Case Study: California State University achieves seamless IT project tracking and on-time return of 240 employees with Smartsheet

California State University Seamlessly Tracks IT Projects and Helps Employees Return to Office Safely with Smartsheet

The California State University (CSU), the largest four‑year public university system in the U.S., faced fragmented IT workflows—relying on email and shared files that made project tracking, salary reviews, and internal communication slow and error‑prone. The IT team was also tasked with coordinating a rapid return‑to‑office (RTO) effort to move 240 employees back into campus offices within two months, which required streamlined coordination of seating, equipment, and infrastructure.

CSU implemented Smartsheet as a single project‑management platform—using automated workflows, dashboards, Dynamic View seating maps, and centralized sheets to track equipment and approvals. As a result, the team completed the RTO on schedule, saved about 30 hours per month (avoiding two additional hires), increased salary‑review approvals from roughly 10–15% to 75–80%, and drove broader adoption across university departments.

California State University

Karen Malone

Operations Analyst for IT