Dear colleagues—
For too many college students, and the staff supporting them, navigating college can feel harder than it should.
This is the first in a two-part series on our Digital Holistic Student Supports (DHSS) work and the challenges it’s designed to solve. In this newsletter, we focus on the first: disconnected data.
Advisors are working across disconnected systems. Students are logging onto multiple platforms just to find basic information. Too often, no one has a complete, real-time view of what a student needs to stay on track. And the implications of disconnected data are even more problematic when you layer on emerging AI-enabled technologies.
At its core, DHSS is about helping colleges deliver more connected, timely support—academic, financial, and career—in ways that reflect how students actually live their lives. By building smarter, integrated data systems and more intuitive tools, institutions can meet students where they are, enabling them to navigate their postsecondary experience and get answers when it fits their schedule, not just during business hours. The goal is straightforward: make it easier for students to get the guidance they need, while freeing up advisors to focus on meaningful conversations instead of navigating disconnected systems.
When it’s working well, technology strengthens the human connection. It doesn’t replace it.
At a recent gathering with community college leaders during Achieving the Dream’s annual conference, one theme came up repeatedly: technology must fit how students actually use it, and address their needs, not just those of institutions. Too often, new tools are introduced to solve immediate challenges but end up adding complexity over time.
The technology must be braided into institutional strategy, not layered on after the fact.
That’s where this work is heading. And it’s why we’re so excited about our next step.
We recently announced our first cohort of ”lighthouse institutions” (named because they are leading the way on this work) in partnership with Achieving the Dream, DataKind and MDRC—Fayetteville State University (NC), Prince George’s Community College (MD), Durham Technical Community College (NC), Clovis Community College (NM), and North Central State College (OH), with another institution to be added. Over a two-year grant period, these colleges will help lead the way by putting Digital Holistic Student Supports into practice, engaging in co-designing and testing new approaches to navigation and advising systems that work across the institution and integrated AI-enabled technology.
DataKind is creating a shared data system that connects information that’s currently spread across separate tools. This isn’t just about linking systems—it’s about building the foundation needed to turn data into useful insights and help faculty and staff work together to better support students. Rather than adding another tool, we’re creating a central hub that helps drive student success. Take for example, a student who isn’t responding to outreach. With connected data, staff can quickly see whether the issue is academic, administrative, or relational. In some cases, a student may appear unresponsive but is still actively engaging in coursework—signaling that a different outreach approach is needed. In others, administrative holds may be preventing the student from accessing communication channels altogether—pointing to a structural barrier rather than disengagement. An advisor working across multiple different systems may never see that---and therefore cannot offer truly holistic student support.
In the words of Achieving the Dream’s CEO, Karen Stout, the shared data system will serve as a “nerve center that helps [colleges] see students more fully, respond more intelligently, and design structures that do not simply reproduce the systems and the outcomes we are trying to change.” Shortly after the announcement of the “lighthouse institutions”, I had the chance to visit Durham Tech, one of the four community colleges selected by Achieving the Dream to participate in this work because of their visionary leadership under J.B. Buxton, strong ethos of collaboration, and aspirations for transforming systems and processes. I was particularly impressed by Durham Tech’s cross-functional team leading the work, including faculty and staff. And their commitment to hosting “listening sessions” to engage the broader campus community in understanding and feeling bought into the work. These site visits keep us strongly grounded in the work and students we aim to serve, and I look forward to visiting all the lighthouse institutions over the course of this project.
Because the challenge isn’t just technology, it’s how institutions bring together data, tools, and people to support students in a more connected way. When those pieces come together, institutions can move from reactive support to proactive guidance—reaching students earlier and more effectively.
AI is starting to accelerate that shift, helping institutions surface insights, improve operations, and free up time for staff to focus on students. But the goal isn’t more technology; it's systems that actually work—for students and the people supporting them.
Our lighthouse institutions will help show what that can look like in practice.
And if we get this right, we can make college easier to navigate and help more students stay on the path to completion.
In the next issue (hitting your inbox in a couple weeks), we’ll turn to the second challenge this work aims to solve: the need for an engaging and intuitive interface for staff and students that can leverage this newly integrated data.
Regards,
Patrick Methvin,
Director, Postsecondary Success
Quick takes
Making data useful
Good data only matters if people can actually use it. In a blog post from our DHSS partners at DataKind, their CEO Lauren Woodman explores how organizations can design data tools and insights with real-world constraints in mind, like limited time, capacity, or technical expertise. The focus is on meeting users where they are and building simple, practical solutions that support better decisions. It’s a helpful reminder that improving student outcomes isn’t just about having more data, it’s about making data usable for the people working closest to students.
Unlocking AI starts with better data
AI holds real promise for higher education, from personalized advising to more responsive student support, but a core barrier around data remains. As a new EDUCAUSE article notes, many institutions are still working with fragmented systems, making it difficult to fully leverage AI. There’s a big opportunity here, and to make it work, colleges need better data systems and clearer rules so AI tools actually help students and don’t widen existing gaps.
Hidden cost of fragmented data
Higher ed’s student success challenges aren’t just about access or affordability; they’re also about how institutions operate behind the scenes. A new SmartBrief piece highlights how disconnected systems across advising, financial aid, and academics create a fragmented experience that’s harder for students to navigate—and harder for colleges to support effectively. When systems don’t connect, institutions miss the full picture of a student’s journey. And without that, even well-intentioned supports can fall short. The path forward isn’t just adding new tools, it’s making sure the existing ones work together to deliver more coordinated, student-centered support.