Message From the Project Manager
It seems like yesterday, but the 1st edition of SIS E-news was published in October 2006. Many changes taking place since have been “beneath the cover” so to speak. Other changes have been more visible to users. In July we combined our campus community database and introduced MyPack portal. In the fall we retired our mainframe admissions system, moved student billing to real-time in SIS and incorporated existing PackTracks features into MyPack.
This transition has included challenges. While not visible to most users, the nature of changes taking place is deeply fundamental and affects the core of the student information system that, to a large extent, has served NC State for many years. A large team of student service and technical personnel have and continue to work at a very aggressive and difficult pace to complete this effort. They have accomplished a lot, but the most significant work and resulting changes will take place in the next twelve months.
Mark your calendars: September will begin the first user training for college personnel. Some of these users have already been involved in system-testing and feedback is positive. In October, work begins in the new system to assemble future class schedules. This work will continue through January 2009.
Starting in December and through early February 2009, classroom and online training opportunities in the use of SIS will be available for central office and campus administrative users, student advisors and faculty. On-line training resources will be available for students as well. Early in February 2009 a major transition will take place as all users move to SIS. This will require a temporary shut-down of major parts of the student system. During the remainder of spring 2009 we will complete this move.
MyPack portal is an integral part of SIS. Some of the challenges faced center on the integration of PackTracks for students and faculty into the portal. Typical questions we’ve responded to include “What was wrong with PackTracks in the first place?” and “Why the change?” These questions make a very good point. No one argues there was anything "wrong" with PackTracks in its original form. However, there are definitely improved features that users deserve. These include real-time services like instant class swapping and prerequisite checking, auto-enrollment in paired lectures and labs, on-line graduation checkout, minor tracking and sophisticated class section searching.
The problem is, with PackTracks in its original form, providing these new features is very difficult if not near impossible. The solution lies in a complete re-engineering of the student system. This takes some time, but the investment of time, and yes, unfortunately some inconvenience, is the only way to get into a position to make these kinds of improvements. MyPack helps make this a step-by-step process.
The goal is to deliver existing PackTracks functionality through MyPack. The new features described above are not implemented yet. The integrated PackTracks features are set up to work through the Portal BUT, as observed since September; there have been some intermittent issues with performance.
A couple of issues caused problems: These were primarily due to varying web-browser software and user’s book-marking directly into the portal to a specific page. These issues can cause a white screen or a “not authorized” error when trying to hit PackTracks and can be a real annoyance. One big problem with Grading and Grade Checking was caused because of new complexities in the nightly batch processing routine which threw us some unexpected curves. We test processes like crazy but miss some things. The project team has learned from these experiences.
Change of this magnitude and nature means we will encounter difficulties and inconveniences during the remainder of the transition. We try to keep problems to a minimum, but won’t anticipate and prevent them all. The best way the project team can minimize negative service impacts is by listening and communicating. We need to hear your ideas, thoughts, concerns and yes, complaints. Students, faculty and staff have a right to be upset if they can't access the critical services they need; we need to understand those concerns so we can resolve them. You need to know what changes to expect, how they will impact you and how to take advantage of new on-line services. Messages will be posted prominently on the MyPack portal home page. In select instances we will employ direct email as well.
Campus Technical Notes
There is important new documentation for campus technical staff on the SIS web site. For access to the documentation, join the sis_tech listserv.
Many college-based systems rely on the ability to access data “extracted” nightly from the current student system into Sybase denormalized views. During the next 12 months, many of these views will be retired or impacted to a significant extent. The SIS team has begun delivery of a new series of Oracle-PeopleSoft denormalized reporting tables. To gain query access to the SIS denormalized tables, complete an ASAP request for the NCS CAMPUS Query role. SIS Role requests (prior to the release of SAR in August 2008) should be performed using the current ASAP Application as a “STUDENT – Integrated Student Information System (ISIS)” request. The ASAP application can be accessed by authorized users through the MyPack Portal on the Faculty Staff tab (under the Campus Resources Pagelet).
Student Records
March 2008, systems testing for course catalog and scheduling is now complete. The Registration & Records office has been diligently testing procedures and processes in SIS. Several campus scheduling officers have also volunteered their time to review the new processes and test the system. These scheduling officers have been helping R&R with user testing/acceptance, identifying bugs, pinpointing training issues, and testing the system as we simulate a live semester from start to end, before we “go live!”
Scheduling and Course Catalog will go-live October 2008 for the Summer 2009 courses.
Campus Scheduling Officers! Be prepared to start summer 2009 scheduling. Training for Departmental Scheduling Officers will begin in September. Check the training schedule online and be sure to register for classes.
Systems test for the remaining Student Records module has begun. R&R staff will simulate an academic year from start to finish.
So how does this affect you? Faculty, Staff & Students outside of the campus scheduling officers will not see any noticeable changes to daily processes until February 2009. For more information on the Student Records implementation schedule Click Here.
New Training & Communications Lead
I would like to say “Hello” to everyone. My name is Sharon Broere (pronounced Brewer.) I moved to North Carolina a little over a year ago from Long Island, NY. I had previously worked as an Assistant Registrar at SUNY-Stonybrook, and most recently with Distance Education - DELTA here at NC State. I am excited for this new opportunity and look forward to working with you all on this endeavor. Feel free to contact me at sharon_broere@ncsu.edu
Training classes began in January. Classes on SIS Navigation Basics and Query Management are currently being offered. You can check the schedule of upcoming classes and register online.
Stay Informed
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