Student Services Transformation
Background
Further information
UB’s efforts to transform the ways that faculty and staff deliver, and students access the tools and services that support their university lives began with a project to evaluate the multiple components of our current student system and to explore ways to improve and integrate them. The Student Systems Assessment Project was formed in the spring of 2007 with the primary purpose of engaging the campus community in a comprehensive assessment of UB’s current systems and our requirements for a new student system that would revolutionize student service delivery for faculty, staff and students. The assessment process consisted of two main components: a student system requirement analysis and software vendor presentations. A series of workshops and a system requirement survey tool were facilitated with the assistance of Moran Technology Consulting, and the results of the survey were used to ascertain the best student system software available. For both components of the assessment, the campus saw an unprecedented campus involvement in the workshops and survey process, and significant attendance during the student system vendor demonstrations.
The student system requirement survey was completed through a series of focus groups and workshops that included a review of UB business processes and evaluation of our functional requirements. The results of the survey culminated in a new understanding of the needed organizational changes and policy and process adjustments required to implement successfully a new student system.
The vendor presentations conducted by Oracle PeopleSoft, SunGard Banner, and SAP provided an opportunity for the campus community to see how each vendor software solution would meet, fail to meet, or require modification to meet our functionality requirements. After thoughtful consideration of all the vendor products, the Executive Committee of the Student System Assessment Project accepted the Project Team’s recommendation to select Oracle/PeopleSoft’s Campus Solutions as the best product for UB.
The final phase of the Student System Assessment Project was to commence the process of choosing a system integration firm to assist in the implementation of Campus Solutions at UB. Arriving at this phase of the assessment signaled the movement to the next stage of this exciting UB2020 initiative and thus, the Student Services Transformation Project was initiated in April 2008.