Primary speaker:
Christine Concannon, Assistant Registrar, Student Financial Systems. University Registrar's Office
Additional speakers:
Joyce Dong, Senior Information Analyst, University Registrar's Office
Dave Xu, Java Developer, University Registrar's Office
Description:
Student account administration is often complex, highly manual and deeply process-driven. This is a story of the Student Accounts team applying a systems and technology lens to modernize how our portfolio operates, with a focus on building capacity, reducing repetitive work and using existing enterprise tools more strategically.
This session shares how we are incrementally evolving our student account ecosystem across four areas:
- Custom-built student-facing tools including Tuition Explorer, an online tuition schedule lookup tool designed to increase transparency, reduce complexity and provide scalable self-service access to financial information.
- Thoughtful vendor platform use, leveraging Slate to better align communication workflows and integrate financial processes into broader institutional systems.
- Microsoft 365 for operational efficiency and insight, using Power BI for clearer reporting, Power Apps and Power Automate to streamline internal workflows and significantly reduce manual entry and SharePoint to centralize documentation and improve consistency.
- Practical AI experimentation, including the development of a Student Accounts GPT to support internal policy interpretation, drafting and fees assessment knowledge retrieval.
This is not a story of large-scale system replacement, but of applied, pragmatic innovation using tools already available within the institution to create measurable efficiency gains and lay foundations for more proactive work.
Attendees will gain practical implementation insights, governance considerations and adaptable ideas for modernizing process-heavy portfolios in resource-constrained environments.
