St. John’s University
Main Location: Queens, New York City, New York
Type: Private, 4 year / Graduate University
Campuses: 3
Students: ~19,691
Faculty/Staff: ~1,410
Undergraduate Programs: 100+
Graduate Programs: 18+
Founded: 1870
Download PDF

From Wild West to Well-Oiled Machine: Transforming Legacy Chaos into Streamlined Reporting

Automated award letters, cutting days of manual work and weekends
Developed 100+ DataBlocks, 1,200+ reports, and multiple OLAP cubes
Empowered users with interactive dashboards providing instant access to real-time data exploration

The Challenge

Before implementing Argos, St. John’s University faced a complex and fragmented reporting landscape. Over the years, reporting practices had become decentralized, inconsistent, and highly reliant on outdated tools, most notably Microsoft Access and Oracle Hyperion/Brio. With no centralized standards, reporting varied widely across departments, often leading to conflicting results, questionable data integrity, and significant security concerns.

“Before Argos, it was a hoarder’s closet and probably your worst nightmare. The reporting landscape in Microsoft Access and Oracle Hyperion/Brio had become the Wild West.”
Maura Woods

Associate Vice President of Information Technology, St. John's University

The university had attempted to modernize in the past with other systems, but adoption was minimal, and reporting remained siloed and difficult to scale. Leadership began feeling pressure to establish stronger data governance, especially as institutional priorities shifted toward evidence-based decision-making and compliance demands increased.

The tipping point came during their transition to Ellucian Banner SaaS. Not only was Microsoft Access and Oracle Hyperion/Brio no longer viable with the new architecture, but the university’s existing approach couldn’t support the growing need for secure, reliable, and accessible data across departments.

The Solution

Recognizing this opportunity, St. John’s strategically included Evisions Argos in their SaaS contract. Although they had never used Argos before, they were drawn to its proven success across Higher Education and its reputation for ease of use, data security, and institutional fit. The university also partnered closely with Evisions Professional Services to build core DataBlocks and guide a structured rollout.

“We needed something reliable, something we knew other schools had success with. Argos gave us that confidence from day one.”
Maura Woods

Associate Vice President of Information Technology, St. John's University

The implementation was methodical and intentional. Training began in May 2023, followed by a year-long process of meeting with business units to assess reporting needs, reduce redundancy, and define business requirements. Departments were encouraged to “clean out the closet”; a full inventory of legacy reports was conducted, surfacing thousands of reports with inaccurate tables, fields and logic. The focus shifted to creating consistent, validated views of institutional data.

A robust security model was also built using Banner roles integrated with Okta, ensuring that users only saw the data relevant to their function. Argos folders were mapped accordingly (e.g., student, finance, HR), giving users clarity and confidence while allowing central teams to maintain control over access and definitions.

Among the most impactful changes was the transformation of the financial aid award letter process, which previously required two teams, several days, and even weekend work. The new approach bypasses the legacy letter generation entirely: data is now pulled directly from Ellucian Insights into Argos, formatted as multi-page PDFs, and automatically stored in BDM (Banner Document Management). Revised letters are also version-controlled and shared through Slate, giving students and families real-time access.

“They used to print everything out of Access, and then the letters were just gone. Now they’re stored, retrievable, and even available to students in Slate before they’ve deposited.”
Maura Woods

Associate Vice President of Information Technology, St. John's University

The Results

St. John’s University has seen meaningful transformation across both operations and culture:

  • Award letter automation has eliminated multi-day manual processes and weekend work.
  • More than 100 DataBlocks, 1,200 reports, and several OLAP cubes have been developed and are actively tracked to support cross-functional reporting needs.
  • Interactive dashboards, parameters, and OLAP cubes empower users to explore data with ad hoc visualizations, adjusting views on the fly for richer, more detailed understanding.
  • Users are increasingly empowered, with functional teams owning their reporting strategy and schedules.
  • Reporting and definitions have been standardized, reducing confusion and conflicting outputs.
  • Security and governance have improved through role-based access mapped via Argos and Okta.
  • The student experience has been enhanced with earlier and easier access to key financial documents.

Departments are now beginning to explore the next phase of reporting, moving from transactional to strategic. Dashboards for enrollment trends, retention, and other forward-looking analytics are on the horizon.

“Sharing an OLAP cube with one of our college deans was incredibly rewarding, especially when they remarked, ‘I’ve been waiting for a tool like this for years.’ We were able to demonstrate interactively year over year program trends by various dimensions with the click of the mouse.”
Jacqueline Clemente-Papadopoulos

Director Business Transformation & Customer Success, St. John's University

“We’ve done a phenomenal amount of work when you sit back and look at what’s been inventoried. And now that people are trained and engaged, they’re finally saying, ‘We don’t need everything, we just need the right things.’”
Maura Woods

Associate Vice President of Information Technology, St. John's University

The Future

While much of the early work has focused on rebuilding foundational reports, leadership at St. John’s is excited about what comes next. With Argos in place, they’re not only modernizing systems; they’re redefining their data culture. The transformation continues, driven by empowered users, reliable tools, and a strategic partner committed to their success.