DeVry University modernizes academic appeals through automated, student‑centric digital workflows

Industry: Education
Location: Downers Grove, Illinois
Organization size: 7,000+ employees
Hyland solutions: Perceptive Content

DeVry University manages more than 2,000 academic appeals each year through its Student Online Appeals Process (SOAP) for students facing dismissal, where faster decisions can help students re-enter their programs. To replace a manual, email-driven workflow, DeVry automated SOAP end to end with Hyland Perceptive Content™ integrated with its student portal and mobile app, plus Salesforce CRM and AI-powered plagiarism detection — creating a streamlined, student-centric experience that speeds review, improves self-service and delivers more transparent outcomes for students and staff.

Previously, DeVry received appeals through a shared inbox and tracked them manually on a first-come, first-served basis. The approach was inefficient, offered limited visibility into status and required heavy manual handling. Students also couldn’t submit appeals through the portal they used every day, creating friction and delays during a high-stakes moment.

DeVry needed an integrated solution to automate intake, standardize review and accelerate decision-making. It also wanted to verify originality in appeal plans, improve cross-system data sharing and maintain an audit trail for compliance and reporting.

DeVry implemented an automated SOAP with Perceptive Content hosted on AWS, and connected to the student portal through a secure custom API. Students now submit appeals in the portal or mobile app using structured forms and secure document uploads. Each submission automatically receives a unique Appeal ID and is indexed in Perceptive Content using standardized criteria for consistent processing and easy retrieval.

The portal integrates Winston AI for plagiarism detection, giving students real-time feedback so they can revise plans before submitting. After submission, appeal data flows to Salesforce CRM, where colleagues manage review and outreach, with direct links to Perceptive Content for instant access to supporting documents.

Together, these integrations eliminate manual handoffs and create a unified, automated workflow for students and staff.

Automated SOAP has reduced about 6,000 hours of annual labor — an estimated $180,000 in savings — by removing manual touchpoints and redundant tasks. Appeals are easier to prioritize, track and report on, improving queue management and turnaround times.

For students, mobile submission, real-time AI feedback, automated notifications and clearer status visibility reduce friction and speed resolution. For colleagues, centralized documents, automated communications and stronger reporting streamline decisions and strengthen compliance through a complete audit trail.

Building on SOAP’s success, DeVry plans to expand secure document uploads in the student portal with automated integration into Perceptive Content. This will support additional self-service scenarios, reduce administrative effort and help students submit critical documents quickly and consistently. As DeVry evolves its digital ecosystem, Perceptive Content will remain a core platform for improving efficiency, accuracy and outcomes at scale.