Ellucian Announces 2026 Experience Idol Winners Celebrating Innovation and Excellence in Higher Education

Key Highlights:

• Six winners — three higher education institutions and three partners — recognized for innovative use of the Ellucian Platform capabilities to solve real campus challenges.
• Institutional winners receive a Student Experience Scholarship, professional services support and design consultation to accelerate continued innovation.
• Submissions highlighted creative use of capabilities including central workspace, business process automation, low-code integrations, and AI-driven experiences.

RESTON, Va., April 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Ellucian, the leading higher education technology solutions provider, announced the 2026 Experience Idol winners on the mainstage at Ellucian Live, the industry's premier global technology conference. Experience Idol is an annual program celebrating institutions and partner organizations using the Ellucian Platform and SaaS-native capabilities to deliver innovative, data-driven experiences that improve outcomes for students, faculty, and staff across the higher education lifecycle.

Advancing Innovation Across the Student Experience

"As we look across this year's Experience Idol submissions, what stands out is not just creativity. It is how institutions and partners are applying Ellucian technology in practical, meaningful ways to improve the day-to-day experience across campus," said Mike Wulff, Chief Product and Technology Officer, Ellucian. "These innovations show what becomes possible when data, automation, and intuitive experiences come together in ways that are built for how higher education actually works. From bringing clarity to complex workflows and enabling earlier, more targeted student support, to reducing friction for faculty and staff through more unified experiences, this year's winners are setting a new standard for efficiency, impact, and better outcomes across higher education."

Recognizing Innovation in Action

The Experience Idol program invites institutions and partners to design and deliver impactful solutions using capabilities within the Ellucian Platform, including central workspace, reporting & analytics, workflow automation, low-code integrations, and AI-powered experiences. Finalists are selected based on creativity, measurable impact, and effective use of platform capabilities to improve outcomes for students, faculty, and staff.

The 2026 Experience Idol higher education institution winners include:

Best Use of AI: recognizing innovative applications of AI-powered capabilities to deliver meaningful outcomes.

Anne Arundel Community College

Anne Arundel Community College used Ellucian's business process automation and the AI Writing Assistant to improve its faculty contract workflow. The AI supports staff by generating precise, role-specific instructions and consistent email communications, reducing ambiguity and accelerating approvals. By improving clarity at each step, the institution minimizes errors, reduces delays, and enhances transparency across departments. This approach modernizes a high-volume, high-risk process while maintaining human oversight, resulting in a more efficient and trustworthy experience for faculty and administrators alike.

Best Use Case: highlighting impactful solutions that address key institutional challenges.

University of the Fraser Valley

The University of the Fraser Valley implemented a centralized emergency communication system within Ellucian's central workspace to deliver fast, consistent messaging across multiple channels. Replacing a fragmented approach that required updates in several systems, the new solution enables staff to create a single message and distribute it simultaneously via email, SMS, workspace notifications, and more. A unified dashboard provides full visibility into active and past alerts, improving response time and coordination during critical events. This approach enhances trust, reduces confusion, and ensures students and staff receive timely, reliable information when it matters most.

Best Overall Dashboard: showcasing intuitive, persona-driven experiences within the central workspace.

Jacksonville University

Jacksonville University transformed its campus portal by replacing a fragmented SharePoint experience with a unified, mobile-friendly dashboard built within Ellucian's central workspace. By introducing a consistent design system across 24 cards, the university created a cohesive, branded interface that makes it easy for students, faculty, and staff to find critical resources. Features like centralized financial aid information, one-tap campus security access, and a powerful search function for important forms significantly reduced help desk calls. The result is a streamlined, intuitive experience that improves usability and reinforces a stronger institutional identity.

Institutional winners received a Student Experience Scholarship, an Ellucian professional services package to support continued innovation, and a design session with Ellucian's User Experience team.

The 2026 Experience Idol partner winners include:

Best in Extensibility: honoring solutions that demonstrate seamless integration through APIs, data pipelines, and platform interoperability.

ESM Solutions

ESM Solutions delivers a personalized procurement experience through purchase cards in Ellucian's central workspace that brings purchasing, approvals, and budget insights together in a single interface. By integrating seamlessly with Ellucian systems, the solution provides real-time visibility into spending and ensures compliance through built-in validations and workflows. Users can manage transactions, track progress, and make informed decisions from one dashboard, reducing complexity and improving efficiency across finance and procurement teams.

Best Student Impact: celebrating solutions that deliver measurable improvements to the student experience.

Entrinsik

Entrinsik's AI-powered card created for Ellucian's central workspace delivers a personalized, conversational interface that enables students to access real-time information and take action directly from their dashboard. By leveraging low-code integrations and multiple system integrations, the assistant can surface holds, financial data, and academic information while allowing secure updates with user approval. This solution meets students where they are, providing immediate, context-aware support that improves engagement, reduces friction, and helps remove barriers to student success.

Student Wellness Challenge: recognizing innovative, data-informed approaches to addressing student wellness.

Ferrilli

Ferrilli's Stress and Wellness card provides students with immediate access to mental health resources and proactive support directly within Ellucian's central workspace. Features include guided stress-relief exercises, centralized resource hubs, and a "Stressed About Class" workflow that connects students with instructors and escalates concerns if needed. Built using Ellucian's low-code integrations and business process automation, the solution ensures timely intervention and creates a structured support system that helps students feel seen, supported, and connected.

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

WHAT IS ELLUCIAN
Ellucian powers innovation for higher education, partnering with approximately 3,000 customers across 50 countries, serving more than 21 million students. Ellucian's AI-powered platform, trained on the richest dataset available in higher education, drives efficiency, personalized experiences, and strengthened engagement for all students, faculty and staff. 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, enrolment, 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