Making Student Organizations Happy and Accessible using The Hub with Grand Valley State University

About the School

Grand Valley State University is a robust institution with an enrollment of 22,035 students. The university maintains a strong academic environment with an average class size of 24 and a student-to-faculty ratio of 15:1. Demographically, the student body consists primarily of 60% female and 75% white students on campus. GVSU operates two main campuses located approximately 20 minutes apart, referred to as “Valley” and “City” campuses. Beyond academics, the university is highly active in student engagement, supporting over 400 student organizations and 22 NCAA D2 sports teams.The institution is committed to professional development, as evidenced by the College of Business’s use of the Admiral platform by Suitable to track student progress. This history of integrating technology into student success paved the way for the campus-wide expansion of LakerLink through the Office of Student Life.

Challenges before Suitable

Before implementing Suitable across campus, the Office of Student Life struggled to track and manage student involvement across more than 400 student organizations in a consistent way. Information lived in different systems and processes, making it hard for staff to see what was happening and for students to access opportunities easily.

The university wanted a solution that would make student organizations easier to find and simpler to work with, with a clear, user-friendly experience for both students and staff. Leaders also needed a dependable way to track real-time participation and verify attendance at events—especially for activities that required liability waivers or had eligibility rules.

At the same time, important processes like organizational registration and funding requests were handled through fragmented tools and manual steps. There was no single digital workflow to keep everything organized. This made it difficult to coordinate across departments and limited the support they could provide to student groups.

Ultimately, GVSU needed to break down silos, move away from manual or disconnected tracking, and create one unified digital home where student organizations, processes, and data could be managed in a centralized, reliable way.

Life with Suitable

By implementing Suitable in the Office of Student Life, GVSU created a more unified, efficient, and student-centered experience across both campuses. What was once managed through multiple tools is now centralized in one coordinated system that supports students, staff, and leadership.

Through LakerLink, powered by Suitable, students can discover events, student organizations, and co-curricular opportunities from both the Valley and City campuses in a single mobile-first platform. Instead of searching emails, websites, and flyers, they can go to one place to see what is happening, sign up, and track their activity. This central hub also simplifies work for staff by reducing manual processes, improving coordination across campus, and making it easier to support student organizations.

Administrators now have clearer, real-time data on student involvement and its connection to retention and belonging. With these insights, GVSU can demonstrate the value of co-curricular learning, make more informed decisions, and continue building for the future. As the university expands targeted programming for specific student populations, Suitable provides a scalable foundation for greater convenience, stronger operations, and improved student success.