Five Fast-Track Digital Projects to Strengthen Your Campus Before Fall

May 6, 2025

Posted by

Scott Mitchell

The budget squeeze you’re feeling is real. California’s governor has already proposed slicing $375 million from the Cal State system, and other states are weighing similar moves. At the same time, tuition-discount rates have climbed past 50 percent on many campuses, eroding the very revenue meant to fill budget gaps.

That uncertainty shows up in Higher-Ed search data. Over the past 90 days, Google has seen a spike in “people-also-ask” queries such as:

“How do we comply with the new ADA web-accessibility rule by 2026?”
“What technology projects pay off fastest for universities?”
“How will AI reshape higher ed operations next year?"

Those questions map neatly onto EDUCAUSE’s 2025 Top 10 IT Issues, where data, AI, cohesive digital ecosystems, and trust dominate the list. They also echo the fears (and hopes) Inside Higher Ed captured in its year-end survey on AI, where only 9 percent of tech leaders said their institutions were ready for generative tools.

In short, you need projects that:

Spend the remaining FY 24/25 dollars wisely.
Show a measurable impact before the October board meetings.
Lay the groundwork for an uncertain funding landscape.

Below are five projects—each doable in roughly 12 weeks—that check those boxes.

1. 90-Day Accessibility Sprint (Title II + WCAG.1 AA)

Why it’s urgent

The Department of Justice’s final rule makes WCAG 2.1 AA the floor for every public university web property. Large campuses (50k+ population) must comply by April 24, 2026—just three major semesters away. Private institutions aren’t technically bound, but many are being sued under the same standard. Accessibility lawsuits have climbed over 300% in higher ed since 2020, and settlements aren’t cheap.

What the project looks like

Weeks 1–3: Conduct a full audit—using automated tools plus manual screen-reader testing (link to blog post either Impact of AI or Measure KPIs). Prioritize high-traffic pages (admissions, financial aid, course catalogs) and common file types (syllabi, PDFs, event forms).
Weeks 4–6: Launch focused remediation sprints. Correct color contrast issues, rebuild navigation with ARIA landmarks, and make sure CMS components like accordions and modals are compliant. Lock new patterns into a shared library.
Weeks 7–9: Perform QA with diverse assistive technologies (JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver). Recruit real users where possible. Catch regressions.
Weeks 10–12: Update accessibility statements. Train web editors on accessible publishing practices. Set up an automated Lighthouse CI pipeline to monitor future issues.

ROI you can take to the provost

Immediate risk reduction: protect federal funding and minimize litigation exposure.
Mobile usability gains: campuses typically see bounce rates fall by 15–20%.
Brand enhancement: prospective students and parents recognize accessibility as a mark of quality.

How STAUFFER helps

Our WCAG auditing playbook with component-level design system fixes your issues in one fell swoop, not after 200 iterations. We put accessibility checks into your build pipeline, so every future edit gets a pass/fail without manual review needed.

2. Alumni 360: Unified Data & Journey Automation

Why it’s urgent

CASE’s 2024 Alumni Engagement survey shows institutions that capture activity across at least four channels see up to 2× the philanthropic participation. Yet most advancement offices still juggle SIS exports, Excel sheets, and a legacy CRM that rarely speaks to central IT. Every lost record is a lost opportunity.

Also, donor expectations have shifted. Alumni expect Amazon-level personalization. They notice if you don’t take steps to upgrade the experience.

What the project looks like

Weeks 1–4: Conduct a data-mapping workshop. Map SIS, finance, events, and communications databases. Choose an integration platform (headless CDP or CRM) to unify records.
Weeks 5–8: Build segmented engagement journeys based on life stage (recent grads, mid-career, retirees). Configure triggers like “first job anniversary” and “reunion year.”
Weeks 9–12: Launch a pilot campaign combining email, SMS, and personalized microsites. Connect attribution data directly to Advancement dashboards.

ROI you can provide the advancement committee

Single source of truth: eliminate donor confusion and misaligned messaging.
Year-one lift of 8–12% in annual-fund gifts.
Measurable ROI for marketing efforts tied to financial outcomes, not just "open rates.

How STAUFFER helps

We will review your data structure and processes, ensure workflows stay GDPR/FERPA-compliant, and craft templates that match your institution’s brand. We automate the reporting so your team can spend more time storytelling—and less time cobbling.

3. Headless CMS + Design-System Refresh

Why it’s urgent

Your marketing team dreads the "complete the update Friday" emails because the monolithic CMS is older than first-year students. EDUCAUSE flags "cohesive digital ecosystems" and lightning-fast content governance as a top priority for 2025. Today’s students and donors expect instant updates. If your site takes weeks to change a single program page, you’re already behind.

Worse, old CMS platforms often bottleneck security updates, meaning you may also be exposed to unpatched vulnerabilities without knowing it.

What the project looks like

Weeks 1–2: Discovery sprint. Identify essential page types, integrations (SIS, CRM, event systems), and current pain points.
Weeks 3–6: Deploy a headless CMS in parallel (e.g., Strapi, Contentful, Sanity). Map APIs to expose your SIS data and event feeds dynamically.
Weeks 7–9: Build a modular component library using React and Tailwind. Include content blocks like hero banners, course lists, event cards, and donation forms.
Weeks 10–12: Phased migration. Use migration scripts—not interns—to port clean content. Launch quietly, then expand.

ROI you can show your president

Content editors cut publish time from days to minutes.
Core Web Vitals improve dramatically, raising search visibility by 10–15%.
Enrollment campaigns pivot faster when academic programs update.
Marketing morale improves: no more begging IT for changes.

How STAUFFER helps

Our Devs handle CI/CD pipelines, so your IT team isn’t dragged into deployment wars. Our design system guarantees brand consistency across every new microsite or campaign. And the accessibility enhancements from Project 1 are baked into every component out of the gate.

4. AI-Guided Student Success Suit

Why it’s urgent

Inside Higher Ed reports that while only 9% of tech leaders feel ready for AI, student expectations are sprinting ahead. Students now expect personalization—like "recommended courses," "early warning nudges," and "if/then" advisories.

Meanwhile, Campus Technology’s 2025 predictions place AI-driven operations and decision-making among the top disruptive forces. If you’re not experimenting this year, you’ll be playing catch-up when AI becomes standard operating procedure.

What the project looks like

Weeks 1–3: Integrate your SIS and LMS into a secure analytics lake. Student IDs tokenized at rest. Build connections to financial aid and advising systems where possible.
Weeks 4–6: Deploy an open-source LLM wrapper trained on your academic catalog and advising policies. Students can ask, "If I drop Bio 101, how does it affect my scholarships?" and get instant guidance.
Weeks 7–9: Launch predictive models: early-alert systems for first-year attrition risks, late assignments, or academic probation triggers. Feed these insights to advisors.
Weeks 10–12: Pilot in one college or department. Tune guardrails to avoid biased outcomes. Document results and student feedback.

ROI you can share with trustees

3–5 percentage-point uptick in first-year retention (worth millions in tuition).
Advisor caseloads lighten by 15%, allowing more targeted human interventions.
Boost in student satisfaction scores tied to academic support.

How STAUFFER helps

We bring the Developer muscle to keep your data private and encrypted. Our compliance team ensures AI applications stay within FERPA guidelines. Plus, we create anonymized success stories your marketing team can use in enrollment materials, without breaching privacy.

5. Data-Governance & API Gateway Jump-Start

Why it’s urgent

Budget uncertainty breeds consolidation talk. Without a documented data layer, every merger or shared-services discussion starts with, "Who owns what?" EDUCAUSE’s Top 10 ranks secure, governed data as the lever for rebuilding public trust.

Fragmented systems aren’t just a back-office problem anymore. They show up when prospective students encounter mismatched program requirements, when advancement campaigns miss major donor anniversaries, and when finance can’t explain variances at board meetings.

What the project looks like

Weeks 1–2: Conduct an institutional data inventory. Identify critical shadow systems: spreadsheets tracking grants, rogue email marketing lists, independent event calendars.
Weeks 3–6: Stand up a secure API gateway (AWS API Gateway, Kong, or Apigee) with OAuth2, rate limiting, and role-based access scopes. Focus first on high-risk, high-value data.
Weeks 7–9: Define "data steward" roles across departments. Build reference dashboards for finance (real-time spend vs. forecast), enrollment (real-time application pipeline), and advancement (donor pipeline health).
Weeks 10–12: Write simple governance policies. Launch quarterly reviews. Create a lightweight data request intake process so innovation doesn’t die under paperwork.

ROI you can defend to auditors

Faster integrations: future SaaS or ERP swaps plug in without costly middleware.
Real-time visibility: reduces the need for "last-minute" crisis reports.
Improved security posture: better control reduces cyber-insurance premiums.
Increased trust: departments no longer argue over "whose numbers" are right.

How STAUFFER helps

We architect pragmatic governance policies that staff actually follow. Our engineers harden your API stack against threats. We ensure your data models connect marketing analytics cleanly to financial systems, giving you one consistent view of truth across the institution.

Bringing it all together

If the last few budget cycles taught us anything, it’s that waiting for certainty is a luxury higher ed no longer has.

The five projects above turn this summer’s "use-it-or-lose-it" scramble into a strategic head start:

Accessibility cuts legal risk while improving the digital experience for everyone.
Alumni 360 transforms scattered data into predictable, growing revenue streams.
Headless CMS modernizes operations, making marketing a true growth engine.
AI-guided student success positions you to beat retention benchmarks that donors and accreditors care about.
Governed APIs future-proof your operations and strengthen your standing when the next consolidation or compliance wave hits.

Choosing even one of these projects sets your campus up to:

Weather funding uncertainty with resilient operations.
Compete for students, donors, and grants with technology that enhances—not hinders—your story.
Deliver faster, smarter results to leadership without burning out your teams.

Waiting until next fiscal year could mean scrambling under new compliance deadlines, losing students to competitors who move faster, or missing once-in-a-decade alumni giving surges triggered by major political or social moments.

Investing now, while time and budget still allow, isn’t just good stewardship. It’s smart leadership.

If any of these fast-track projects resonate, let’s schedule 30 minutes now (link to LP)—before FY 24/25 closes and the best window for decisive change snaps shut.