Back-end operations are undergoing a period of upheaval as campus business units adopt new technology to enhance staff productivity. Uneven implementation can isolate staff and cause burnout, blunting the promise of new tools, according to an analysis of four recent reports covered by University Business.
The reports examined staff sentiment and their work environments across various offices, including financial aid, cybersecurity, IT, enrollment management and teaching and learning.
While the scope of each report differed, the surveys painted a picture of staff who are aware of (and often willing to adopt) new technologies, but are frequently hampered by insufficient institutional support.
Among the most common staff demands was professional development in artificial intelligence. Chief online learning officers want AI to enhance learning and enable specialized teaching approaches, while enrollment teams view it as a powerful tool to refine student outreach and connect with better leads.
The most common reasons why staff felt unsupported were inadequate training, budgetary or staffing restrictions, and a lack of strategic alignment from leadership.
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Each report unveiled that staff felt like their institution was lagging in adoption compared to the competition, and most respondents reported their school lacked a campus-wide AI strategy. Uneven technology implementation led some staff to feel increased strain.
“In short, technology leaders are overwhelmed,” read one report from EDUCAUSE. “Overwhelmed by the scale and scope of work that they must accomplish with limited staff and resources. Overwhelmed not just by the technologies they must implement and manage for their institution but also by the technologies and tools that support their own work.
“And overwhelmed by an ever-evolving technological landscape that demands both flexibility and vigilance.”
Who’s most impacted
Leaders hoping to avoid tech burnout should involve staff in decision-making, says Kelly Sugrue, client success director at Liaison and former admissions lead at Fordham University and Northwestern University.
“The last thing that a leader wants to do is make a decision in a silo without recognizing that those who are going to be using the technology are going to be the ones most impacted by it.”
Adopting new customer relationship management tools, or CRMs, can often be difficult for admissions and enrollment teams. The challenge tems from a disconnect between leaders’ expectations and staff members’ comfort with new tools, Sugrue says.
Similarly, an Education Dynamics report revealed “a substantial disconnect” between how much enrollment executives think AI is being used and how thoroughly employees are using it.
“I think I saw firsthand how my teams could get overwhelmed with new technology,” Sugrue says. “There can sometimes be this knee-jerk reaction from some enrollment leaders to expect results in a year, but it doesn’t work like that. You have to give staff the expertise to learn a technology, and it takes time to run the technology more efficiently.”
