Message from the Project Manager
The Student Information System (SIS) project involves the efforts of dozens of individuals from across campus. There are currently more than twenty folks from functional administrative offices across campus contributing their time to this project in addition to carrying out their ongoing daily responsibilities. Also there are more than thirty-five technical personnel from three departments (Enterprise Application & Database Services, Enterprise Technology Services & Support and the Information Technology Division) supporting this effort in interdependent and critical roles.
Since October last year (2005) this team has focused on fitting NC State's current student administrative processes with the capabilities and functionality delivered by Oracle Campus Solutions/PeopleSoft Version 8.9. We've identified ways that the new system fits our current processes, examined how to re-engineer the way we operate to adapt best-practices and have identified gaps, those areas where particular NC State services are not provided by the new system or where the system must be adapted to accommodate specific policies, rules and regulations. We've also been busy identifying interfaces between our legacy administrative system and other systems dependent on student data and made determinations as to whether the functions of those outside systems can be moved into the new environment and when or whether those interfaces must be retro-fitted to the new SIS. Our team has inventoried hundreds of existing reports and data extracts and made determinations as to how these will be delivered in the new web-based portal environment. In addition we've been busy planning for the detailed conversion from the old system to the new, of years worth of historical student program, plan, enrollment and classroom data.
It is estimated that the time necessary to adapt the new system to NC State's administrative processes, retrofit interfaces where necessary, write reports and queries and convert legacy data will require over 14,000 hours of functional and technical work. But that's only part of the job! Equivalent amounts of time will be required both to provide the hardware and software infrastructure to support heavy student, faculty and staff usage levels as well as to perform rigorous testing to insure that the complex system is ready to perform in a manner we can all depend on.
To implement this new system properly will require the support of many of you across the campus. It will also require extensive time investment to document new business processes, prepare training materials and deliver training to users as needed. This training effort will require your help and involvement. The time line (pdf) for rolling out this new system starts in September 2007 and runs through March 2009. The project plan supporting this time line has been built in a collaborative effort by the functional and technical teams from the various units referenced above. Leaders from each unit have endorsed this plan. In addition the plan has been vetted by our academic and administration advisory group, the Deans Council and finally approved by the Provost and the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Business. Contact me with any and all questions at rick_liston@ncsu.edu.
Campus Community Information
Individuals and organizations are the foundation of NC State. The entire NC State community, including students, alumni, faculty, staff, departments, colleges, divisions, centers, institutes and other groups, both on campus and off, all contribute in essential ways to achieving the university's mission of teaching, research and public service. In the new Student Information System, the module known as Campus Community is an essential component to the success of the project and in particular to providing the means for all of the various NC State constituents to leverage the new system toward achieving our mission. This is the part of the system in which information about NC State people and organizations, shared by all the other modules of the system, is stored. Through Campus Community we can maintain, manage and share in a secure and appropriate manner, personal information, identification data, participation data, health information, SEVIS information, checklists, communications, comments, service level indicators, external organizations, committees and events.
In early May of 2006, NC State leaders made a decision to have a single system, which encompasses both Human Resources and Student Administration, for information that is shared across our institution. This is a significant change from our current system. With this new integrated system, student databases and the human resources database will merge to create a single record for each person and organization in the University system. We will use Campus Community to group together all person-information including biographic and demographic data, work history, activities, etc. for every member of the university community, whether student, faculty, staff or combination thereof.
Some may think of this as a non-traditional partnership; however, together we have been successful in coordinating efforts between our two key areas: human resources and student administration. Since May, the Campus Community Team has made significant progress. We have reviewed current business processes institution-wide and we have been prototyping to review functionality that includes areas such as names, addresses, phone numbers, email, visa and citizenship, relationships, honors and awards, etc. Currently, we are moving into the development of shared business processes as well as testing.
In July 2007, Human Resources will upgrade to Oracle Campus Solutions/PeopleSoft Version 8.9. At that time, employees and students will all have one common ID and basic core student demographic data will be loaded to temporarily bridge the two systems, continuing to support the 'single ID' efforts. In September, all additional student campus community data will be loaded into the shared system where it will become the "master record of source." 'Campus community' coupled with 'employee/student web self service' will allow the entire campus community to access much of their own data via the upgraded web-portal.
Swartz and Orgill (2001) state that "a successful ... project requires the functional and technical leadership and teams to develop a strong partnership and a shared commitment to its success." The Campus Community Team believes we are on the path to great success!
Swartz, D., & Orgill, K. (2001). Higher education ERP: Lessons learned: Using this framework for ERP could save your university millions of dollars. Educause Quarterly, (2), 20-27
An Integrated System
We talk about one benefit of SIS being that it is an integrated system ... but what does that really mean to you - the end user?
An integrated system allows for real-time sharing of functionality and data between systems that currently act independently and depend, in some cases, on overnight transmission of data. Campus Community, as mentioned above, allows NC State to have one database that contains both students and employees. Example: Currently, if you are both a student and an employee you must update your address with both Registration and Records and Human Resources. With the new integrated system, you would only have to update your address once and all records would reflect this change. As an administrative or faculty system user, the intergrated system allows you to access all services through a single logon through the web portal. In our current environment one must access the portal for some information and RUMBA or the mainframe for others. This will no longer be the case.
At times a visual representation is better than any verbal description. Below is a visual representation of what is meant by an integrated system. Each blue box represents a module in PeopleSoft which respectively replaces one or more of our current systems (example: Student Records replaces RUMBA and Faculty/Admin Access). The gray lines represent the sharing of functionality and data.
A stand alone version of the integrated system diagram is also available.
SIS Time Line Milestones
Eventually, everyone who uses our current systems - Registration and Records, Cashier's Office, Financial Aid, and/or Admissions, will be affected by the implementation of the new Student Information System.
Listed below are some time line milestone dates. These dates represent when your job duties may be affected or when large-scale training will take place.
A larger PDF version of this milestones diagram is also available.
SIS Terminology
With any new system comes new terminology or vocabulary. PeopleSoft is no exception. To assist with the transition from legacy terminology to PeopleSoft terminology, each newsletter will contain examples of some of the new terms associated with the new system. Examples will also be given to provide a context for the new vocabulary.
Academic Career - The grouping of academic work within a level of study. We currently call this Career Level.
Examples: Undergraduate, Graduate, Non Degree Studies (Special, PBS, UGS), Vet Med, Ag Institute
Get Involved
Nicole Wood, Training & Communication Lead, is looking for volunteers to be SIS testers and cheerleaders. As a team member, you will be an integral part of the SIS training module's construction, transition and deployment phases.
- Construction: assist in the development of training materials; serve as a contact for information gathering and distribution
- Transition: test training materials and scripts; suggest ways to improve the materials
- Deployment: serve as a college or departmental contact and expert; assist in training events in your area of expertise
To join the training and communication team, please contact Nicole using the submit feedback page on this website. Be one of the first people on campus to view the new student information system!
Stay Informed
If you would like to receive SIS information and updates, in addition to this newsletter, please join the SIS Listserv. Instructions for joining the Listserv are available on this website.
If you know of colleagues and co-workers who should be receiving this newsletter but are not, please have them contact Nicole Wood using the submit feedback page on this website to have their name added to the list.
To be removed from the newsletter contact list or the Listserv, please contact Nicole using the submit feedback page on this website.
Upcoming Issue
- Student Financials (Cashier's Office) Update
Return to the SIS Project Homepage
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