April
26, 2002
MHC's
Student Information System Project Moving Forward
With the April 1 signing
of a contract for the Colleague software package from Datatel,
Inc., the MHC Student Information System (SIS) is now back on
track, fine-tuned, and poised for implementation. Following an
in-depth assessment and the development of implementation plans
for a different system, the CARS product from CARS Information
Systems, MHC and CARS agreed to terminate their relationship on
mutually positive terms as of June 1, 2001. While both parties
worked diligiently, MHC and CARS ultimately agreed that the project
scope and product customizations were well beyond what they had
expected. The contract signing with Datatel marks the end of a
rigorous software selection process.
Datatel's system was
chosen because it met MHC's requirements with a limited number
of customizations. The Virginia-based company is dedicated exclusively
to providing advanced information management solutions for higher
education. Founded in 1968, Datatel has offices in Texas, California,
and Virginia and serves close to six hundred college and university
clients including Amherst and Hampshire Colleges. MHC has also
engaged Darren Rose of the firm Rose & Tuck to serve as the
project manager for the implementation of the Colleague software.
Rose & Tuck is a small California-based firm that works exclusively
with colleges, universities, and other nonprofit organizations
to provide project management, operations, software application,
and technical consulting services related to administrative software
systems, processes, and technology. The firm is well versed in
Datatel products, having worked with more than forty-eight higher
education clients that have purchased Datatel administrative software
applications.
Rose, cofounder and
managing partner of Rose & Tuck, will be at MHC full-time
for the next twelve to eighteen months to serve as project manager.
His background is in higher education administration, and he has
served as project manager for the successful implementation of
Datatel applications at a number of higher education institutions.
Michael Jewett, who has served as SIS project manager since 1999,
will work closely with Rose, the SIS Steering Committee, and the
Project Management Team (of which he and Rose are members) as
associate project manager and head of the reporting implementation
team. When Jewett joined the MHC staff, he did so with the proviso
that he would retire in three years. Says Jane Brown, vice president
for enrollment and College relations, "Fortunately for us,
Mike will stay on as an associate and team leader until the conclusion
of the project. He will work 60 percent time, beginning in November."
"With a software
package that meets our application requirements, a vendor known
for meeting deadlines and the quality of its training, and a project
management team with expertise and enthusiasm, the project is
set for success," Brown said. It is anticipated that a full
SIS implementation plan will be in place by mid-May, and that
the first phase of implementation will be completed over the next
twelve to eighteen months. At the end of phase one, the major
applications and modules of SIS will be "live."
The current student
information system (SIS) has been developed by MHC over the past
twenty years. Although it has done a good job of serving MHC's
needs, it became evident beginning in the mid-1990s that a major
upgrade would be necessary. The new system will support the needs
of admission, student records, student billing, residential life,
and student activities and will interface with MHC's financial,
payroll, financial assistance, human resources, and alumnae/ development
systems. Some of the new SIS's most prominent capabilities will
be support for online applications, registration, and degree audit;
admission tracking and communications support; the ability for
faculty to call up class lists, submit grades, and check advisee
transcripts; and ready access for faculty and staff to student
data needed to do their work.
Now that a software
vendor is in place, implementation planning is the major focus
of the project. Implementation will be accomplished through the
efforts of more than fifty members of the MHC community via a
structure designed to encourage community input and feedback.
That structure includes a steering committee, a project management
team, six implementation teams, and three advisory groups. "This
is very complex software and implementing it is not like installing
a new version of Word," says Madeline Carnevale, director
of desktop technologies. "There are many choices to be made,
and the structure we've developed should help us make the right
decisions."
The SIS Steering Committee
provides executive leadership and oversight for the project. Its
members are Brown; Carnevale; Mary Jo Maydew, vice president for
finance and administration; Cindy Legare, assistant director,
LITS; Jewett; and Rochelle Calhoun, acting dean of the College.
The Project Management Team is managing the implementation. Its
members are Rose; Carnevale; Paul Kandel, associate director of
admission; Ellen Rutan, comptroller; Monica Augustin, registrar
and director of enrollment systems; Gerry Campion, SIS database
administrator; and Jewett. The detailed work of implementation
is the responsibility of six implementation teams—admission,
student records, CORE (shared features of the system), financial,
technical, and reporting. Each team is led by a member of the
Project Management Team. The Faculty and Departmental Assistants
Advisory Group and the Student Advisory Group that participated
in the software selection process will continue in their advisory
roles during the implementation. A new Administrative Advisory
Group has been formed that includes staff from the various offices
that will operate the new system.
The six implementation
teams will work closely with consultants from Datatel to learn
the software thoroughly. When teams have questions or desire input,
they will turn to the advisory groups. The Project Management
Team will oversee the big picture, ensuring that schedules are
adhered to and the project is running smoothly. Says Rose, "I
have been impressed with the eagerness and commitment of the people
at MHC. They can't wait for the system to be in place, and they
are willing to work hard to make sure implementation happens and
the functionality they want is incorporated."
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