DIGITAL STRATEGY & CONSULTING
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Digital friction has real consequences. When systems are fragmented, enrollment slows, course completions dip, and donor engagement weakens. These are not isolated issues—they’re signals that the infrastructure meant to support student and institutional success is no longer keeping pace.
Some institutions have started to move decisively.
What’s emerging is a new operating model. One where personalization, flexibility, and system-wide coordination shape the entire lifecycle of engagement—from first inquiry to post-graduate connection.
Transformation starts with a clear directive: align your digital infrastructure to serve real people, real needs, and real outcomes. Not in pockets. Everywhere.
At many institutions, the website isn’t a single experience—it’s dozens. Admissions, academic programs, advancement, and student services often operate their own microsites, each with different designs, navigation, and priorities. What started as convenience has turned into confusion.
When prospective students land on five different subdomains before submitting an application, or alumni get lost trying to make a gift, the message is clear: this institution isn’t organized around the user.
Improving the experience starts with the foundation. A modern content management system—whether traditional, headless, or composable—creates the flexibility to manage decentralized content without creating chaos. Modular content models and shared design systems make it easier to deliver a unified experience without stripping departments of autonomy.
But technology alone won’t solve the sprawl. Institutions that are making real progress have redefined how digital gets governed. They’re establishing digital councils that bring together IT, academic leadership, marketing, and advancement. Strategy becomes a shared responsibility, and digital execution stops falling through the cracks.
Most higher ed websites are built around organizational charts, not user goals. But prospective students don’t care which office manages financial aid. Alumni aren’t thinking about which department runs advancement. And faculty shouldn’t need three logins to post a syllabus.
A modern digital experience starts by mapping to the people who actually use it. That means understanding and designing for five core audiences:
When journeys are mapped to these users—rather than internal structures—the experience becomes more intuitive, and the outcomes improve. At institutions implementing these models, we’ve seen measurable lifts in engagement, inquiry completions, and return visits.
Integrating features like micro-credential showcases and AI-driven content recommendations into these core journeys doesn’t just modernize the experience, it keeps it relevant. It helps users move from interest to action, without losing momentum or context.
Strong governance isn’t about control for control’s sake. It’s about making it easier to move fast without compromising brand, accessibility, or compliance.
Edison State Community College’s transformation illustrates what that looks like in practice. By migrating from a self-hosted, developer-dependent system to Acquia Site Studio with a modular, drag-and-drop content model, the college dramatically increased marketing team autonomy. Content updates that once required developer intervention are now handled directly by staff, accelerating time-to-publish and freeing technical teams to focus on infrastructure and innovation.
The change paid off. Edison State saw:
This is the operational side of transformation: fewer support tickets, faster time-to-publish, stronger governance across departments, and a sharper, more consistent digital presence that reflects the institution's brand across every page.
When governance is embedded in the system—through modular content, controlled design elements, and clear publishing roles—institutions stop treating digital upkeep as a cost center and start treating it as a strategic lever.
Institutions aren’t short on data. What’s missing is a way to connect it and act on it in real time.
When systems like the Content Management System (CMS), Constituent Relationship Management platform (CRM), Learning Management System (LMS), and advancement tools operate in isolation, valuable behavioral signals often go unused. A student who checks degree requirements but never finishes an application. A faculty member reviewing hybrid teaching resources. An alum browsing event pages. These moments carry intent, but without coordination, they’re lost.
Institutions moving ahead in digital transformation are connecting these systems to create a coordinated experience. AI doesn’t replace human insight. It extends it. With context-aware triggers, schools can send reminders, course alerts, or invitations based on real-time behavior. The goal is relevance, not volume.
This kind of orchestration drives results. Colleges using AI and integrated data strategies are seeing:
Reaching this level of performance doesn’t require ripping out your tech stack. It takes an integration strategy, flexible content, and a willingness to use data for action (not just reporting). When infrastructure reflects behavior, institutions stop guessing what people want and start responding to what they actually do.
The most successful digital transformation efforts aren’t defined by a single launch. They’re driven by sustained visibility into what’s working, what’s not, and what needs to evolve next.
Executive teams need more than pageview reports. They need metrics that tie digital activity to institutional outcomes—like enrollment yield, alumni engagement, faculty efficiency, and campaign velocity. That starts with better instrumentation.
Institutions leading in this space are building:
These aren’t vanity metrics. They’re operational insights that shape decisions around investment, staffing, and strategy. When everyone—from the CIO to the provost to the head of advancement—can see the same data and align around it, transformation becomes continuous instead of reactive.
Digital transformation isn’t a campaign or a website redesign. It’s a shift in how your institution operates, connects, and evolves over time. Progress doesn’t come from buying new tools. It comes from aligning teams, systems, and outcomes around a shared strategy.
Here’s how institutions making real progress are approaching the work:
The institutions gaining ground are the ones treating digital not as a project to complete, but as a capability to grow. Their ecosystems aren’t just connected, they’re built to deliver outcomes.
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