integrating AI with Ellucian solutions into their operations, University of La Verne has several.