SAEO’s New Software Boosts Student Support
Aiming to enhance the experience for students who use its services, Student Accessibility and Educational Opportunity (SAEO) implemented a new software system in spring 2025.
The new system, called AIMS (Accessible Information Management System), was driven by ongoing assessment work, according to Dr. Chris Parthemos, associate director. “Our motivation to explore such a change was our ongoing assessment work, which was starting to offer a few very consistent points of feedback for us about how our portal was managing the interactive process — especially around the process of sharing student accommodation letters with faculty,” Parthemos said.
SAEO began exploring a new system in fall 2023, consulting with the Virginia Commonwealth University Procurement Office and the Division of Student Affairs (DSA) Information Technology team. Michael Miller, director of information technology for DSA, was instrumental in navigating the technical aspects. SAEO worked with IT to develop a sharing pattern between VCU’s systems and ensure AIMS connected to single sign-on and securely handled confidential student information. The system improves the student experience in key areas, including the intake process, uploading and downloading forms and letters, and communicating with SAEO team members.
Parthemos added that he believes most students will find AIMS more intuitive. “It is a simpler display for students, and has a very visible, front-and-center interface for the two most important things students need for us: requesting accommodations, and communicating with their case manager at SAEO,” he said.
SAEO involved students throughout the process. As the launch approached, a student intern evaluated the system and provided feedback, leading to the creation of new resources for students and faculty on how to navigate it.
Additionally, SAEO staff quickly learned AIMS. “There are aspects of our work it allows us to do much more quickly, though it is of course an adjustment,” Parthemos said. For example, AIMS allows SAEO to better organize students based on their progress and provide more targeted follow-up, such as emailing students who have been contacted but haven’t yet responded.
For faculty, SAEO aimed to keep the experience largely consistent. A significant request in the previous system, Accommodate, was for students to be able to send their accommodation letters directly to faculty. AIMS facilitates this by creating an email from the case manager to the faculty, with the student carbon copied. This simplifies starting conversations and helps faculty know who to contact for further support.
In the long run, AIMS offers additional features SAEO is eager to explore, including online student scheduling and the ability to individually tailor accommodations based on a class’s modality or category.
Student feedback has been positive. “Students have shared that the interface has been simpler to navigate, and it makes it more clear how to adjust their accommodation letters between courses as needed,” Parthemos said.
Thanks to the SAEO team’s efforts, students using SAEO services will find it much easier to utilize the resources and connect with the team moving forward.
Categories Annual Report Stories 2024-25