University at Albany

Customer profile

Founded in 1844, the University at Albany is a premier public research university located in New York’s Capital Region. The university offers 50+ undergraduate majors and 150+ graduate programs in several disciplines, with a notable emphasis on social mobility, academic programs, value, and diversity. . The university is dedicated to helping over 17,000 students , with a commitment to modernizing educational operations and improving student engagement through technology.

In this success story, we focus on the Office of Financial Aid, a student-facing department that manages hundreds of inquiries weekly from students and their families, related to complex and often sensitive financial matters.

The Department & Use case

Unlike most institutions using SysAid for IT-related operations, the University at Albany’s Financial Aid Office chose to use SysAid for student service management. The department has 15–16 licensed users, none of whom are traditional IT staff. Their primary goal: to replace the disorganized and inefficient email-based support system with a more accountable, transparent, and student-friendly model.

Historical Challenges

Before SysAid, the department was flooded with unstructured emails from students and families. These messages were difficult to organize, track, or prioritize, resulting in delayed responses and a lack of visibility for both staff and students.

“We couldn’t keep up with email traffic. We found ourselves always underwater without hope of ever catching up. It was an unpleasant experience for all involved and we needed an immediate remedy.” .
– Stephen Kudzin, Director, Financial Aid

Students were often left uncertain about whether their emails had been received or if they needed to send a follow-up. Internally, categorization was attempted through Outlook folders and subject lines—a system described as “horrible” and “impossible to track.”

Process Improvements & Workflow Efficiency

The Office of Financial Aid saw sweeping changes in how requests were processed and resolved:

From Email Chaos to Structured Intake

All student requests are now submitted through SysAid’s self-service portal, which has 100% replaced email as a communication channel. While phone inquiries are handled separately, email has been fully phased out, improving trackability and eliminating duplication.

Smart Routing with Round-Robin Assignment

To ensure equitable workload distribution and accountability, the team implemented a round-robin routing system. Tickets are categorized by topic and then automatically routed to the appropriate admin group. Within each group, tickets are assigned in a round-robin sequence, ensuring:

• No one person is overloaded
  
• Tickets are answered faster
  
• Responsibilities are transparent
• Effectively and efficiently distribute workload amongst staff.
  

“We set up admin groups for different types of questions. They’re routed accordingly, and within each group, tickets are assigned round-robin style. This was an instant game changer for us.”
– Stephen Kudzin

Categorization, Merging & Visibility

SysAid enables the team to:

• Categorize incoming requests, ensuring they’re handled by the correct staff member.
  
• Merge multiple tickets from the same student to avoid duplicate responses.
  
• Reassign tickets if miscategorized, reducing friction and speeding up resolution.
  

“We can see if a student submits five requests and consolidate them. With email, we had no way of doing that.”
– Diane DiClementi, Business Analyst, Financial Aid

As Etienne explained, “The next step is creating tickets directly from the platform. You’ll just click a link,

Knowledge Base Integration

With thousands of articles developed in-house, the team uses SysAid’s knowledge base to accelerate responses.

“If I get the same question again and again, I just copy and paste the answer from our knowledge base. It’s a massive time-saver.”
– Diane DiClementi, Business Analyst, Financial Aid

The team emphasized that while some articles are outdated and need cleanup, the repository remains a vital resource for ensuring consistent communication and promoting self-service

The solution

Although SysAid is often used for IT support, the Financial Aid Office adopted it for student service management—a novel approach within higher education.

The team of 15–16 users, none with traditional IT backgrounds, fully replaced their inbox with a structured ticketing system, improving both internal workflows and the student experience.

Why SysAid?

The student-focused portal, designed with single sign-on, created a smooth transition away from email, making it easier for users to access and navigate the system. Staff were able to get fully up and running with minimal training, thanks to the platform’s low learning curve. Automation features such as smart routing, ticket merging, and categorization significantly reduced delays, while the integrated knowledge base, with quick access to canned responses, helped improve both consistency and response time.

“We set up admin groups for different types of questions. They’re routed accordingly, and within each group, tickets are assigned round-robin style.”
— Stephen Kudzin

Measurable results

Before the transition, all requests were submitted via unstructured email, with no way to track progress or follow up. Now, 100% of tickets come through a self-service portal, enabling full lifecycle tracking from submission to resolution. Response times, which previously stretched to weeks, have been reduced to days or less. Ticket routing has shifted from manual and inconsistent to an automated round-robin system that ensures faster and fairer distribution. Internal satisfaction has risen from a 3–4 out of 10 to an impressive 8.5–9, while student satisfaction has improved from 3–5 out of 10 to 7–8.

“This has improved both our internal efficiencies and external user experience. We’re far more accountable and responsive.”
— Sarah Wilkins

What’s next?

Although currently limited to the Financial Aid Office, the team sees strong potential for SysAid across the university—but cost remains a major barrier to expansion.

’d love to see a pricing model based on department size or a flat fee. Right now, cost is hindering a large-scale roll out
— Stephen Kudzin

They’re also exploring:

• AI-powered suggestions via SysAid Copilot
  
• The new portal UI for a refreshed student experience
  
• Using SysAid for HR, registrar services, or facilities
  

A potential chat interface—though campus tech policy may require adjustments

Final word

Despite initial challenges and a non-technical use case, SysAid provided the University at Albany’s Financial Aid Office with the necessary resources to completely transform its service delivery. With clear, measurable gains in responsiveness, efficiency, and student satisfaction, the university now runs a tighter, more transparent ship.