Sacred Heart Major Seminary

School/District Logo
Industry
Higher-Ed
Enrollment
600
Region
Midwest

Sacred Heart Major Seminary

School/District Logo
Industry
Higher-Ed
Enrollment
600
Region
Midwest
Profile
Profile

A Century of Excellence, Now Powered by Technology

Sacred Heart Major Seminary is a 100-year-old seminary and theology school in Detroit, Michigan, serving 615 students from around the world. Despite its small size, technology plays a crucial role in supporting online learning, communication, and research. Students and faculty rely on various digital tools, including a learning management system, G-Suite, and library databases, to complete their work efficiently. 

Products Used:
Project Leads:
Challenge
Challenge

A Small IT Team Facing Big Access Issues

With over 600 students and only a two-person IT team, Sacred Heart faced a growing challenge: password resets. Forgotten passwords left students locked out of essential tools, sometimes for an entire weekend, as IT support was only available during business hours. The seminary needed an affordable, self-service password reset solution that would reduce the burden on IT while ensuring students and faculty had uninterrupted access to digital resources. 

Solution
Solution

Self-Service Access and Seamless Integration

After months of searching for an expensive password reset solution, IT Manager Jeff Mesch discovered ClassLink. The platform provided an affordable, self-service password reset function that immediately reduced support tickets. ClassLink also unexpectedly solved another issue—helping students and staff easily locate and access critical digital tools, including library databases and research journals, through LaunchPad.

Initially, Mesch was unsure whether the seminary’s library resources would integrate with ClassLink’s single sign-on technology, as their authentication process didn’t always work with standard tools. However, the ClassLink team assisted in developing a custom authentication method, ensuring seamless access. Now, students can find and use over 60 journals, databases, and thousands of e-books with just three clicks.  

Since we launched ClassLink, we’ve seen a reduced number of helpdesk tickets for password resets and requests for how to find specific resources.
Jeff Mesch
IT Manager at Sacred Heart Major Seminary
School Logo

Sacred Heart Major Seminary

Michigan
Back to Case Studies

How ClassLink Helped This Small IT Team Reduce Support Tickets

The Challenge

Finding an affordable option for self-serve password resets

Sacred Heart Major Seminary may be a small, 100-year-old seminary and theology school, but technology is central to how the school operates. Students and faculty use a learning management system for online classes, G-suite for communications and storage, along with library databases and online journals for research.

But with over 600 students and a two-person IT team, support tickets for password resets was a growing issue. If a student forgot their password on Friday night, they were locked out of a tool until the IT department opened Monday morning.

“We needed a self-service password reset option, and it had to be affordable,” explains IT Manager Jeff Mesch.

Choosing ClassLink

Affordable and equipped with unexpected benefits

After searching for months, Mesch was resigned to buying an expensive password reset solution, until he discovered ClassLink. Affordable and easy-to-use, ClassLink provided the password reset functionality Sacred Heart needed.

ClassLink also made critical digital tools, such as library resources, easily accessible to students. Mesch wasn't sure the library's databases and journals would work with ClassLink's single sign-on technology because their authentication process doesn't always work with standard tools. But the ClassLink team assisted Mesch’s team in developing a new way to handle authentication for tools like e-books, journals, and databases, ensuring students could access those tools the same way they access any app in ClassLink, by signing in to ClassLink LaunchPad.

The Outcome

Easy access to digital tools and fewer support tickets

“Now that we have ClassLink, students can log back in on their own without having to wait on us. This is a major win,” enthuses Mesch. While he doesn’t have specific data yet, he’s noticed a significant drop in support tickets for password resets.

ClassLink LaunchPad also solved accessibility issues for staff and students. “Suddenly, tools that might be in random spots on our website or only available as bookmarks are all in one central location with LaunchPad. We didn’t anticipate that functionality, but it’s been huge for us,” explains Mesh.

He says easier access to library resources was particularly helpful. “Now students can access over 60 journals and databases, plus thousands of e-books within three clicks, including the click to log in,” enthuses Mesch.

“Since we launched ClassLink, we’ve seen a reduced number of helpdesk tickets for password resets and requests for how to find specific resources. This lets us focus on other needs and reduce response times. ClassLink has been a game-changer for us.”

Jeff Mesch
Sacred Heart Major Seminary