EdTech Connect: "Making Small Colleges Love Their Student Information Systems"
Host: Jeff Dillon
Guest: Dr. Jennifer Beyer, VP Product Management, Thesis
Release Date: August 15, 2025
Reached #4 on Apple Podcast Education Category
Episode Overview
This episode dives deep into the challenges and opportunities of student information systems (SIS) for small to mid-sized colleges and universities. Host Jeff Dillon is joined by Dr. Jennifer Beyer, VP of Product Management at Thesis, to discuss how modern SIS solutions can alleviate administrative pain points, empower staff, and enhance the student experience. Dr. Beyer brings her dual expertise in campus administration and edtech innovation to illuminate how purpose-built, cloud-based SIS technology is transforming higher ed—especially for institutions with limited resources.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Dr. Jennifer Beyer's Journey: From Campus to EdTech
[02:36]
- Dr. Beyer began her career as a campus tour guide and rose through various frontline roles, including Director of Enrollment Management at University of South Florida.
- Her experiences as a first-generation college student and former campus administrator strongly inform her approach to product development.
- She emphasizes access, fit, and employment of technology to scale solutions for common higher ed challenges.
“For me, access is really, really important. That is helping students to find the right fit, enabling staff so that they can guide students and do the work that they really want to be doing.”
— Dr. Jennifer Beyer [02:52]
2. Why Focus on Small to Mid-Sized Colleges?
[10:22]
- Small colleges have very distinct needs and resource limitations—often with IT teams of just a few people.
- Larger, legacy SIS solutions are resource-intensive, slow to implement, and require bigger IT footprints.
- Thesis Elements aims to deliver robust automation and scalability within reach for colleges with fewer resources, enabling full migration to a new SIS in about a year—a rapid feat in the SIS market.
“Our schools tend to have an IT office of three or four people ... having to run the institution and do this really big tech transformation. ... We are really good and have seen great success with our schools who are able to select the new software and be fully live and up and running on a brand new system in about a year. And that's pretty fast in the student information system world.”
— Dr. Jennifer Beyer [10:22]
3. Product Philosophy: Prioritizing Real User Needs
[13:19]
- Thesis’s development priorities are driven by direct engagement with its client community.
- Feature development, like their new student life module, comes from understanding distinct pain points (e.g., integrating billing for on- and off-campus housing).
- Commitment to “future-proofing” ensures that investments provide long-term value, adaptability, and efficiency for partner institutions.
“Ultimately, it starts with our clients. We spend a lot of time with our user community ... really understanding what are some of their biggest pain points, what are some of their challenges and what are some of their needs.”
— Dr. Jennifer Beyer [13:19]
4. The Evolution of EdTech & SIS: Modernization, AI, and Integration
[14:54], [26:26]
- The landscape now offers both comprehensive platforms and best-of-breed niche solutions. Integration and interoperability are paramount.
- Cloud adoption and AI are shifting institutional attitudes from skepticism about off-premises data (“Why would we ever put something in the cloud?” [09:16]) to a “race to the cloud” motivated by security, scalability, and efficiency.
- AI is viewed both as a transformative opportunity (personalization, targeted student support, essay assistance) and a potential pain point if it’s not accessible or secure.
“We’re foolish to not think about how it [AI] enables us to work smarter and use our resources more effectively... So it's, how do we really harness that power?”
— Dr. Jennifer Beyer [26:26]
5. Changing SIS Perceptions: From Dread to Delight
[16:44]
- SIS have a reputation for being cumbersome—Beyer is on a mission to flip the narrative:
- Prioritize usability (reducing clicks, visualizing data, user feedback loops).
- Cultivate partnerships with like-minded specialist vendors for better integration.
- Center user and student experience above all.
“Nobody likes their SIS. Everybody likes to complain about it. And we really are on a campaign and on a mission at Thesis with Elements to really help our schools be delighted with the solution. And I really want them to be wearing shirts genuinely that say, I love my SIS.”
— Dr. Jennifer Beyer [16:44]
6. The Student Lifecycle: Bridging Gaps with Technology
[18:27]
- Institutions collect student data during admissions but often fail to use that data throughout the student lifecycle (onboarding, progression, advancement).
- The challenge is creating seamless, ongoing personalization and support with technology.
“That idea of we know you so well, and then when you get here, we kind of have forgotten everything about you and make you try to navigate that again ... So I think that’s a big disconnect.”
— Dr. Jennifer Beyer [18:27]
7. Leadership & Team-Building in Global EdTech
[20:50]
- Successful tech teams need curiosity, cultural fit, and the courage to experiment (and fail).
- Leaders should provide clear guardrails, then “get the heck out of their way” so talent can thrive—even across international lines.
8. Data-Informed, Human-Centered Product Development
[22:29]
- Mix quantitative analytics (user metrics, software engagement) with direct feedback and shadowing to understand context and drive actionable stories.
- Business acumen (MBA) and educational expertise (EdD) inform a holistic, value-driven approach to product leadership.
9. Practical Advice for Institutional Change Agents
[28:39]
- Focus on who your institution is best equipped to serve and don’t get distracted by the “shiny new thing.”
- Meaningful change is incremental—keep your mission and audience at the center.
“It is really easy to get distracted by something shiny or something new or a suggestion that comes out of left field... meaningful change isn’t an overnight thing. It happens over time.”
— Dr. Jennifer Beyer [28:39]
Memorable Quotes
-
“I had sworn, Jeff, earlier in my career that I was never, ever going to work on SIS because they are boring and hard and nobody likes us ... And we really are on a campaign and on a mission at Thesis with Elements to really help our schools be delighted with the solution.” — Dr. Jennifer Beyer [16:44]
-
“Personalization at scale. Right. That’s the challenge.” — Dr. Jennifer Beyer [20:14]
-
“Sometimes ... I'm really excited to talk about our new student life module, which is awesome and great, but people are like, oh yeah, you reduced two clicks in this task that I did every day. And that's what people are excited about ... So, yeah, search bars, reducing clicks, you know, it's those, like, know your audience and deliver what they need.” — Dr. Jennifer Beyer [30:14]
Notable Timestamps
- 02:36 — Personal journey, access, and the student experience
- 10:22 — Why small & mid-sized colleges? Implementation/resource realities
- 13:19 — User-driven development and feature prioritization
- 14:54 — The evolving SIS/edtech landscape, AI & security
- 16:44 — Rebranding the SIS: from pain to delight
- 18:27 — Bridging student lifecycle gaps with tech
- 20:50 — Building and empowering global product teams
- 22:29 — Data-informed, human-centered strategy
- 26:26 — Emerging tech: AI, cloud, and compliance
- 28:39 — Advice for change agents in higher ed
Conclusion
This episode delivers a lively, grounded look at how student information systems for small and mid-sized colleges can (and should) move from institutional headache to genuine asset. With a mix of stories, strategic advice, and candid reflection, Dr. Jennifer Beyer spotlights what’s possible when you build for the real needs of campus users—always with an eye on both technological and human impact.