Page 21 - OIT Progress Report: 2025 Edition

Cayuse
In February 2024, the Office of Research and OIT jointly
launched the implementation of Cayuse, a cloud-based research
administration platform. Cayuse is designed to manage
proposals, grants, contracts, and compliance workflows,
while integrating seamlessly with the data in my.SMU to
establish a unified system of record. This comprehensive
solution will strengthen data accuracy, reduce duplication, and
reinforce compliance and auditability. The full solution will be
implemented in five phases with the first phase scheduled to
launch in late 2025.
Continuous Improvement for
SMU’s Online Presence
Over the past year, the Web Applications Team completed
several high-impact web migrations, moving major sites such as
Dedman College, the Cox School of Business, and the Simmons
School of Education to the new campuswide design framework.
This modernization project ensured that key academic and
administrative resources now share a unified look and improved
usability, benefiting students, faculty, and staff alike. To support
web authors and editors across campus, the team also provided
expanded services such as customized Sitecore training,
WordPress and Google Analytics consultations, and tailored
guidance on search engine optimization and web accessibility.
One major innovation was the launch of the SMU Academic
Program Directory. The directory was developed through
collaboration with the Registrar, University Decision Support,
and the Marketing team. The directory quickly moved up to the
top 25 most popular smu.edu pages and has been viewed over
80,000 times since launch. It allows prospective students and
other users to efficiently filter and search all degree offerings by
program type and other criteria, creating a centralized location
for academic information. The directory is regularly updated
based on official accreditation data, ensuring accuracy across
listings.
To strengthen the SMU website’s performance in search engine
rankings, the team also implemented an important update to
Sitecore’s underlying configuration. This change standardized
internal website links to use lowercase URLs, a best practice
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