2025 EDUCAUSE Top 10
#2: Administrative Simplification

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A new generation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems promises to help institutions address a long-standing challenge: administrative bloat. But ERP projects and more targeted administrative system modernizations involve far more than technologies. They enable technology and business leaders to more effectively apply process improvement frameworks, enterprise architecture, project portfolio management, analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI) to the full range of administrative functions and tasks required of staff, faculty, and students.

The Promise

Improved affordability of and confidence in higher education. When people perceive processes as old and outdated, it doesn't reflect particularly well on an institution. Higher education already has a reputation for being stodgy and inefficient, a reputation our systems and processes can either reinforce or counter. Administrative simplification can reduce both work and costs, which could lead directly to lower educational costs. It can also signal to the public that the institution has its act together, which could blunt frustrations with higher education.

Improved institutional operations. Business operations and administrative tasks undergird institutional operations. The mission work of the institution relies on these functions, from paying faculty to registering students to managing grants. Administrative operations that work well, work effectively, and work quickly enable the institution to work well, effectively, and quickly.

Increased efficiency. Simplifying and streamlining processes reduce work. These actions eliminate some tasks entirely, help people do other tasks much more quickly, and reduce time-consuming errors.

Better use of tools. The zeitgeist of higher education during the last generation of ERP projects led to many squandered opportunities, as institutional stakeholders demanded the tools adapt to institutional processes. Lessons were learned on all sides, and we now have more receptive institutional customers and more effective tools. Modern systems have improved capabilities and functions that more directly benefit users throughout the institution. As users and leaders find administrative tools to be more useful, they also may see additional and even innovative ways the tools can be used beyond core administrative tasks.

Stronger connections to people and the mission. Years ago, higher education work was very relational and people focused. Clunky systems and complex manual processes have supplanted much of that. If done carefully, administrative modernization can restore and deepen human-focused work. It can remove repetitive tasks and give people time to collaborate on meaningful problems and mission-related work. Additionally, technology-supported personalization can give staff and faculty more information about the students they support and teach, enabling more opportunities to interact with students and increasing students' belonging and staff and faculty's work satisfaction.

The Key to Progress

Get the process right. The time it takes to review and redesign processes can't be underestimated. It also takes time to understand the capabilities of a new system and its potential impact on processes. Helping the community understand and focus deeply on the process work, even though it takes time, will lead to much more effective outcomes. Stakeholder disagreements during this work are inevitable. They can delay and derail the results. So, this work needs an empowered leader who can negotiate and reinforce sensible decisions reasonably quickly.

QuickTakes

If you've done it before, you can do it again. The institutions that managed to hold on to some of the effective structures and lessons learned from previous major technology initiatives will have an advantage.

Executive leadership needs to be actively committed and aligned. These projects involve more people, time, and money than most other initiatives, so institutional leadership should be enthusiastic, present, well-briefed, and in agreement. Leaders need to understand the key drivers of value and success and be committed to addressing obstacles to those drivers. Leaders can unstick a project that encounters political, financial, or strategic obstacles. They can stay the course when community members resist and agree to change course when new circumstances come to light.

Technology still isn't a panacea. Process change is more important than technology change, and culture change is more important than process change. People are integral to both process and culture. Before they consider investing in a new solution, institutional leaders need to commit to changing culture and process and to giving the workforce the time and resources to adapt.

Give stakeholders a stake. The people who use and benefit from administrative processes and systems need to have influence over the outcomes. Institutional stakeholders will have their own ideas of what should and shouldn't change, how and when they need (or don't need) to be involved, the timeline, the challenges and obstacles, and the benefits. It's important to specify these details, involve stakeholders in designing the project, and establish expectations realistically and early. Otherwise, what could have been a trusted collaboration will instead be divisive and problematic.

We can't do it alone. Initiative leaders need to find consultants and solution providers who understand higher education and have a track record of success with similar kinds of institutions. They can help set expectations with the community and help avoid missteps that have tripped others up in the past.

Processes and solutions have a shorter shelf life than before. Change is accelerating. Students' needs are evolving. Institutional strategies and offerings are in flux. Technologies and AI are advancing quickly and increasingly helping institutions differentiate themselves. All this is shortening the life cycle of enterprise technology and process overhauls. But decades between major ERP investments has become the norm, and business leaders may be reluctant to make more frequent reinvestments.

Ask Yourself

How can we use administrative simplification to reconnect our staff and faculty with the core educational mission?

The Bottom Line

Administrative simplification is not just an operational upgrade—it's a strategic opportunity to empower institutions to fulfill their educational missions more effectively, adapt to changing landscapes, and ultimately provide a superior experience for students, staff, and faculty alike.

Data Point

Following are the primary reasons for replacing ERP software:

• Not meeting functional needs
• Too difficult to support/maintain
• Desire to move to cloud infrastructure
• Needed better alignment with strategic mission
• Too many shadow systems and data silos
• Not keeping up with growth and changes
• Staff dissatisfaction
• Limitations in integration and scalability^Footnote1

From Strategy to Practice

What You're Saying

"We are all working hard, but we need to work smarter and more efficiently. Things are becoming far more complex and without automation and streamlining, we will never make the progress we need."

"Lots of processes are unnecessarily complicated and may have been designed with good intent decades ago. We can do better today in most cases."

"If IT is not helping the business achieve its missions through efficiencies and effectiveness, then we simply are not doing our jobs."

"Massive retirements and departures have forced our hand to attempt simplification and removing of work duplication."

"As CIO, a challenge that I have is showing my fellow vice presidents that a modern ERP will bring efficiencies and help our staff become more productive. It hasn't been a priority for them because our current platform is stable, and everyone has so many priorities that it is difficult to focus on something that's 'not broken.'"

"AI brings streamlining processes and workflows back to the forefront."

Solution Spotlights

"We have made significant progress streamlining applications in the last two years. We moved from a shop that leveraged both Google and M365 to a full M365 shop, sunsetting Google and other technologies and standardizing on Microsoft, which saved money and provided better services and security. This has been a big win for us."

Patty Patria, Babson College

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"DePauw University's strategic plan sets a vision for our institution that emphasizes operational excellence and fiscal stewardship. We are implementing a new ERP to replace several legacy systems, including our 20-plus-year-old SIS. Our ERP project is guided across three key areas: Enhance our students' experience through modern portals and analytics; improve efficiency via digital innovation, allowing staff to concentrate on high-value activities; and establish reliable data platforms for informed decision-making in business and academic planning. Implementing an integrated technology approach that supports best practices in higher education will enable us to focus on mission-critical work, spend less time on manual processes, and will empower DePauw to make data-informed decisions."

Carol Smith, DePauw University

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"We're implementing a new ERP including HR, finance, and student solutions, and we're taking advantage of the move to review and modernize our business processes across the board. We're also removing large numbers of bolt-ons, add-ons, and home-grown tools resulting in more efficient operations and more ability to focus on being multipliers instead of maintainers."

David Seidl, Miami University

What You're Working On

Comments provided by Top 10 survey respondents who rated this issue as important

AI for productivity

• Looking at the hype of AI and understanding where it can help drive augmented capability and efficiency.
• Use of AI replacing staff data entry functions and replacing human email and phone responses.
• Over the summer, we will train staff to use the AI tools that we have licensed for their increased effectiveness/productivity.

Automation

• We removed over 150 manual/paper forms and replaced them with automation and simplified processes.
• Automating everyday processes.
• We have invested in tools to move from paper-based or forms-based workflows to true workflow.
• Buying new SaaS to help automate and make day-to-day operations more effective. Writing custom automations for time-consuming manual tasks.
• Focus on leveraging technology to make people's work more efficient and sustainable.

Digitization (reducing physical presence / paper)

• This has been a continuous and ongoing effort for us. We continue to find ways to digitize processes and store data that helps the university simplify the work and minimize our footprint.
• Leverage platforms that automate manual / paper-intensive processes and provide workflow.

Enterprise architecture

• Better mapping of information systems.
• Rapid development technology within a robust enterprise architecture framework.

ERP

• Implementation of new and improved ERP system; automation of manual processes.
• Migration to S4/HANA and SLcM.
• At my institution, the forthcoming implementation of a new SaaS ERP (for finance and HR) is going to have that impact on the processes. While this won't totally address the challenges beyond those areas, as fundamental pieces—finance and human resources—it can be the bellwether change that results in broader impact.
• Transformation of our administrative systems, committing to an implementation that does not lift and shift but reimagines the future.
• The university is also streamlining and modernizing its processes, data, and technologies by implementing a new ERP solution and other enterprise, cloud-based solutions. These initiatives will enhance the efficiency, effectiveness, and security of the university's operations, as well as improve the user experience for students, faculty, staff, and alumni. By adopting best practices and industry standards, the university is transforming its digital infrastructure and preparing for the future of higher education.
• Implementing a new ERP, which includes a new SIS and systems to support a new advising model.
• Achieving simplification through Workday and Salesforce implementations. Additional efficiencies will be gained through the implementations of Workday Student and data modernization.
• We just went live with new SaaS ERP; we're working on a backlog to transform legacy processes to modern ones in the new ERP.
• Implementing new software systems for ERP-LMS integration, online forms, and phone-based ID cards.
• Migrating to SaaS ERP.
• ERP conversion.
• Replacing our legacy ERP solutions with Workday, and reworking the business processes as part of that effort.
• After more than thirty years with Banner, we are in the middle of a Workday implementation. This gives us the opportunity to rethink how many processes get done at our institution.
• Updating campus ERP to Banner 9 and Ellucian Experience platform.
• Migrating to Workday for HR and Finance beginning July 2025.
• ERP move to the cloud and all the reengineering accompanying such a move.
• Moving to Workday.
• Over the next three years, the university will be moving from its current "on-prem" ERP system to a SaaS solution; part of that migration will be modernizing processes across the institution.
• Business process redesigns due to Workday.

Identity access management (IAM)

• Moved IAM infrastructure completely to SaaS, allowing IAM to do more with less and have a lot more flexibility with our tooling to accommodate complex access policies. Added more security, while improving the user experience.

Institutional priority

• Presidential push for automation, innovation, and process improvement.
• Campus-wide operational excellence initiative in several administrative areas.

Intranet

• Building an intranet; developing dashboards and other technologies for using data.

Modernized technology

• We have plans for modernizing our systems with a cloud-first approach. The cloud applications and infrastructures allow for continuous updates and modern technologies and processes.
• We are first optimizing our basic infrastructure before we introduce automation, AI, and overall modernization.
• Researching and piloting low-code platforms, PowerAutomate to address lightweight needs on campus.
• Developing new in-house applications using Azure DevOps to enhance workflows and data collection from applications.
• We are coming out of a non-ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) compliant legacy system and into four new worlds later.
• Moving away from legacy technology and IT solutions.
• With the decrease in funding and resources, the university operations are facing greater challenges. Most of the processes are decades old and require significant changes; adapting to new and emerging technologies and leveraging data and automation of the current processes helps increase efficiency and helps with operations.
• Adding storage, collaboration, and workflow tools to remove the inefficiencies of business processes.
• Implementing the campus-wide CRM strategy.
• Modernizing our data Platform. Integrating our data warehouse and ERP team.

Process improvement

• By introducing business systems and basic standards, we were able to organize several chaotic processes across departments. Now the work is collaborative and moves quickly and efficiently and can be reported on easily.
• We are undertaking major process reviews for enrollment management and human resources. These reviews have the potential to significantly improve workflows, responsiveness, and customer and employee satisfaction. We are adopting a strategic mindset, attempting to leverage existing tools and systems but amplify the processes using AI.
• Business process reviews before any technology is deployed.
• Adopting RPA process reengineering, and leveraging data to provide insight and improve decision-making.
• We're launching a pilot program for process improvement. We need to do much more with less overhead.
• Process improvement initiatives.
• Reviewing and documenting processes, streamlining and improving where possible.
• Simplifying business processes with Banner SaaS, simplifying tools for the university.
• IT services will enable continuous process improvements through technology solutions.
• We are reviewing manual business processes and prioritizing them for automation.

Reduce physical presence (paper and people)

• Since the end of the pandemic, we have engaged in a push to advance digital transformation further than ever before. A new urgency has evolved to eliminate paper and in-person processes to fully make all services available digitally or remotely. This creates a whole new set of challenges for authentication of the person at the other end of the interaction and the availability of live remote support.

Reduce redundancy

• Working to reduce redundant systems with duplicate functionality.
• Reduce redundancies and ETL (extract, transform, load) to a minimum to ensure data legacy and quality.

Reorganization

• We have been engaged for the past eighteen months in an ongoing analysis to streamline operations and build operational bridges between the schools and the central university operations.
• Centralizing IT.
• We are working to centralize authorization for IT purchasing to help decrease duplicative services and/or hardware.
• Dedicated unit for operational excellence.
• We have an office of operational excellence that reviews processes and creates process task forces examining key processes to improve their flow throughout the university.

Self-service

• Moving toward more automation and self-service through institutionally developed applications connecting various enterprise systems.
• Self-service, updated SIS and most other systems.

Service management system

• We're working toward an enterprise service management system to help streamline and automate processes, improve communication, and increase efficiencies across the institution. These efforts will help cross silos and ensure that multi-department projects have a coordinated response, expectations regarding roles and responsibilities, and clear documentation.

Shared services

• Introducing shared common services beyond campuses.

Simplification

• Simplification is the number-one callout by all populations regarding how to improve the current environment. Optimizing process, data, and technology in service to that need will greatly improve the effectiveness of these capabilities and will increase retention with all populations.

Standardization

• The institution has significantly reduced the number of employees, colleges, departments, and offices in the face of large-scale enrollment decline and severe funding challenges. However, this is increasingly being coupled with a commitment to cross-train employees, focusing on fewer IT tools for those employees and organizational alignment such that each area is performing more tasks using the same business processes with more predictable skillsets across units.
• Using one vendor for maximizing services and buyer strength with one vendor. Reviewing all services and moving to more efficient and cheaper solutions.
• Standardization of hardware and software on campus.
• Standardizing business processes surrounding identity, email, and licensing.
• Streamlining endpoint management, specifically EDR (endpoint detection and response), and consistency in software updates are priorities.

Streamlining access

• Reducing the number of employees who have administrative access. Changing processes so that fewer administrators will have access to secure data servers.

Training

• Continuous improvement training and mindset across the institution. Central business process repository of all capabilities/processes.

Note

1. Sean Burns and Mark McCormack, More than "Going Live": Achieving Institutional Transformation through ERP Implementation, research report, (EDUCAUSE, June 2023). Jump back to footnote 1 in the text.↩

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Wesley Johnson is Executive Director for Campus IT Experience at University of California, Berkeley.

Michele Norin is Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Rutgers University.

Lisa Trubitt is Assistant Chief Information Officer for Strategic Communications at University at Albany, SUNY.

Luke VanWingerden is Chief Information Officer at Tri-County Technical College.