Cornell’s Path to a More Connected Future through CEMI
“The whole point of CEMI is to improve the way people experience Cornell’s processes and technology,” said Curtis Cole, Vice President and Chief Global Information Officer, as he kicked off a February 18, 2026 Town Hall on the Cornell Experience Modernization Initiative (CEMI or “See Me”).
For many Cornell community members, CEMI can feel like a system upgrade, but it is a much broader and intentional cultural commitment to reshape administrative processes as well as the technology supporting these tasks.
Measuring Success
Cole emphasized the ultimate measure of CEMI’s success is its outcomes—student success, research impact, alumni engagement, public engagement, and patient care. Improvements to HR, finance, and student systems are essential steps, but the program’s focus extends far beyond software.
“The practical goal is simple: reduce administrative burden so Cornell community members can focus on the work that matters most—advancing the university’s mission,” said Cole.
For daily tasks, CEMI aims to eliminate repetitive data entry, streamline approvals, and reduce the number of disconnected systems users must navigate to accomplish their learning, teaching, research, and work.
Reducing Friction: A New Philosophy of Work
Cole highlighted the human impact of design decisions, noting that even small choices can significantly affect how others move through their day.
He said, “The people who design systems and processes are trustees of other people’s time.”
The goal is to make the right way the easy way—and eliminate unnecessary steps wherever possible. This philosophy, described in The Friction Project authored by two Stanford professors, is a cornerstone of CEMI’s approach.
Some solutions will involve new technology; others may be as simple as improving communication or aligning practices across units. A recent addition is the launch of new “accelerators”—collaborative groups that bring together staff with similar roles to identify shared pain points, share quick fixes, and recommend improvements.
Building a More Connected Cornell
One of Cole’s primary themes was the urgency of unifying Cornell’s fragmented technology ecosystem. Across the university, staff, faculty, researchers, clinicians, and students interact with multiple systems and applications, navigate different logins across campuses, and face hurdles in sharing information. These fragmented systems make collaboration harder, slow down administrative work, and limit the ability to see the full picture of people, processes, and data.
CEMI is making headway through major decisions and investments, including:
- Starting with a new Workday instance for HR, finance, and—eventually—student services (rather than building off the existing Workday used in Ithaca)
- Selecting Kindsight Ascend to support donor and engagement needs for all university locations
- Selecting Informatica and Boomi to support Cornell’s needs for unified data and analytics
- Mapping the paths students take from applying to graduating and beyond to improve current systems and inform future strategies
- Extending Salesforce to serve as the university-wide engagement system
- Improving how logins, directories, and more work across university locations
- Evaluating the existing applications that support HR, finance, and procurement processes
The guiding philosophy—“as common as possible, as different as absolutely necessary”—balances Cornell’s diverse local needs with the institutional need for consistency and connection.
Learn More and Stay Involved
Watch the full Town Hall recording, including the question and answer session.
Stay updated about CEMI through upcoming town halls, newsletters, and ongoing opportunities to join focus groups, discovery sessions, and accelerator teams.