Limited Resources & Limited Budgets

AACRAO 94th Annual Meeting Orlando, Florida

Tuesday, March 25, 2008- Session 226 4:15-5:15- Room: Atlanta/Boston

Limited Resources & Limited Budgets Successful Student Information System Implementation Strategies for Small Institutions

About Us „

Keith Williams (facilitator) „ „

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Ana del Castillo „ „

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University Registrar University of Vermont Registrar & Associate Director of Student Services The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Chicago, IL

Keith Werosh „ „

University Registrar National University of Health Sciences, Lombard, IL

About the Institutions The Chicago School „ Certs.,MA, EdS & doctoral degrees (PsyD) „ On ground and online offerings „ Founded 1979 „ Multiple campuses „ 1,400+ students

National University „ AA through first professional degrees (chiropractic & naturopathy) „ Founded 1906 „ 550 students

Basis for Upgrading The Chicago School „ SIS relied on old technology „ Wasn’t scalable to allow for the institution’s rapid growth „ Wasn’t user friendly or flexible to allow for tailoring to institutional needs „ Vendor technical support wasn’t reliable and consistent ::

Basis for Upgrading National University of Health Sciences „ Records were managed via use of Excel spreadsheets „ Technology in registrar’s office was nonexistent „ No use of technology to share relevant information between departments „ Data management was labor intensive

Limited Budgets The Chicago School „ ~$750,000 „ Included hardware, software, training and support. National University of Health Sciences „ ~$200,000 „ Included hardware, software, training and support.

Limited Resources The Chicago School „ Limited technical support (3 staff) „ No dedicated SIS manager „ Little knowledge of successful system implementations „ Busy office created a challenge to divert attention to implementation

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Limited Resources National University of Health Sciences „ Seriously behind the times with technology (used Excel for everything!) „ No technical support on staff– outsourced IT support help „ Nobody on staff to provide perspective or guidance „ Were we truly ready to accept a change?

Things to Consider Cost-Benefit Analysis „ Strategic Planning „ Review of Business Process „ Competitive Analysis „ Risk Management „ Gap Analysis „ Timing „ RFPs „

Cost-Benefit Analysis Financial repercussions „ Impact on productivity „ Staffing „ Data management „ Technological needs „

Strategic Planning Institutional goals/objectives „ Institutional culture „

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Review of Business Process Prepare to make changes! „ Take a serious look at how you manage your operation „ Think about how technology can make things more efficient „ Don’t just document what you do, think about what you want to be able to do „ Non-negotiable functionalities „ Document, document, document „

Risk Management „

Impact analysis „

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Better or worse after the change?

Pitfalls Prepare for problems „ Develop work-arounds „ Have a contingency plan in place „

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Gap Analysis What functionalities are not satisfied by new SIS? „ What previous functionalities will be missed? „ Financial repercussions „

Need for additional software/hardware „ Extra modules „

Timing „

When to implement? Backward timeline from key events/priorities „ Build in extra time for problems or additional training „

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Consider term processes: Financial aid „ Course registration „ Exam period „ Grading period „

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RFP „

Request for proposal

“The formal mechanism by which a company conveys its business requirements during the search for a new application system”1. „ „

Consider boilerplate version Useful to thoroughly document needs and solicit formal response from vendor 1Source:

Georgetown University UIS

What’s Next? „

Vendor & system selection „ „

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Vendor sales „ „

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Research vendors: who are their clients? Research other schools’ systems (what’s popular?) Salesperson is usually not a system expert Beware of guarantees; do your homework

Sources „ „ „

Colleagues Professional associations, listservs Request for Proposal (RFP) ::

Implementation Strategy Target timeline „ Alternate timeline „ Negotiable vs. nonnegotiable „ Pace of implementation „

Contract Negotiation List price is not the price you pay „ Deal-breakers „ Support level „ Evaluate add-ons & modules „ Beta testing (save $$) vs. impact on operations „ Portal (heavily consider systems with student, faculty and alumni portal access) „

Project Management Designate project manager „ Establish committee „

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Include module leaders, process and data experts

Involve all constituencies: staff, faculty, students

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Budget Management Manage schedule to maximize consultants’ billable hours „ Maintenance costs „ Additional modules „ Customizations (can do in-house or must be done through vendor?) „ Level of support „ Training „

Org. Change Management „

How will various sectors of community react? „

Turnover

Where is there little/no support? „ Managing expectations „ Staff workload „ Seamless services for students „ Formal vs. informal leaders „

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Communication Plan/PR „

Community-wide announcements Generate excitement while managing expectations „ Communicate project progress at all levels of implementation from beginning through end „

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Targeted communication to different constituencies „

Address unique concerns of each group

Tech. Support Services „

Help Desk „

Online, phone, in-person support

Impact on workload „ Technology support staffing „ Consider needs during and after implementation „ Hosted solution for institutions with limited or no technology support staff „

Data Validation „

Thorough data validation Saves time „ Saves money „ Prevents data integrity issues „

Create time and separate space for staff to validate data „ Create data validation protocols „

Accountability „ Document data validation „

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Training Scale back on over-implementing: train first and start out “vanilla” „ Vendor support „ In-house knowledge of module leaders „ Future releases: training on new functionalities „ Provide adequate support for those less technologically savvy „ Build reference resources as you go „

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If Only We Knew Then… „

Upgrades/future releases Add functionalities, provide fixes „ Also break things that worked before „

Shift in job focus for power users „ Managing system permissions/access „

Designate single point-person „ Develop permissions approval protocol „

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Post-implementation „

Transition implementation committee

If Only We Knew Then… „

Vendor Relations „ „

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Don’t go crazy with customizations Identify a well detailed plan for data migration „ „

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Know how their support mechanisms work How quickly are tech support issues handled?

Who is responsible? What type of information will be migrated?

Make friends with staff at institutions with the same system installed Know how to extract information from the system

AACRAO Publication „

Student Information Systems: A Guide to Implementation Success Sharon F. Cramer, Ph.D. „ $95 non-members / $70 members „ 2005, item #0108 „

Final Thoughts & Questions? „

Ana del Castillo The Chicago School of Professional Psychology „ (312) 329-6601 „ [email protected] „

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Keith Werosh National University of Health Sciences „ (630) 889-6547 „ [email protected] „