In this episode of Innovate Higher Ed, the podcast highlights the urgent need to automate financial aid processes in higher education. Financial aid operations are often manual, time-consuming, and error-prone, resulting in delays that negatively impact students and staff (Isaacman, 2018). To address this, automating key functions within Banner, including aid packaging, disbursement scheduling, SAP notifications, and compliance checks, aiming to improve accuracy, efficiency, and transparency (HEAG, 2023). Using change management strategies such as the 4 Disciplines of Execution and the Influencer Model, the team successfully reduced processing times by 40% and improved staff morale (HEAG, 2023). The podcast emphasizes that automation should not replace people but rather remove unnecessary stress and empower staff to focus on supporting students. As student expectations for digital services rise, higher education leaders must rethink outdated systems and commit to transformational change. 

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