FSU's Dr. Pamela Baldwin and Vincent Harris Jr. accepted the annual Ellucian Impact Award for Fayetteville State University and a $25,000 prize for the University from company President and Chief Executive Officer Laura Ipsen on April 9 at the Ellucian Live Technology Conference in Orlando, Florida.

Awards were given in four categories. Fayetteville State won the coveted "Students First" category for its stellar results in communicating and outreach to students seeking scholarships and other financial aid.

"I'm really proud of the team for continuing to meet students where they are – and spreading knowledge about the financial aid and scholarship process," said MBA and Executive Director of Scholarships and Financial Aid Harris in a press release. 

He and Baldwin offer a special thanks to Heather Adner, the Associate Director of Scholarships and Financial Aid, for her leadership, work in utilizing the Ellucian software, and help telling the University's compelling success story in their nomination for the award. 

Ellucian is a software and technology tools provider for higher education, partnering with over 2,900 customers across 50 countries and serving 20 million students. The FSU's Scholarships & Financial Aid office team crafted a narrative that outlined their impressive results using Ellucian. In short, they had gone from a slow paper system to speedy, high-tech efficiency.

The University, their submission pointed out, went beyond standard student award emails by adding enrollment resources and ensuring adherence to College Cost Transparency Initiative standards. In just three months, FSU achieved a 62 percent (email) open rate for the 2025 aid year, logged 493 uses of the net price calculator, and handled 462 Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) appeals, which contributed to a deeper understanding of prospective students' needs and interests.

With Ellucian, FSU streamlined its operations, enhanced data accuracy and improved communication with students, issuing 2,948 aid letters as of November 2024. This integration fostered better faculty engagement, improving enrollment, retention and completion rates.

"What Fayetteville State University has achieved is truly inspiring, and we are proud to recognize them as a 2025 Ellucian Impact Award Winner," said  Ellucian's President/CEO Laura Ipsen in a press release. "By taking a thoughtful, student-first approach to financial aid and leveraging Ellucian solutions, FSU made the process clearer and more transparent. Their results – a 62 percent open rate and nearly 500 uses of their net price calculator – show how technology can open doors and drive real impact."