Recent Blogs

Doctoral Research Phase 2: Focused Study on Higher Ed Professionals

By Renato Cayuela posted 5 days ago
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A massive thank you to everyone who participated in my initial research survey! The data gathered provided incredible, actionable insights into how we navigate technological disruption and build operational resilience. Because this community is so incredibly responsive and engaged, I realized the data was pointing to a very specific need. I have decided to run a second, highly focused study tailored exclusively to Higher Education Professionals . As we manage complex community applications and face the disruption of AI, understanding how to best support and retain our highly skilled tech teams is more critical than ever. I would deeply appreciate 5 minutes ...
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Ride the AI Horse: Fundamentals First, Hype Later

By Anna Kourouniotis posted 13 days ago
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Picture this: it's Tuesday morning, you've just opened LinkedIn, and there are fourteen posts about a new AI feature that apparently changes everything — again. By the time you finish reading, two more have been published. You close the tab, go back to your PS Query, and wonder if you're already behind. Here is my honest confession: I am exhausted trying to keep up. And I say that as someone who writes about AI tools, presents on AI, and genuinely thinks this stuff is worth your attention. The pace of change right now is relentless, and pretending otherwise would be doing you a disservice. That decision — keep it basic — is what this article is ...
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Payment flexibility as a retention strategy. Notre Dame was on CNBC last week talking about it.

By Jeralee Hahn posted 21 days ago
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Full disclosure: I'm with Nelnet Campus Commerce, and we're part of this story. I'm not posting this to sell anything. I'm posting it because the conversation happening on a national broadcast last Saturday is one that I think belongs in this community too. Now We Know with Steve Guttenberg on CNBC aired a segment featuring Notre Dame's Pathways Program and specifically how payment plan infrastructure is functioning as a student access and retention tool, not just a billing mechanism. Against the backdrop of WICHE's enrollment cliff projections, that framing is worth paying attention to. What struck me about the segment was how the bursar's office is ...
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Extend content anywhere in PeopleSoft

By Ron Anderson posted 22 days ago
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Attention PeopleSoft customers: Extend content anywhere in PeopleSoft with no customizations! Here are some facts about XTend from Lagniappe Software: Forms and surveys can be initiated from any field on any page without customizations. When initiated, it can pre-populate a new form or survey by carrying forward the context of the data from the page you are in. As, examples: A Grade Change Form can be initiated from the Self Service Grade Roster Student Emplid field and carry forward the class information, student name and current grade value. Admissions self service Accept/Decline can initiate an admissions survey for ...
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The Data Analyst in the Age of AI

By Anna Kourouniotis posted 04-10-2026
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I’ve been reading a lot on AI lately and I wrote my thoughts on my Substack . I thought it relevant to post about this topic here to prepare us for a deep discussion on May 19 at our next Brewing Sessions with @Scott Nishizaki , @Gaurav Ohri , and other Connected Campus champions. After listening to Ethan Mollicks’ audiobook “Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI” and reading Luke Stanke’s LinkedIn article “The Death of the Data Analyst,” I realized that the data analyst's job description has not been formally re written. The role is transforming perhaps a bit faster than job titles are catching up. As uncomfortable as it may make ...
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Business Analysis Blog - The Power of the "Perfect" Screenshot

By Tom Johnson posted 04-08-2026
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Subject: BA Tools #1: Why Snagit is my most-used application If you’ve ever tried to explain a complex issue or a walk-through a specific workflow using only words, you know the frustration of the back-and-forth email chain, or the misunderstood Slack chat. In the world of Business Analysis, clarity is our ultimate currency. A picture isn't just worth a thousand words—it’s worth about three fewer meetings. That’s why the first tool in our "Software you can’t live without" series is SnagIt by TechSmith. How it’s used While most operating systems have a basic "snipping" tool, SnagIt is the professional-grade version that BAs use to bridge the gap between ...
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Business Analysis Blog - Software Tools You Can’t Live Without

By Tom Johnson posted 04-08-2026
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Welcome to a new blog series, " Software Tools You Can’t Live Without ." As Business Analysts, our days are often spent converting complex ideas into clear requirements, or translating difficult concepts into easily understood documents, and the efficiency of our work depends heavily on the digital tools we carry. Over the next seven posts, I’ll be highlighting some of the specific applications that I used to keep projects on track, from visual documentation to data cleanup to back-end requirement tracking. My goal is to share how these tools streamline the BA workflow and offer practical tips you can apply to your own daily tasks. However, every BA’s experience ...
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Reflections from Alliance 2026: A Journey of Knowledge and Connection

By Lidia Anderson posted 04-01-2026
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It’s been a little over two weeks since I returned home from the 2026 HEUG Alliance conference , and my mind is still buzzing with the wealth of ideas and insights that have taken up residency there. Like a much-loved book, the conference was filled with stories that resonate long after the last page is turned. A Hub of Knowledge Sharing One impactful realization hit me like a lightning bolt: the HEUG and Alliance conferences are hubs of intentional knowledge sharing and relationship-building that span the spectrum of higher ed. The influence of these events, along with the user groups and communities of practice, will echo far beyond our time spent ...
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Fraud from the (Associate) Registrar’s Perspective

By Dede Young posted 03-30-2026
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It’s no secret that application fraud has become rampant across the U.S. and potentially institutions of higher education throughout the world. Improving and evolving technology has made it easier for people to submit mass applications for admission, scraping data from the internet to seem legitimate. Why? The obvious reason is Financial Aid fraud. How are we combatting these fraudulent applications or at least identifying them as they enter our systems? And what are we seeing in the Registrar’s office? Plenty. Last July we discovered more than 350 new person IDs that entered our SIS in one nightly run of the application ...
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Is data a struggle with your current form/survey tool?

By Ron Anderson posted 03-30-2026
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Attention PeopleSoft Customers: Is data a struggle with your current form/survey tool? Here are some facts about XTend from Lagniappe Software: Data lands in your production database the millisecond someone clicks Submit. Data is never out of sync, because there is nothing to sync. All Data collected in a handful of tables for a lean, query-ready schema. A data model so simple, even your BI tool smiles Let’s schedule a short demo so I can show you the power of XTend. Reach out at contact@lanyapps.com or visit our website at www.lanyapps.com . #PeopleSoftCS #FluidForms #PeopleSoftHCM #CampusSolutions ...
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Peopletools 8.62 upgrade - Learnings and takeaways

By Sagaya Alphonse posted 03-27-2026
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At Boston University, we recently upgraded our PeopleTools version from 8.59 to 8.62 . I wanted to share some of our key learnings and takeaways for anyone planning a similar upgrade, and to exchange insights with others who have gone through this journey. Challenges · Major infrastructure upgrades o We upgraded to: Oracle Linux Server 8.9 Tuxedo 22.1 WebLogic 14.1.2 Visual COBOL 9.0 OpenSearch 2.11 o OpenSearch, in particular, brings enhanced search capabilities but also requires careful configuration. · Impact on customizations o Branding ...
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Reminder! Actively Looking for Four (4) Connected Campus Champions

By Anna Kourouniotis posted 03-23-2026
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Hi fellow HEUG members, Not sure if you read my last blog , but we are looking for four (4) new champions to join us this year and elections open this Wednesday, March 25! So, I wanted to take a moment to walk you through what joining the Connected Campus community of volunteers actually looks like — the role, the time commitment, and [almost] everything in between! THE ROLE Becoming a Connected Campus volunteer means stepping into a more strategic role as an active participant and representative of HEUG. You'd be collaborating with key stakeholders to drive meaningful engagement across the community — not just within the Technical, Reporting, ...
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From Cloud-First to AI-First: The New Compelling Event for PeopleSoft

By Arvind Rajan posted 03-23-2026
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Introduction: A few years ago, I wrote about why moving PeopleSoft to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) was a game-changer . At the time, the "compelling events" were all about technical agility: early access to PeopleTools Releases , automated lifecycle management with Cloud Manager , and leveraging the Oracle Autonomous Database and Autonomous Linux to slash DBA and SYSDADMIN effort. But today, the narrative has shifted. While the infrastructure benefits remain a powerful foundation, the true "compelling event" driving PeopleSoft modernization is Artificial Intelligence . AI is the solution Line of Business (LoB) has been looking ...
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Nominations Open on March 25: Join the Connected Campus Community of Practice

By Anna Kourouniotis posted 03-18-2026
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If you're a technical professional in higher education who's passionate about PeopleSoft, data, security, or systems integration — the Connected Campus Community of Practice wants YOU! As part of the Higher Ed User Group (HEUG), the Connected Campus CoP is a vendor-inclusive community built by and for higher ed professionals who work on the technical side of campus systems. We're currently accepting nominations for 4 new members to join our advisory group, and we're specifically seeking expertise in: Technical development — PeopleSoft functionality, customization, and code Reporting & data — turning institutional data into actionable ...
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HEUG Alliance 2026 – Orlando Recap: Conversations, Community, and a Whole Lot of Walking

By Anna Kourouniotis posted 03-12-2026
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If you've ever volunteered at HEUG Alliance, you already know the drill. As a Connected Campus (CC) Community of Practice Champion, "busy" doesn't quite cover it. Between moderating sessions, rushing to stop-and-share tables, going to Birds of a Feather sessions, and somehow still squeezing in hallway conversations — there's never a dull moment. Not that any HEUG volunteer would have it any other way. This year, I had the privilege of connecting with so many incredible people, and I just have to take a moment to highlight a few of them. (If I didn't mention you — please don't take it personally. My feet were moving faster than my notes.) People ...
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Your Dashboard Won't Build Itself : And in Higher Ed, That's Especially True

By Anna Kourouniotis posted 03-05-2026
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Your Dashboard Won't Build Itself — And in Higher Ed, That's Especially True A practical guide for the HEUG Connected Campus and Project & Change Management communities Author: Anna Kourouniotis (2026) | Note: a more generic version of this blog was written by the author and is hosted on their Substack. Picture this. Someone at your institution needs a report on enrolment trends, financial aid disbursements, or student retention. You're the person who can build it. The deadline is two weeks out. You open your system — PeopleSoft, Oracle Analytics, whatever your stack looks like — and think: I've got time. I'll work it ...
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Supercharging your Day-to-Day with MyWork + WorkCenters in PeopleSoft

By Crystal Hotchkiss posted 01-30-2026
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Have you ever thought, “It would be so much easier if these queries would just tell me when something needs attention?” Welcome to the power of MyWork integrated with WorkCenters ! At Cornell University, the Office of the University Registrar has been steadily expanding the use of WorkCenters across more of our teams. Along the way, we've implemented three new WorkCenters—each enhanced with MyWork—designed to centralize daily tasks, streamline monitoring, and simplify how our teams manage information in one convenient place. What Are WorkCenters and MyWork? WorkCenters offer a centralized hub where staff can access the tools and activities they ...
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The Ultimate User Manual for Claude in Excel: because Copilot Broke Your Heart (Again) - Part 1

By Anna Kourouniotis posted 01-30-2026
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Introduction Important Note: The examples in this blog series were generated using my personal access to Claude and do not represent or utilize any resources from my employer. Please review and follow your institution’s IT and AI policies before installing or using any similar tools. Welcome, brave spreadsheet warrior. You've been working with Copilot in Excel and have felt emotionally drained at all the things it just can't get right? You might argue, isn't that the same for any AI tool or add-on? AI is not perfect and certainly not the magic wand we might think it is. Plus it all can get pretty complicated with all the options that we have ...
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Don’t overpay for a Fluid form/survey tool

By Ron Anderson posted 01-27-2026
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Attention PeopleSoft customers: Don’t overpay for a Fluid form/survey tool. Here are some facts about XTend from Lagniappe Software: Budget Friendly — 50-70% less expensive than the others Much faster deployment — Go live in under a week Familiar and easier UX for administrators — easier to build, easier to test. No need for AI help to build. Better UI for all end users — clean, modern, works on all devices. Zero weeks of training — your team is building forms Day 1 Stop settling for overpriced, overcomplicated solutions. Let’s schedule a short demo so I can show you how XTend checks every box — without ...
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Finding a Gentle On‑Ramp with Power Query in Excel

By Anna Kourouniotis posted 01-23-2026
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For a lot of higher ed analysts, the scariest part of the job isn’t writing a PeopleSoft query—it’s what happens after the extract lands in Excel. Long columns to clean, messy values to fix, files to stack, and logic to repeat every census term or disbursement cycle. Many colleagues have lived mostly in PeopleSoft Query Manager and basic Excel, with little exposure to R, Python, or SAS, and suddenly find themselves asked to “prep the data” too. This post is for them. Why Start with Power Query in Excel? Power Query in Excel is a friendly, visual way to step into real data preparation without learning a programming language or buying a new BI tool. Power ...
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