Questions from the Project Kick Off

• What will a technology preview be like? What will we see?
• How do you plan to involve faculty and students in the project?
• How will end users query the system?
• Will consultant CPS be making recommendations that encompass the organization and people vs. technology alone?
• Which vendors/products will we see at the product review?
• Will the ultimate system have related modules that serve students across the spectrum, from application to alumni status?
• Will it cost more if colleges/units have special needs/wants?
• Will the new system have capacity to serve to provide e-portfolios?

 

Questions from the Project's Orientation Sessions

• What is open-source software? What exactly is Kuali?
• How long will the whole project take?
• What happened to Datatel in the world of ERPs?
• Traditionally, is the concensus that implementing the commercial systems results in a loss of functionality for functional offices?
• When can we (university stakeholders) expect to be included and involved in this process?
• Will the final reports in 2013 give a recommendation?
• Is the requirements-gathering process focused on data?
• What is the scope of date for the student system? Does it include activities and data for Alumni Affairs?
• What areas of Student Life will be included in addition to Admissions, Registrar, Bursar, etc.?
• Is the Kuali option a collaborative effort with other universities or would UC work on it alone?
• Are the specs for Kuali student finalized?
• What is the perspective of CPS regarding vendors' ability to deliver secure, mobile applications?
• Is part of the solution proposal to also introduce new ways to interface with data?
• Why would the Board of Trustees be involved this deeply in the project?
• How are the colleges incorporated into the process?
• How much will the university spend on the project?
• How will the (implementation) project be funded?
• Is Decision Director only process and function focused? Or does it handle other aspects around web-based functionality, communication, etc.?
• When the replacement options were presented, are those the only options available?
• Will the slides from the kick off and orientation sessions be available on the web site?
• The week of January 7 is very busy. Can the town hall be scheduled around the academic calendar?
• Is there an assumption that existing systems that are unique to a college go away and be absorbed into a central system?
• What happens to the smaller (homegrown or commercial) products not a part of UniverSIS?

 

Questions from the Project Kick Off

What will a technology preview be like? What will we see?

The Technology Previews will involve three commercial vendors (Ellucian, Oracle, SAP) and one open source solution (Kuali). The sessions will each be two hours in duration, and will be a high-level, ‘day in the life’ demonstration of the Student and Financial Aid solutions. The intent of these sessions is to educate the UC community about the options available, and to begin the brainstorming that will be important during the Business Process Workflow Analysis and Requirements Gathering. The sessions are not intended to be an opportunity to compare and/or evaluate solutions.

 

How do you plan to involve faculty and students in the project?

Faculty and students will be included in Requirements Gathering and the Readiness Assessment. The UC Project Steering Committee has representation from faculty and students, and will  ensure that our communications and targeted data gathering are inclusive and appropriate.

 

How will end users query the system?

The user experience in the new system will vary by user. Some will be ‘power users’ with back-office administrative rights and capabilities, who will access the system directly to enter and update key data and run processes. Others will be ‘casual users’ or ‘end users’ who might interact with the system primarily through a self-service web interface to query the system for certain information (e.g., transcripts, bills, grades, etc.).

 

Will CPS be making recommendations that encompass the organization and people vs. technology alone?

Yes. The Institutional Readiness Assessment is an important step in this project. During that process, CPS will be looking at the people, political, cultural, and general organizational-change readiness of the institution, and how well prepared it is as a whole to undertake a large, complex SIS implementation. This is separate from the more technology/requirements driven Options Assessment, where CPS will help the university by providing a ranked recommendation of viable options for SIS replacement.

 

Which vendors/products will we see at product reviews?

Ellucian Banner, Oracle/PeopleSoft Campus Solutions, SAP Student Lifecycle Management, and Kuali Student.

 

Will the ultimate system have related modules that serve students across the spectrum from application to alumni status?

Yes. Capabilities for alumni use will be included in the requirements gathering process.

 

Will it cost more if colleges/units have special needs/wants?

Standardization is an institutional goal for this project.  There are three ‘typical’ scenarios for existing systems and/or processes: 1)  Some systems will not be necessary as their functionality will be provided by the selected SIS solution;  2)  Some will continue to exist but be integrated into the new SIS solution; 3)  Some business processes will go away through improvement efforts.

 

Will the new system have capacity to serve to provide e-portfolios?

While most systems will have e-portfolio capabilities, no matter which vendor is ultimately selected, implementation of e-portfolio would be a separate effort outside the current scope of this project.

 

 

 

Questions from the Project Orientation Sessions

What is open source software?  What exactly is Kuali?

Open Source software is any software that, by virtue of its license agreement, can be modified, used and/or redistributed without any restrictions. Examples of well-known open source solutions include Mozilla Firefox (the internet browser) and the Linux operating system. For more information about the open source community at large, a great web resource is the Open Source Initiative (www.opensource.org).

 

Cited from Kuali.org/about:  Kuali is a growing community of universities, colleges, businesses, and other organizations partnering to build and sustain open-source software, for higher education, by higher education. Kuali software is designed for all sizes of institutions, from land-grant research universities to community colleges.  The members of the Kuali Community share a common vision - open, modular, and distributed systems. Kuali software is released under the Educational Community License. The Kuali Community has sub-communities who collaborate on enterprise software systems.  Each system and their supporting Communities are referred to as Kuali Projects, even though they are on-going, sustained efforts.

 

As part of this project, the University of Cincinnati will be assessing the Kuali Student project, which is still under development, as a potential option.  There are a number of member institutions invested in developing many of the modules, or functionality, within a typical student information system.  For more information about the Kuali Student project, visit http://kuali.org/ks. 

 

How long will the whole project take?

The university is projecting a 4- to 5-year duration for this project. Typically, a student information system (SIS) implementation is 18-36 months in duration. Readiness, planning, procurement and post-implementation account for the remaining time.

 

 

What happened to Datatel in the world of ERPs?

Datatel and Sungard Higher Education were acquired by a private equity firm to form a new combined company, Ellucian. The university will be assessing the Ellucian Banner software as part of this project. The Ellucian Colleage software (formerly Datatel) is a viable solution in higher education, though not typically seen as a good fit for an institution with the size and complexity of UC.

 

Traditionally, is the consensus that implementing the commercial systems results in a loss of functionality for functional offices?

There is the possibility of functionality loss, and equally there is an opportunity for gain. The most important factor is to identify the University’s critical and desired business processes and requirements so they can be considered in the assessment.

 

When can we (university stakeholders) expect to be included and involved in this process?

There are several opportunities to participate: Technology Previews, Business Process Workflow Analysis “to be” and “as is” sessions, Requirements Gathering, Mid-Project Town Hall meeting, and Readiness Assessment interviews and survey. Key opportunities to participate will be announced on the project website, and business-unit leaders will extend invitations to specific working sessions. 

 

Will the final reports in 2013 give a recommendation?

The Options Assessment deliverable will include a ranked set of viable options for the university to consider, and provide a final recommendation based upon those options.

 

Is the requirements gathering process focused on data?

The focus is more on processes than data, but there will be specific requirements that address data access, integration and reporting capabilities.

 

What is the scope of data for the student system?  Does it include activities and data for Alumni Affairs?

The broad scope is Student and Financial Aid for the ranking, but the requirements gathering will include other related areas such as CRM functionality, integration to the university’s Alumni system, etc.

 

What areas of Student Life will be included in addition to Admissions, Registrar, Bursar, etc? 

The primary business units that will be addressed in the Business Process Workflow Analysis include Admissions, Bursar, Registrar, Financial Aid, Advising and One Stop. During the requirements gathering effort we will have the opportunity to address other related areas.

 

Is the Kuali option a collaborate effort with other universities or would UC work on it alone?

If the University of Cincinnati decided to become an investing partner in the Kuali Student Project, it would be a collaborative effort working with other member institutions. There are other ways to participate in Kuali projects, without having the same level of investment and influence in the projects.

 

Are the specs for Kuali student finalized?

The functional specs have been created and development has begun.  For more information visit http://kuali.org/ks. 

 

What is the perspective of CPS regarding the vendors’ ability to deliver secure, mobile applications?

Oracle, Ellucian and SAP have established mobile platforms. Kuali Mobility Platform has recently been released.

 

Is part of the solution proposal to also introduce new ways to interface with data?

Yes. The user interface will be completely different for retrieving information. Further, reporting, analytics and business intelligence solutions are generally recommended and supported by all of the major vendors to deliver a complete and effective SIS solution.

 

Why would the Board of Trustees be involved this deeply in the project?

UC’s BOT will provide final approval to move forward with the selection and implementation phases of this project. Their involvement is required to approve the university’s decision to move forward with a significant financial investment, not necessarily to advise on the operations and requirements of a new SIS. 

 

How are the colleges incorporated in process?

All colleges will be involved in the requirements gathering and readiness assessment. Business unit directors will invite representatives from the professional colleges (Law, Medicine, Pharmacy) and the branch campuses (Blue Ash, Clermont) to participate in the Business Process Workflow Analysis.

 

How much will the university spend on the project?

The University has budgeted approximately $50M for the implementation of a new student information system.

 

How will the (implementation) project be funded?

The university has been building a dedicated reserve to fund this project for several years.  In addition, some part of the project’s funding will be financed.

 

Is Decision Director only process and function focused? Or does it handle other aspects around web-based functionality, communication, etc.?

The DecisionDirector tool will address much more than core functionality.  UC’s Project Team will have the opportunity to review all possible requirements to advise on the best set to be evaluated for this project.

 

When the replacement options were presented, are those the only options available?

CPS will help UC evaluate three options as part of this project: Single Vendor ERP Solution, Multiple Vendor ERP Solution, and Multiple Source ERP Solution. The options are based on the university’s stated direction and preferences towards identifying solutions that would fit the university. The outcome of this project will only be to provide a ranked recommendation within those options – not to recommend a specific vendor or open source product. An open and competitive procurement process will be used to select a final solution, and all providers in the higher education market will be welcome to respond.

 

Will the slides from the kickoff and orientation sessions be available on the web site?

Yes.These presentations have been posted to the project web site.

 

The week of January 7 is very busy.  Can the town hall be scheduled around the academic calendar?

Yes. Every effort will be made to schedule activities around the academic calendar. The tentative date for the town hall is January 24.

 

Is there an assumption that existing systems that are unique to a college go away and be absorbed into a central system?

Standardization is an institutional goal for this project.  There are three ‘typical’ scenarios for existing systems and/or processes: 1)  Some systems will not be necessary as their functionality will be provided by the selected SIS solution;  2)  Some will continue to exist but be integrated into the new SIS solution; 3)  Some business processes will go away through improvement efforts.

 

What happens to the smaller (homegrown or commercial) products not a part of UniverSIS?

Standardization is an institutional goal for this project. There are three ‘typical’ scenarios for existing systems and/or processes: 1) Some systems will not be necessary as their functionality will be provided by the selected SIS solution; 2) Some will continue to exist but be integrated into the new SIS solution; 3) Some business processes will go away through improvement efforts.

 

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