CSUSM modernizes student support with Dynamics 365 Contact Center

Across higher education, universities are working to deliver connected, consistent student support as engagement spans voice, chat, email, text, and web. When student data is spread across systems, maintaining context and delivering coordinated support at scale becomes harder.

California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) prioritizes student success and expanding access and retention, especially for first-generation learners. As engagement across channels grew, the university worked to deliver more consistent support. Disparate systems made it harder to maintain a unified view. CSUSM CIO Tony Chung explains, “Fragmentation creates invisible inequity. The burden shifts to the student to navigate complexity that should be managed by the institution.” He adds, “First-generation students should not have to decode the system to succeed.”

Dr. Tasos Lazarides, Director of Digital Transformation at CSUSM, saw the same issue. “You end up with multiple versions of the same student across systems, but no single, complete view,” he says. Connecting fragmented records helps AI to surface the right context at the right time, so teams can respond consistently across channels.

Angelica Garcia, a CSUSM student assistant, describes the earlier process as “having to go down different loopholes to find the correct information you need.” She also recalls “a lot of cutting in and out, a lot of hanging up and having to call again.” CSUSM aimed to create a more connected experience.

Unifying the student lifecycle with a connected platform

CSUSM implemented Microsoft Dynamics 365 Contact Center with Dynamics 365 Customer Service and Copilot Studio, with Dynamics 365 Customer Insights supporting outreach and engagement to unify conversations in one system of record.

Rather than adopting separate tools for each channel, CSUSM chose Microsoft to unify engagement, data, and AI on one platform, so context from every interaction is captured, shared, and applied across the student journey without added complexity. This approach connects data and workflows across systems, enabling AI to deliver consistent context across every interaction.

That new shared context is changing how teams work. When an issue needs escalation, Garcia explains, “The higher-up does have that information, so I don’t have to go through the whole process of explaining all over again.” Chung describes the decision as long-term: “We were not selecting a platform to solve a single problem. We were making a decision about how we want to operate over time.”

Delivering faster, more consistent support experiences

CSUSM is seeing improvements as teams build on this foundation. Garcia notes that time saved on calls helps the team respond faster. “Before, this hold could last up to 10 minutes,” she says. “Having Copilot transcription is really helpful. I can go back, read, and don’t have to ask students to repeat themselves.”

AI-generated summaries and transcripts capture context so interactions carry forward across channels, enabling continuous support across the lifecycle.

As AI automatically surfaces interaction context, teams spend less time piecing together information and more time responding to students. Garcia adds, “Emails previously would have taken about 48 hours. Now it’ll take about 24 hours,” noting students are “a lot happier and less frustrated.” The university is delivering more timely, connected support across the lifecycle. Chung emphasizes the outcome: “At its core, this is about scaling care. Students now receive support based on their needs, not just when they find the right office.”

As CSUSM evolves its platform, it’s unlocking new ways to deliver personalized, data-informed support at scale. For Dr. Lazarides, “Seeing it come to fruition—and all the AI tools that can make this actually work—is why I come to work every day.”

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