With this new solution, students can search, apply for and track applications all in one place, and some awards will even be automatically awarded based on the criteria entered while creating a Student Profile. For faculty and staff, ways of working will also be transformed through a new streamlined process where they鈥檒l be able to review and distribute awards through one single solution.

Students: While the solution has launched, students will start using it at different times. Current undergraduate and graduate students will begin to receive communications about usage beginning late July and into early August, in line with awards application timelines. Students will be notified that they may start to receive communications from the system including whether there are specific actions to take to apply for and receive funding. Not a student at 91亚色 yet? Prospective students will be introduced to the new solution as part of the regular admissions processes and will be directed to use it accordingly.

Launching the new Financial Aid, Awards and Scholarships solution is a significant achievement. 91亚色 is one of the first universities in Canada to be implementing a sophisticated awards solution which will streamline the way students access financial aid, awards and scholarship opportunities. With personalized options, increased visibility and more claimed awards, 91亚色 will be better positioned as a university of choice for students around the world.
A lot of work went into launching this new solution, including countless hours of training and testing. Resources have been created to help support faculty and staff as they begin to use the solution, including a Help Guide, drop-in training sessions and more.

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So, without further ado, let鈥檚 get ready to learn more about one of the driving forces behind the SSRP鈥檚 new solution for Financial Aid, Awards and Scholarships. Meet Aakash Yesudas Devdas, Manager of Business Transformation, Graduate Studies. Aakash embodies a gentle yet confident demeanour, radiating kindness and enthusiasm in every interaction. With his articulate communication skills and depth of knowledge, he's not just someone you'd feel comfortable being yourself around, but he鈥檚 also your go-to person for navigating the intricacies of financial aid, awards, scholarships and graduate funding.

Aakash was first drawn to the SSRP because of the program鈥檚 mission to leverage 鈥渘ext generation鈥� technology and the expertise of talented individuals to enhance the systems and processes at 91亚色. He has played a crucial role in the setup and design of graduate funding within the Financial Aid, Awards and Scholarships solution, and as he continues to dive into work on the new solution, Aakash sees enormous potential, believing it has the power to be a complete game-changer. The new solution not only simplifies the student journey but also empowers the entire 91亚色 community to see some amazing benefits. Get ready to experience a whole new level of efficiency and accessibility coming in July 2024 鈥� courtesy of dedicated team members like Aakash!

鈥淚 really enjoy the challenge of identifying areas for improvement and implementing strategies that enhance efficiency and effectiveness鈥� enthuses Aakash, when asked what he finds most fulfilling about his role. 鈥淚t's the opportunity to drive meaningful change and innovation within the graduate studies domain.鈥�

Beyond his passion and skills, Aakash is a family man with broad personal interests. Whether it's sports, getting lost in a good book or exploring a bunch of other fun hobbies, he greets every challenge and opportunity with optimism and excitement. Let's jump into a fun questionnaire to learn more about Aakash, his work and his diverse interests!

Through his dedication and in-depth understanding, Aakash is helping to pave the way for some exciting times ahead while making a true impact on 91亚色. The people are the heartbeat of the SSRP, dedicated to changing the game for students, faculty and staff. We can鈥檛 wait to share more about some of them soon. For more information on the and the new upcoming solution for Financial Aid, Awards and Scholarships, feel free to explore the SSRP website or reach out to us at ssrp@yorku.ca

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On February 28, the SSRP team hosted an information webinar open to all staff and faculty members. With approximately 300 attendees, the event reached a noteworthy milestone for the project, sparking tons of excitement and curiosity! The team presented how the new solution will position 91亚色 for the future. Then, the floor was opened for a live Q&A session, allowing attendees to submit questions in real-time. You鈥檙e welcome to view the recording of the webinar.

Thank you to everyone who submitted questions during the webinar. Due to time, we couldn't cover each question live, but don't worry! Below you鈥檒l find answers to many of the questions, and they鈥檒l help ensure you鈥檙e in-the-know on everything related to the new solution for Financial Aid, Awards and Scholarships.

Along with the webinar, here are some other community resources available to ensure everyone is ready to embrace the new solution (with more on the way soon!):

鈥� A new animated video explains the new solution for Financial Aid, Awards and Scholarships in an entertaining, simplified and highly shareable format.
鈥� A demonstration video is available to provide a preview of the new solution before its official release, with a walk-through of specific system functionalities. Another demo will take place later this month, and will also be posted online.
鈥� You can reach out to Faculty and Division Project Leads for support and updates. These folks represent various faculties and divisions at 91亚色 and have been engaged and are actively assisting in preparing for a smooth adoption of the new solutions. If you aren鈥檛 sure who your dedicated Project Lead is, you can search very easily.

The SSRP team wants to be sure everyone at the University is excited and ready for the new solution. We encourage you to continue to check out the community resources as we move forward with the new solution for Financial Aid, Awards, and Scholarships. You can also learn more by contacting the SSRP at ssrp@yorku.ca with any additional questions.

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The SSRP Glossary

The glossary, available through the "Resources鈥� tab of the SSRP website, serves as a very handy reference for the terminology used throughout the different projects and the solutions being implemented - on the website, in presentations or referenced in conversations with colleagues. It can provide information for students hoping to learn about the new SSRP solutions, or for staff and faculty members seeking clarity on the upcoming changes etc.
In addition to defining terms, the glossary can also act as your go-to resource for acronyms! Acronyms are linguistic shortcuts that allow for efficiency in the fast-paced realm of the SSRP. They condense terms or phrases into more manageable forms and provide a clear and consistent way to reference specific concepts for the projects and implementations 鈥� but with so many acronyms being used daily, it can be hard to keep track of what they all mean.

Data Dictionary

With the SSRP and Office of Institutional Planning and Analysis (OIPA)鈥檚 initiatives powered by data, another helpful resource is 91亚色鈥檚 Data Dictionary. The Data Dictionary is an online tool that defines data elements that are essential not only to the SSRP鈥檚 projects, but to the entire University. It is housed on the OIPA website and aims to establish a standardized data language for all of 91亚色.

These resources are available to all faculty, staff and students 鈥� and you鈥檙e encouraged to refer to them at any point as you engage in discussions about the projects within the SSRP or as you start using the solutions as they are made available to the 91亚色 community. For more information, feel free to explore the SSRP website at yorku.ca/ssrp or email any questions to ssrp@yorku.ca.

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To kick things off, we鈥檙e getting to know the bubbly personality leading the program - meet Marie Limanni, the SSRP鈥檚 Executive Director, who's not just running the show but doing it with beaming enthusiasm and contagious positivity. Anyone who knows Marie will say that she鈥檚 the heart and soul of the SSRP, always ready with the most perfect GIF to share, a (virtual) high-five and an eagerness to hear what everyone's thinking. Whenever she has the opportunity, she is quick to celebrate the program as a team effort and motivate everyone around her to be the very best versions of themselves.

Having joined 91亚色 in March 2020, Marie continuously leads with both her heart and her head. She wholeheartedly backs all SSRP team members, offering unwavering support in tackling challenges, finding creative solutions, and navigating tough decisions. Projects like the SSRP aren鈥檛 without their challenges, and it鈥檚 important to have a leader who encourages their teams to learn and grow with a positive mindset, like Marie. While she鈥檚 not usually one to take the spotlight, she was convinced to make an exception to start the interviews that will reveal more about the people working behind the scenes.

Marie鈥檚 infectious energy is like a burst of confetti in what can sometimes be a serious world of program management. She sees the big picture of the SSRP and she can鈥檛 wait to deliver all it has to offer to students, faculty and staff and begin to see the impacts each project has on the community. As we start this series to showcase some of the vibrant personalities powering the SSRP, we鈥檙e reminded that the essence and culture of 91亚色 is shaped by individuals. The passion and expertise behind the SSRP are the driving forces in delivering the best results. Stay tuned for more team profiles coming soon. For more information on the program, visit or email ssrp@yorku.ca

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Release 1 in particular is focused on enhancing the student profile and prospect profiles, as well as engagement and communications for all future and current students. It will help to manage student recruitment events, such as high school visit bookings, and will connect 91亚色 to potential prospects more efficiently. It will also streamline student profiles and introduce automated communications for both future and current students, helping to create meaningful email campaigns, surveys and ongoing communications to the right people, at the right time.
Imagine having one place where prospective students and parents/guardians can easily register their interest in 91亚色 and receive information and communications tailored just for them. Event management is also being taken up a notch with event tools such as Eventbrite and Zoom seamlessly integrated into the CRM, make organizing and attending events smoother than ever.

The road to CRM鈥檚 first release has been a journey filled with dedication and countless hours of hard work, and we wanted to make sure the launch runs smoothly . We鈥檝e been providing training and demonstrations, developed a Help Guide, arranged for online support and drop-in clinics, and now we鈥檙e in action!

The SSRP has started work on the next releases of the CRM to continue to enhance the student journey . We look forward to sharing more updates about the new CRM, and all of the other exciting enhancements the SSRP is bringing to the 91亚色 community. For the latest updates, news and information, please check back often. For more information on the SSRP, please consult the project overview page.

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Getting a program off the ground like the Student Systems Renewal Program (SSRP) takes some serious work behind the scenes. After years of planning, we鈥檙e excited to share that some projects have already been launched and others will launch for the 91亚色 community soon. There鈥檚 been a whirlwind of activity, so we're here to give you an inside look at all the moving parts.

As a multi-year program, the SSRP is transforming the student, staff and faculty experience by providing enhanced online systems and processes. Its seven projects work together to not only enhance the student experience but also enrich the experiences of faculty and staff at 91亚色. It has taken a lot of meticulous coordinating and planning to get the program to where it is today. Two foundational projects are now complete - Identity and Access Management (IAM) and Enterprise Integration Platform (EIP). The SSRP is also contributing to institution-wide improved data quality at 91亚色 with the Data Management & Analytics project, which will also set a positive precedent for all future SSRP projects.

The first release of the Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) and the new solution for Financial Aid, Awards, and Scholarships are now both set to launch. As the program gears up for these next two  launches, there are a bunch of things on the go to help prepare the community. So, let鈥檚 take a peek at what鈥檚 happening!

CRM
The new CRM will help students from start to finish 鈥� from recruiting and enrolling new prospects, to making sure current students get the advice and support they need. Being flexible and having a bit of foresight is key when tackling a big project like this. Even the best-laid plans need a few tweaks here and there. The project鈥檚 initial release, dedicated to the student profile, prospect profile and general engagement, will go live the week of Sept. 25, 2023. Planning is in progress for the next two releases, which will build on the student lifecycle by including functionality for applications and admissions.

With this first release, the SSRP has been:

• training end users, which began in mid-August and will run until Friday, Sept. 22
• sharing a demo of the new functionality, which will happen on Monday, Sept. 18
• preparing to go live, which will happen the week of Sept. 25  

Financial Aid, Awards and Scholarships
Following the launch of CRM, we can look forward to the new solution for financial aid, awards and scholarships going live. This will improve the student experience and increase the number of claimed awards. Once complete, students will have access to tailored awards suggestions that they can easily apply for and track. Faculty and staff will also be able to process and adjudicate awards more efficiently. We鈥檒l be sharing more about this in the coming months.

Ongoing Communications
The SSRP hosted its first webinar last month, open to all faculty and staff. This webinar introduced the SSRP to those who might not be familiar with the program, and it kicked off a series for the SSRP with project-specific sessions coming soon. These upcoming sessions will feature demos and there will be opportunities for attendees to ask questions live. Recognizing the scale of the SSRP, the program is simplifying key informationwith a series of short videos. The first video in the series will be released soon and will serve as an introduction and general overview of the program. Future videos will break down the SSRP鈥檚 diverse projects into bite-sized pieces to make it easy for the 91亚色 community to grasp upcoming changes with clarity and confidence.

The SSRP team has been working hard to bring the projects to life and to prepare the 91亚色 community for the positive changes that are underway. While this is only a glimpse of what lies ahead, there will be much more to share soon. Stay tuned for more updates on the blog and visit the news page for the most recent developments. For any additional questions, feel free to reach out to ssrp@yorku.ca 

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This was the first webinar in a series and it was meant to introduce the SSRP to 91亚色鈥檚 faculty and staff, if they didn鈥檛 already know about it. Upcoming sessions will focus on the different projects within the program. This webinar series is one way the SSRP is sharing information about the program, along with ongoing meetings with faculties and divisions and updates through its community contacts, such as Project Leads, Program Champions and Subject Matter Experts. These groups provide essential support to staff and faculty by increasing knowledge about the program and provide SSRP with feedback from their teams. As the SSRP projects prepare for launch, the webinar series will allow attendees to learn more about the new projects directly from the experts.

The first webinar provided an overview of the SSRP, along with information about the new Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) and Financial Aid, Awards and Scholarships solutions. Planning is underway for future webinars that will include demos and opportunities for live question-and-answers. Student-facing webinars will also be developed once the solutions are live.

Thank you for your continued interest in the SSRP. Stay tuned for announcements about upcoming webinars, details will be posted in the News and Events section of the SSRP鈥檚 website as soon as they are available. For more program-specific information, please explore the SSRP website, review the FAQ page or email ssrp@yorku.ca.

Sampling of Aug. 1 webinar questions and answers 鈥� the full question and answer period can be found at 31:14 within the webinar recording:

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The main elements of IAM are related to security, access and identity governance/administration. Think of it like a security guard at a building entrance who knows you but is able to ensure that you have the necessary access to the areas associated with your responsibilities. With IAM integrated with 91亚色鈥檚 systems, it will enable access and privileges to be provided based on each of our individual roles. This means that the systems will automatically recognize the roles of a user and will grant access accordingly, offering a more seamless and tailored user experience while also significantly reducing the manual work of IT staff.  

For example, someone working at 91亚色 as a People Partner will require access to confidential information that will not (and should not) be accessible to others outside their position and information for their duties will be instantly accessible to them in a secure way. For students, access will be granted based on their profiles with criteria related to their faculty, year of study, etc.  

While today鈥檚 Passport 91亚色 serves its purpose well, it is important for 91亚色 to evolve IAM with modern technology to ensure that the right access to information is granted quicker and in a way that is even more safe and secure. As a user, the Passport 91亚色 login will only look slightly different to you, meanwhile it will provide modern IAM technologies that ensure a seamless and secure experience, whether you鈥檙e a student, staff or faculty member, you simply need to enter your usual login credentials and IAM will take care of the rest.  

While the IAM project is complete with SSRP, IAM鈥檚 capabilities and standards will soon be rolled out across the entire University through UIT. With the completion of the IAM project within SSRP, the proper technology foundation has been built and the work will continue to roll out the service over time. We look forward to sharing more progress with you soon on the blog. For more information on the SSRP鈥檚 other projects and new solutions coming soon visit the SSRP Projects page.  

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SSRP Projects

SSRP General

Email SSRP

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Data quality is determined by accuracy, interpretability, consistency and reliability. The better these factors, the better the data for various operations, analytics and planning. This can get complicated, so let鈥檚 break it down. Say you're going to bake a cake - the quality of your cake will heavily rely on the quality of your ingredients. If you use expired milk and only one egg instead of the recipe鈥檚 need for three, you will be left with a disappointing final product. The same goes for information. Meaningful information will depend on high quality data as its best ingredients.   

Poor quality data, such as outdated or incomplete data, can be a result of lack of documentation and standardization, data silos (when systems can鈥檛 share information between them) or simply the lack of knowledge of the impacts of poor data quality. This can lead to inaccurate findings and poorly informed decision making. 

The Student Systems Renewal Program (SSRP) is improving the student, faculty and staff experience through new solutions that are user-focused and collaborative. Central to this is the transition to the cloud 鈥� a necessary modern shift for data storage and access. The SSRP is contributing to institution-wide data quality management at 91亚色 as a joint responsibility with the Office of Institutional Planning and Analysis (OIPA), Data Governance, University Information Technology (UIT) and other groups within the University. We love quick fixes, of course, but the heart of this project is really to develop widespread improvements that will benefit the 91亚色 community for years to come. In essence, we鈥檙e helping to bake a delicious cake, full of the best possible ingredients! 

The SSRP will deliver reliable and trustworthy data by focusing on improving data access, analytics and operational reporting for the new solutions. The goal is to create similar user experiences across multiple platforms that will offer streamlined tracking, consistent interactions and reliable metrics. Importantly, 91亚色 will be able to provide better service to students, faculty and staff by considering their unique needs. For example, with the proper data points within the Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) platform, communications to prospects, applicants and current students will be more personalized rather than broad information being sent out that may not be relevant.  

So, how do we ensure the best data quality? With its solutions, the SSRP will be contributing to defining data standards for success, analyzing how systems share data, reviewing the current state of data quality, and putting reliable processes in place. To date, the quality of data in select source systems has been analyzed and approaches to resolve data quality issues have been defined. Additionally, collaboration is underway with UIT to implement data management capabilities that will align, combine and enforce consistent standards data from separate sources.  

Improving data quality across the University is no small feat but the SSRP is proud to be part of this exciting endeavor! Stay tuned for more information on the blog on progress with data quality and other program updates. In the meantime, please also feel free to read more about each project on the SSRP website!听

Learn More

SSRP Projects

SSRP General

Email SSRP

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