Timeline

Overall Program Timeline

Patriot Connect is planned for a sequential rollout with two releases. With Accenture as our implementation partner, we launched Release 1: Student Success on April 30, 2025. Release 2: Recruitment and Admissions will launch in April 2026. This phased approach ensures a systematic implementation, providing opportunities for ongoing feedback and adjustments to optimize the user experience.

Release 2: Recruitment and Admissions is scheduled for a technical launch in April 2026 followed by a phased user activation approach.

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Application Milestone Dates for Release 2: Recruitment and Admissions

Patriot Connect Release 2: Recruitment and Admissions will follow a phased user activation approach in which staff and faculty end-users will gain access to the system in a series of 3.5 waves: Wave 1 in May 2026, Wave 2 in August 2026, and Wave 2 in November 2026. Vonage Computer Telephony Integration, Case Management, and Event Management functionality will deploy in Wave 1.5 in June 2026. For more details on each activation wave, see the table below.

*Note: Undergraduate non-degree students applying for the fall 2026 semester will submit applications through TargetX starting April 1, 2026. They will remain in TargetX since the application end-date is in September 2026, before TargetX retires. The fall undergraduate non-degree application will start in Patriot Connect during the next academic year on April 1, 2027.

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Program Phases for Release 2: Recruitment and Admissions

Discovery and Design: January 2025 – May 2025

• Conduct Discovery sessions to gather business requirements from staff and faculty, listening to their current workflows, addressing operational challenges, and identifying improvements to ensure successful integration with concurrent systems, with Product Owners from impacted units guiding the design.
• Concurrently with Discovery sessions, areas of change for staff and faculty will be identified. These efforts are key to ensuring a smooth adoption, with strategic emphasis on training and communication plans for George Mason.

Build and Test: May 2025 – December 2025

• Build: Utilize the functional requirements gathered during the Discovery and Design phase to develop the technical capabilities within the platform.
• Test: Technical team conducts system testing to ensure accuracy of data migration and that platform functionality is working as designed.
  • Conduct a training needs analysis from design and build sessions to develop targeted training materials.

Training Preparation: November 2025 – March 2026

• This phase empowers selected George Mason superusers to become trainers for impacted stakeholders. These superusers will receive specialized training to effectively guide and support their peers in transitioning to Patriot Connect, ensuring a smooth and well-supported adoption process across the university.

Testing (End-to-End / UAT): January 2026 – April 2026

• This phase verifies that Patriot Connect accurately reflects the correct processes and user experience. It provides an opportunity to assess system navigation, high-level functionality, and anticipated benefits. Feedback gathered during User Acceptance Testing (UAT) will be instrumental in refining the training approach for Release 2.

Training Delivery: April 2026 – November 2026

• End-users will receive training for Release 2: Recruitment and Admissions based on their primary user activation wave.
• Wave 1 end-user training: April 2026
• Wave 1.5 end-user training: mid-May – early June 2026
• Wave 2 end-user training: July 2026
• Note: No net-new users identified for Wave 3.

Phased Launch: April 2026 – November 2026

• Recruitment and Admissions is scheduled to deploy in April 2026 and will follow a phased user activation approach with 3.5 waves.
• Wave 1 user activation: May 2026
• Wave 1.5 user activation: June 2026 (includes Vonage Computer Telephony Integration, Case Management, and Event Management functionality)
• Wave 2 user activation: August 2026
• Wave 3 user activation: November 2026