Case Study: California State University San Marcos streamlines scholarship management and donor stewardship with AcademicWorks

California State University San Marcos - Customer Case Study

California State University San Marcos was growing quickly, but its scholarship process was still largely paper-based: applications, reviews, awards, and student thank-you letters were all handled manually, making it hard for the university to track communications and steward donors effectively. The school turned to AcademicWorks to help move away from handwritten workflows and centralize scholarship and donor information.

AcademicWorks implemented a shared database and streamlined workflow connecting Financial Aid, Development, Stewardship, and Finance, allowing each team to manage its part of the process while keeping a complete record of scholarships and donor relationships. The result was far better coordination, easier student applications, and stronger donor communication; Mike Hele used the system to send 125 impact reports for 125 donor-funded scholarships, showing clear gains in stewardship efficiency and transparency.

California State University San Marcos

Mike Helé

Director