Ball State University Receives EAB Technology Pioneer Award for Innovation in Student Success

Topics: Awards, Faculty, Students

August 31, 2026

Ball State University has been named the recipient of EAB's 2026 Technology Pioneer Award, recognizing the University's innovative use of technology to strengthen student success and provide more coordinated, proactive support for students.

The Technology Pioneer Award recognizes institutions that are leading the way in their use of EAB technology, including those that implement new tools or use existing platforms in innovative ways. EAB selected Ball State in particular for its integration of EAB Navigate360 with Canvas, the University's learning management system, as well as its broader, evolving approach to using Navigate360 to advance student success.

"Technology can tell us a great deal about where a student may be struggling, but the real value comes from what we do with that information," said Dr. Jason Rivera, vice provost for student success and dean of University College. "Our approach to student success is grounded in a simple idea: students are more likely to thrive when they are connected to people who know them, care about their progress, and can help them navigate challenges. What has made the difference at Ball State is the way faculty, advisors, student success professionals, and technology partners have worked together to make those connections happen."

Ball State began implementing Navigate360 in Spring 2022, with full implementation that Fall. Since then, the University has steadily expanded use of the platform as part of a coordinated student-support network involving faculty, academic advisors, student success professionals, Information Technology staff, and other campus partners.

Among those efforts, Ball State has developed a coordinated schedule of alerts and progress-reporting campaigns throughout each semester, giving faculty additional opportunities to identify students who may benefit from academic or other support. The University also uses Navigate360 to collect midterm grades and help coordinate appropriate follow-up.

In Spring 2026, Ball State further enhanced that work through an integration between Navigate360 and Canvas. The integration simplified faculty participation in progress reporting while giving the University a more connected view of students' academic engagement and progress.

Faculty participation in the Spring 2026 midterm progress-reporting campaign exceeded 90 percent. Faculty submitted approximately 9,600 at-risk progress reports during the semester. Among reports for which both midterm and final grade data were available, 43 percent showed an improved grade by the end of the semester. Among 9,163 progress reports containing letter grades that could be converted to grade-point values, students improved by an average of 0.47 GPA points from midterm to the end of the semester.

"The success of this work has depended on people across Ball State coming together around a common objective: making it easier to support our students," said Alissa Goldsworthy, project manager and system analyst in Ball State's Enterprise Project Management Office. "Integrating Navigate360 and Canvas required us to think carefully about how faculty use these systems, how information moves between them, and how we could make that process more useful and efficient. The result is technology that better supports the people doing this work every day and helps the University respond to students in a more timely and coordinated way."

Ball State's approach supports priorities outlined in Destination 2040: Our Flight Path, the University's long-term strategic plan. Among its strategic imperatives, Ball State is committed to engaging faculty and staff in comprehensive student-success strategies that provide a relationship-rich experience for undergraduate students and to strategically aligning people, processes, and technology to support academic excellence and institutional effectiveness.

EAB's Connected Awards-previously known as the Student Success Collaborative Awards-recognize leaders and institutions advancing student success and institutional goals through thoughtful strategy, collaboration, and effective use of technology.

Ball State will be recognized during CONNECTED26, EAB's annual conference for higher education leaders, Oct. 26-28 in Orlando, Fla. Dr. Rivera and Ms. Goldsworthy are also expected to share Ball State's implementation strategy with conference participants, including the University's integration of Navigate360 and Canvas and its broader approach to coordinated student support.