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Ellucian’s 2025 Impact Awards Celebrate Higher Education Changemakers and Innovations for Student Success

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Institutions recognized across four categories for exploring new horizons in higher education technology

RESTON, Va. and ORLANDO, Fla., April 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Ellucian, the leading higher education technology solutions provider, announced the winners of its seventh annual Impact Awards at Ellucian Live, the industry’s premier technology conference. The annual Ellucian Impact Awards recognize higher education leaders who leverage Ellucian’s innovative technology solutions to achieve better outcomes for students and their institutions.

“This year’s Impact Award winners and finalists have demonstrated remarkable ingenuity and dedication to transforming institutional operations and initiatives,” said Laura Ipsen, President and CEO, Ellucian. “The innovative applications of Ellucian solutions demonstrated by our award winners are making a significant impact on students, faculty, staff, and overall institutional resiliency. Their achievements underscore the profound impact that technology can have on higher education, and we are proud to celebrate their success.”

2025 Ellucian Impact Award-winning institutions will each receive $25,000 award recognizing achievements across four categories, including Students First, Unlocking the Power of Data, Excellence in SaaS Modernization, and Institutional Agility.

The four 2025 Ellucian Impact Award Winners are:

Students First

Fayetteville State University — Fayetteville, N.C.
Fayetteville State University (FSU), a prominent Historically Black College and University (HBCU) dedicated to promoting student financial success, has introduced a range of solutions aimed at optimizing the financial aid process. The university went beyond standard student award emails by adding enrollment resources and ensuring adherence to College Cost Transparency Initiative standards. In just three months, FSU achieved a 62% open rate for the 2025 aid year, logged 493 uses of the net price calculator, and handled 462 Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) appeals, which contributed to a deeper understanding of prospective students’ needs and interests. With Ellucian, FSU streamlined its operations, enhanced data accuracy, and improved communication with students, resulting in the issuance of, as of November 2024, 2,948 aid letters. This integration also fostered better faculty engagement, ultimately leading to improved enrollment, retention, and completion rates.

Unlocking the Power of Data

Muskegon Community College — Muskegon, Mich.
Leveraging data from Ellucian solutions, Muskegon Community College (MCC) created the JayHawk Hub to address challenges in resource allocation and support to aid underserved students. JayHawk addresses critical non-academic barriers preventing student success, such as food insecurity, housing challenges, and financial instability. What makes this initiative unique is the use of real-time engagement tracking enabled by Ellucian Colleague SaaS and Ellucian CRM Advise. Using these tools, MCC can identify at-risk students based on key indicators such as financial aid status, academic performance, and attendance patterns. Data from measuring student interaction with JayHawk Hub resources enabled MCC to provide support based on student demands, reinforce their reputation as a student-centered college, secure additional funding, and strengthen community partnerships. For many students, the JayHawk Hub was a deciding factor in staying enrolled and it has contributed to higher retention, persistence, and course success rates across the College.

Excellence in SaaS Modernization

Kaskaskia College — Centralia, Ill.
Kaskaskia College (KC) is recognized for excellence in SaaS modernization through its transition from their on-premises system to Colleague SaaS. After migrating to SaaS, the college successfully automated manual processes and eliminated hardware, leading to significant cost savings and increased productivity among staff and faculty. No longer needing to spend time on patches, updates, security fixes, and supporting the software bridges of third-party systems, KC’s IT department is saving 40-60 hours a week and can now focus on strategic mission initiatives including deployment of new solutions to enhance the campus experience. Kaskaskia saved $471,000 annually in infrastructure costs by eliminating on-premises servers, software licenses, and disaster recovery software. Additionally, their strategic use of analytics through Ellucian Insights has allowed for more effective data-driven decision-making, enabling KC to refine course and program offerings, aligning them with student interests and market demands.

Institutional Agility

Montgomery College — Rockville, Md.
As a Hispanic-serving institution, Montgomery College has demonstrated institutional agility by modernizing to Banner SaaS. This transition is expected to help the college navigate evolving challenges in higher education while achieving a 10% reduction in technology infrastructure costs, a 10% reduction in time on completing manual work, an 80% reduction in IT time spent on system maintenance, and a 20% reduction in cybersecurity insurance costs. Montgomery’s new platform has also had a profound impact on operational efficiency and productivity, streamlining processes such as registration and financial aid processing and reducing the time faculty and staff spend on administrative tasks. With SaaS, Montgomery is improving outcomes and revenue generation through a smoother path to enrollment.

For more information on Ellucian solutions, visit: https://www.ellucian.com/solutions/all-products.

ABOUT ELLUCIAN
Ellucian powers innovation for higher education, partnering with more than 2,900 customers across 50 countries, serving 20 million students. Ellucian’s AI-powered platform, trained on the richest dataset available in higher education, drives efficiency, personalized experiences, and strengthened engagement for students, faculty and staff. Fueled by decades of experience with a singular focus on the unique needs of learning institutions, the Ellucian platform features best-in-class SaaS capabilities and delivers insights needed now and into the future. These solutions and services span the entire student lifecycle, including data-rich tools for student recruitment, enrollment, and retention to workforce analytics, fundraising, and alumni engagement. Ellucian’s innovative solutions, vast ecosystem of partners and user community of more than 45,000 provides best practices leading to greater institutional success and achieving better student outcomes.

Media Contact
Jess Weston
Jess.Weston@Ellucian.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ellucians-2025-impact-awards-celebrate-higher-education-changemakers-and-innovations-for-student-success-302424675.html

SOURCE Ellucian

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America’s Largest Political Group Is Getting Its Own Election Night

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October 26, 2026

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A record 45% of Americans identify with neither party. On November 3, they get the first nationally televised Election Night built around the independent voter bloc, presented by United Independents, the organization behind the Independent National Convention, in partnership with DeFiance Media.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Can the country’s largest bloc of voters turn identity into representation? Independents now make up 45% of U.S. adults, a record high in Gallup’s 2025 data, yet partisan coverage continues to dominate mainstream mediums. On November 3, one broadcast will cover the election from the Independent point of view.

Broadcast live from the National Press Club’s television studio in Washington, D.C. Election Night 2026: Independent Edition is an eight-hour program hosted by Christopher Life, founder and CEO of United Independents, and Macy Gunnell, NewsForce’s White House correspondent. DeFiance Media will be producing and streaming the broadcast.

Built on live election data from The Associated Press (AP), the program will call the national races as the returns come in. Then it goes where other broadcasts don’t: race-by-race coverage of independent candidates in consequential congressional contests, and guest conversations with the strategists and organizers behind them.

Built for the Voters Both Parties Are Chasing

Two generations of Americans have come of age as independent voters, and in 74 years of nationally televised Election Night broadcasts, not one has been built around them. This one is: national results and the balance of power, dedicated coverage of the independent candidates who could tip the next Congress, and a live chat with selected viewer questions put to the hosts and guests on air.

Open to Every Newsroom

Television pool feed. U.S. television outlets, including local stations, can carry the program live, in full or in part, separate from DeFiance Media’s full-program streaming.Social streaming. The broadcast streams through participating social media partners. Channels that want to carry it can sign up at Election2026.live.Live clips and excerpts. Newsrooms, commentators, and creators can pull portions of the program for reporting and social distribution while the broadcast is underway.

Request access through the Media & Distribution Access Form at Election2026.live.

Free and Accessible Nationwide

Going live Tuesday, November 3rd, 2026, from 6 PM- 2 AM ET. Updates, guest announcements, and viewing instructions: Election2026.live.

Media Contact

Shaun Saunders
shaun@graffiticreativegroup.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/americas-largest-political-group-is-getting-its-own-election-night-302919753.html

SOURCE DeFiance Media

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Pianist Michael Weinstein Wins Best Social Media Music Collaborations at the 2026 Vega Awards

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October 26, 2026

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With more than a million followers across social media, Weinstein’s piano collaborations bring together vocalists from around the world to create unique musical performances and reach new audiences.

SOUTH SALEM, N.Y., Oct. 26, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Pianist, entrepreneur and social media creator Michael Weinstein has been recognized at the 2026 Vega Digital Awards in the Social Media Collaboration category for his music collaboration series, Piano Sessions: Bringing Voices Together Through Music.

“I love collaborating with talented singers including building friendships that have become just as meaningful as the music itself.”

Weinstein has built a social media audience of more than a million followers across TikTok, Instagram and other platforms by sharing piano performances and collaborations with singers from around the world. His videos feature vocalists performing alongside his piano accompaniment, creating intimate musical performances that showcase each artist’s individual talent and style.

While Weinstein has spent much of his professional career building businesses and marketing consumer brands, music has always remained one of his greatest passions.

“Music has always been a huge part of my life and one of the things I enjoy most is collaborating with other musicians,” said Weinstein. “I’ve had the opportunity to work with so many incredibly talented singers and I love being able to play alongside them and create something special together. It’s also rewarding to introduce these artists to new audiences while building relationships and friendships that have become just as meaningful as the music itself.”

An accomplished pianist and keyboardist, Weinstein has collaborated with an impressive range of vocalists, including artists who have performed and recorded with Maroon 5, Sting, John Legend, Alicia Keys, Usher, Lauryn Hill and Jill Scott. He has also collaborated with standout performers from American Idol, America’s Got Talent and The Voice.

Weinstein is also planning a live concert in New York City in 2027, bringing together several of the talented vocalists featured on his social media channels for a special collaborative performance. Additional details will be announced in the coming months.

Outside of music, Weinstein is the Founder and CEO of JAM Direct, a marketing and advertising agency, and former Chief Marketing Officer of Allstar Products Group, where he was responsible for marketing some of the most successful products in “As Seen On TV” history, including the Snuggie, ShamWow and Shake Weight.

Watch Michael Weinstein’s performances here:

https://linktr.ee/mweinsteinmusic

About the Vega Digital Awards

The Vega Digital Awards is an international competition recognizing excellence in social media, digital marketing and brand strategy. Judged by the International Awards Associate (IAA), the competition honors work that demonstrates innovation, effectiveness and measurable impact across the global marketing landscape.

Media Contact

Michael Weinstein, JAM Direct, 1 9146610053, mw@jamdirect.com, https://michaelweinstein.me/

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prweb.com/releases/pianist-michael-weinstein-wins-best-social-media-music-collaborations-at-the-2026-vega-awards-302919551.html

SOURCE JAM Direct

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Technology

Landis+Gyr Secures Major Contract with Leading US Utility

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2 hours ago

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October 26, 2026

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CHAM, Switzerland and ALPHARETTA, Ga., Oct. 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Landis+Gyr Group AG (SIX: LAND), a global energy technology leader driving intelligent innovation across the grid, today announced that it has secured a major contract with a leading US investor-owned electric utility. The agreement covers more than 3 million advanced metering endpoints.

Under the agreement, Landis+Gyr will provide Revelo meters and associated network and head-end system technologies, complemented by advanced security solutions, premium support, and software maintenance and services. The deployment is expected to advance the utility’s grid modernization objectives by enhancing security, grid visibility and operational performance.

“This important win reflects the strong momentum of our Grid Edge Intelligence portfolio and the trust customers place in Landis+Gyr to support large-scale grid modernization programs. By combining advanced metering, integrated technology, security and support capabilities, we look forward to helping this utility enhance grid visibility, reliability and operational performance,” said Peter Mainz, Chief Executive Officer of Landis+Gyr.

About Landis+Gyr

Landis+Gyr is a global energy technology leader, delivering intelligent solutions that connect devices, data, and decisions across the grid. Trusted by more than 2,000 utilities worldwide, we transform traditional devices into intelligent, networked sensors, giving utilities real-time grid visibility and system control. With these combined insights, electric, gas, and water companies can anticipate demand, optimize operations, and deliver energy that’s more reliable, resilient, accessible, safe, and sustainable for everyone. For more information, please visit our website www.landisgyr.com.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/landisgyr-secures-major-contract-with-leading-us-utility-302919687.html

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