Problem
Poor inventory tracking and inefficient process management
SUNY Empire State University, a member of the State University of New York system, faced increasing administrative complexity while supporting personalized education for adult learners and working professionals across online and in-person programs. Supporting the development and revision of 300–400 online courses annually, the university faced increasing operational strain. The complexity of managing academic timelines, stakeholder collaboration, and course lifecycle tracking outgrew the capabilities of their previous platform, Airtable.
With thousands of records, varied permission levels, and distributed teams of instructional designers, technologists, and faculty, the system struggled to maintain visibility, intake logic, and streamlined approvals. Manual processes introduced bottlenecks and inconsistencies, while fragmented views caused delays and miscommunication. Procurement constraints also necessitated a shift away from Airtable, adding urgency to the need for a scalable replacement.
To support growing demand and tight academic timelines, SUNY Empire required a robust, low-code platform that could centralize course development, enforce structured workflows, and adapt to the evolving needs of a highly collaborative academic environment.
Q1
Solution
Centralizing operations and automating workflows in SmartSuite
SUNY Empire adopted SmartSuite to consolidate, restructure, and streamline its academic operations. The implementation focused on migrating mission-critical data from Airtable while redesigning core workflows to fit SmartSuite’s solution-based structure. The transition, completed in under a week, preserved essential data and relationships without disrupting ongoing services. SmartSuite's enhanced support model was a significant improvement, providing consistent guidance throughout the migration.
Leveraging relational tables, linked records, and custom forms with SmartDocs, the team replicated essential functionality and enhanced clarity. Nearly 50 automations were built to facilitate intake routing, QA assignments, and status tracking, significantly reducing manual tasks. SmartSuite's dashboard-centric approach empowered role-specific views for designers, administrators, and faculty partners, increasing adoption and improving data visibility.
The custom-built solution features over ten tables functioning as a central hub for tracking course development, revisions, assignments, and communication. Linked records allow for tracking revisions of over 800 courses, detailing responsibilities, historical data, subject matter experts, and project timelines. Faculty members have shared views to monitor course progress, while team members manage their individual assignments seamlessly.
SmartSuite's permissions model enabled SUNY Empire to restrict access at the solution and field levels, enhancing security and relevance for individual users. The design of field-level permissions and dashboards simplified managing academic complexity, making it intuitive for both internal and external stakeholders.
Q2
Results
Improved efficiency, collaboration, and data-driven decision making
The transition enabled SUNY Empire to modernize its course management processes, cutting down on friction, duplication, and administrative overhead. The new SmartSuite-powered setup supports both operational efficiency and strategic oversight, enabling the team to meet academic timelines while maintaining accuracy and compliance.
Over 20 instructional designers and technologists collaborate daily within SmartSuite, with more than 100 faculty members engaging with forms and dashboards across multiple academic programs. The structured design reduced support queries, streamlined audits, and allowed for quicker updates to project stages, intake logic, and deliverable timelines.
The implementation laid the groundwork for scalable course operations and established a foundation for long-term digital transformation within academic services.
Q3
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