Tambellini Group Spotlight

08/5/2025

Indiana University is Recognized for Innovation, Taking Home Tambellini’s $10,000 Future Campus Award

Irvington, Virginia — August 5, 2025 — Today, the Tambellini Group announced that Indiana University won the grand prize in Tambellini’s annual Future Campus Award™. The university was presented with the $10,000 cash prize and award at Tambellini’s Future Campus™ Summit in New York City. Tambellini also recognized California Lutheran University for elevating learning outcomes and experience, and Texas Christian University for enhancing operational effectiveness.

Tambellini established the Future Campus Award to honor innovative colleges and universities making meaningful progress toward building a more sustainable, efficient, and inclusive future by leveraging emerging technologies to transform learning, administration, and campus life. The 2025 awards celebrate institutions that have demonstrated radical agility—adapting to shifting conditions with speed and intention.

“It is our honor to recognize Indiana University’s sustained commitment to aligning emerging technology with innovative pedagogical strategies to measurably improve learning outcomes and both faculty and student experiences,” said Hampton Shive, Vice President of Research for Tambellini. “We’re also recognizing California Lutheran University and Texas Christian University for demonstrating exceptional strength in harnessing the power of cross-institution collaboration supported by technology for meaningful, mission-driven transformation,” said Shive.

Indiana University’s Holistic, Outcomes-Focused Approach Wins the Grand Prize

As a public research institution that enrolls nearly 90,000 undergraduate and graduate students across its nine campuses, Indiana University (IU), is advancing educational excellence and equity by scaling its Mosaic Active Learning Initiative. IU’s Mosaic Initiative, launched in 2014, is a long-term commitment to transforming education through integrating emerging technologies like augmented and virtual reality, artificial intelligence (AI), and learning analytics into active learning methodologies. Backed by a $10 million investment, IU is renovating classrooms, enhancing faculty development, and using real-time data to optimize its learning environments.

IU’s Mosaic Initiative is driven by cross-campus collaboration with two dedicated committees continually assessing outcomes and improving their alignment of classroom design, pedagogy, and faculty training. Anne Leftwich, Associate Vice President for Learning Technologies, explained how IU is designing an innovative AI platform that analyzes faculty course feedback and student outcomes to provide tailored active learning strategy recommendations that help faculty adapt their approaches. At the same time, the university is implementing comprehensive visioning sessions to guide faculty across disciplines in ethically integrating AI into course assignments, ensuring students strengthen their problem-solving capabilities and AI literacy to meet the demands of an evolving workforce.

With Mosaic’s holistic model, IU has significantly improved student outcomes. Notably, at IU Bloomington, rigorous analysis revealed that students in Mosaic classrooms are 38% more likely to avoid D, F, or withdrawal grades compared to traditional settings. IU’s faculty surveys have highlighted increased motivation, collaboration, and teaching effectiveness. As one IU faculty member put it, “Mosaic classrooms fundamentally changed my teaching approach, significantly increasing student participation and performance. I can better identify students’ learning needs and adjust accordingly.”

Cal Lutheran Elevates Learning Outcomes and Experience

California Lutheran University, a private institution enrolling approximately 3,400 undergraduate and graduate students, was awarded for demonstrating its measurable impact on learning outcomes and experience. Cal Lutheran is transforming digital experiences with a scalable, university-wide AI solution that empowers students, faculty, and staff across the institution, while protecting academic intellectual property and aligning with institutional data privacy and security standards.

In partnership with Entrinsik, Cal Lutheran has integrated Informer AI Assistants with business intelligence data and core university systems for enterprise resource planning, student information, learning management, and more. AI assistants are also embedded directly into the university’s portal and mobile app. Justin Barkhuff, Director of Enterprise Applications for Cal Lutheran, described how its AI initiative builds on its existing Digital Experience Platform (DXP), which seamlessly integrates business intelligence, third-party applications, a digital hub, and (now) generative AI Assistants. “This deep, comprehensive level of integration allows us to foresee and pursue opportunities which otherwise would not be possible. One of the most visible and successful parts of our DXP is MyCLU, our home-grown web portal and mobile app, which provides students, faculty, and staff with curated, personalized digital experiences. In the latest campus-wide computing survey, MyCLU received a 96% customer satisfaction rating, and among all campus software applications, its daily usage is second only to email,” said Barkhuff.

Cal Lutheran is advancing its integration of generative AI Assistants without hiring additional staff and maximizing its existing technology infrastructure to ensure long-term sustainability. Staff, faculty, and students leverage these AI assistants for practical operational improvements, such as automating the creation of student employee schedules to eliminate approximately 30 hours of repetitive tasks for supervisors annually. To improve course delivery and student learning, the university is piloting personalized 1-to-1 AI tutors and instructor assistants, and evaluating their impact on learning outcomes, AI literacy, and skills development. 

TCU Strengthens Operational Effectiveness

Texas Christian University (TCU), a private institution in Fort Worth Texas serving approximately 12,800 undergraduate and graduate students, was awarded for driving operational effectiveness. The university recently made a strategic shift to address challenges related to enrollment pressure, evolving student expectations, and digital complexity. Corey Reed, Director of Website Management for TCU, explained how TCU turned the university’s website search function from an overlooked utility into a mission-critical tool for access, inclusion, and engagement.

“The university redefined search as the connective tissue between institutional priorities and individual user needs. It’s our lens into student behavior, and our early warning system for content gaps and missed expectations,” said Reed. “We began treating search behavior as real-time student feedback that informs everything from academic program discovery to mental health resource visibility. Through smart analytics, targeted content strategies, and AI-assisted search tools, TCU’s digital experience now mirrors its in-person commitment to student support and belonging. This is agility with purpose: flexible, measurable, and centered on people,” said Reed.

TCU’s AI-powered website search platform has significantly enhanced the user experience, with click-through rates on search results reaching 55%, well above the industry benchmark of 35%. This data shows that TCU’s website visitors are finding what they need faster and with less frustration. Additionally, the new site search platform provides TCU with a dashboard reporting search volume, success, content gaps, and emerging needs, enabling a data-driven approach that helps TCU better understand and respond to its user community.

According to Reed, “We’ve built a feedback loop between search, support, and strategy that helps us remain responsive, responsible, and relevant.” TCU’s investment in analytics and smart-ranking tools is ensuring the university can continue to scale its approach with upcoming plans that include embedding search KPIs into web performance reviews, training staff across departments to interpret and act on search data, and using search trends to inform academic planning and digital resource allocation.

About the Future Campus Award

The Future Campus Award evolved from the Tambellini Technology Leadership Awards, which were established in 2015 to honor the achievements of higher education IT leaders and their teams. Over the past decade, significant changes in higher education technology and external forces have impacted institutions’ internal dynamics. Today, IT teams must collaborate institution-wide to ensure project and institutional success. The Future Campus Award celebrates this evolution, recognizing the collective efforts of colleges and universities.

About the Tambellini Group

The Tambellini Group, now part of MGT, has been the leading provider of unbiased and proprietary research and advisory services to higher education since 2001. Our mission is to equip educational institutions with the impartial insights, tools, and market predictions needed to make informed technology decisions while maximizing return-on-investment and constituent experience. We empower institutions to overcome challenges, seize opportunities, and pave the way toward a brighter future for higher education. For more information, visit us at thetambellinigroup.com.

About MGT

MGT is a national technology and advisory solutions leader serving state, local government, and education (SLED) clients. Our specialized solutions solve the most critical issues that live at the top of our client’s leadership agenda. Our advisory and technology domains are foundational elements in our approach to helping state and local governments innovate, transform, and manage efficiently. We partner to help clients strengthen their foundations, implement systematic changes, and build resilience for the future. MGT is committed to impacting communities for good. For more information, visit us at mgt.us.

For Media Inquiries

Tambellini Group
Giancarlo Montjoy
Giancarlo.Montjoy@thetambellinigroup.com

MGT
Tiffanie Reynolds
813-480-9749
treynolds@mgt.us

 

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