Virginia Community College System

SIS Progress Report
Jack Lewis (NRCC) Co-Chair
Phyllis Milloy (TCC) Co-Chair

To:
VCCS Presidents
Chancellor's Cabinet

We are writing to update you on the progress that has been made in implementing a new student information system. The SIS project consists of four phases: Phase I - Building the SIS Requirements; Phase II - Procurement; Phase III - Building the SIS Model; and Phase IV - System Wide Deployment. As you are already aware, Phase I and II are complete, having resulted in the selection of PeopleSoft products for building a new student administration system.

We have just completed a review of our current and envisioned student information system with the functions available in PeopleSoft (fit/gap analysis), which is the first stage of Phase III. The results of this work affirm our belief that PeopleSoft will offer the VCCS the opportunity to add new functionality as well as significant value-added capability to many of our student-related business processes. Over the next few months, the WorkGroups will be working extensively through three stages of progressively more detailed prototyping activities that will result in the SIS model. The final stage of Phase III will focus on volume system testing and fine tuning the model. We expect Phase III to be completed sometime next spring, which will then allow us to enter the final and most exciting phase--deployment of the system in the colleges.

In the deployment phase, the focus of the project will turn inward to each college as it goes through a series of processes to shape the SIS model to meet its own specific business requirements. Each college will be asked to prepare its own implementation plan, which will include schedules for training, conversion activities, and expected cutover dates. We are hopeful that the model will meet every college's requirements with only a few adjustments needed to accommodate workflow patterns.

The process for building the new student system is rigorous and directed at meeting the existing and emerging business requirements of the VCCS. Hence, the process necessarily requires heavy involvement of representatives of the colleges who know our diverse business processes. The openness and participatory approach to this project is requiring an extremely large number of college staff days. We are very impressed with the talent and knowledge of all participants and even more impressed with their dedication and commitment to this project. We ask that you assist us in expressing our gratitude for their extraordinary sense of duty and service. Included in the attachments are the names of all participants.

Finally, we are grateful to you for your support of this project and recognize the increased workload on those that make it possible for the college representatives to participate. While the workload is great, we believe the end results will make this extraordinary effort worthwhile. Ultimately, we will have fundamentally altered the way that colleges conduct their business to serve their community, their businesses and industries, and their students. What an exciting time to be in the education business!

Project Overview and Accomplishments

Phase I - Building the SIS Requirements

Peer groups gathered information from each college and provided it to the SIS Steering Committee. The information was analyzed and compiled into a set of comprehensive requirements for the new system.

Phase II - Procurement

The VCCS executed a procurement process that resulted in the purchase of PeopleSoft products.

Phase III - Building the VCCS SIS Model (Prototype Phase)

The Prototype Phase is devoted to designing, developing, and refining the baseline software implementation model for the VCCS SIS. The Prototype Phase can be divided into 5 major stages:

1. fit/gap analysis (completed 4/30/99)
2. prototype preparation
3. module-level prototyping
4. integration-level prototyping
5. system/stress testing

At the conclusion of the Prototype Phase, the working model of the software solution for the VCCS will be ready to be delivered to the individual colleges, which will formally launch the College Deployment phase (Phase IV) of the SIS Project.

For Phase III, WorkGroups were formed for each of the functional areas: Admissions, Student Records, Student Financials, Financial Aid, Academic Advising, and Campus Community. Each WorkGroup has a chairperson who is also a member of the SIS Steering Committee. There are eight to twelve members on each WorkGroup. This membership consists of college functional staff, one technical staff member to assist the WorkGroup in technical areas, and appropriate System Office resource staff as required.

The building of a VCCS SIS model will be done using a prototyping methodology. Prototyping is an iterative, quick-turnaround process which involves end users and technical professionals in joint exercises to test and retest system features, refine and revise use plans, and continuously improve the solution until all requirements are met. The complexion of the VCCS model will evolve during the process as WorkGroups manipulate the system until a final solution is approved that will best serve the VCCS.

Each activity is separately described below.

Fit/Gap Analysis (completed April 1999)

Six WorkGroups were chartered and staffed by a combination of College functional representatives, VCCS System Office resource staff, and IT staff. Most functional training was completed during the fourth quarter of 1998. During March and April, each WorkGroup met for 4-9 days of intense discussions facilitated by PeopleSoft consultants to review the various software modules. Meetings were held throughout the state; most met several times for three days at a time and required designated staff to travel to and from diverse locations (including New River, Newport News, Annandale, Charlottesville, Norfolk and Richmond) to dedicate themselves to this effort. We can assure you that the hours spent in these meetings were matched by an equivalent amount of time preparing for these sessions. WorkGroups completed documentation of their findings and made presentations Thursday and Friday, April 29-30, to a joint meeting of all WorkGroup Chairs, the Resource and technical staff assigned to the WorkGroups, and the Project Management Team. WorkGroup results were uniformly exceptional!

Each WorkGroup reviewed literally hundreds of items in assessing the software "fit" to the VCCS business environment. They compared software functionality to existing business processes and legacy system reports. Each WorkGroup examined in detail those software panels associated with their application area (Admissions, over 1100 panels; Student Records, over 850 panels; Financial Aid, over 1300). The software includes panels dealing with setup tables (defining academic terms and sessions, grades, and academic plans and programs), reports (student study lists, summary enrollment reports, transcripts), inquiry panels (for view-only access use), and process panels (enrolling students, packaging aid, producing letters for groups of students). Each of the software panels contains several to many data items, and the WorkGroups spent time reviewing most panels in sufficient detail to understand its relevance to VCCS. No stones were left unturned during their software review efforts on our collective behalf.

The WorkGroups were asked to report on several aspects of their fit/gap work. Most notable were their identification of issues along several dimensions, including policy and VCCS business process issues. They reported on an approximate percentage "fit" for their function based on the plain vanilla software, identified "gaps" where the software and our process or procedure is unsupported or poorly supported by the standard PeopleSoft product, and they reported "value-added" opportunities where the software will enable us to take advantage of new technology and expanded software functionality. Highlights include:

Most WorkGroups reported fit percentages in the 70-80% range. Admissions reported a lower percentage fit, but also reported numerous value-added features that could improve our ability to respond to prospect and applicant needs.

Every WorkGroup identified policy issues requiring clarification. Dean Terrance Suarez has agreed to lead a subcommittee of the SIS Steering Committee which will refine these issues and handle the presentation, discussion, and resolution of these issues within existing VCCS academic and administrative mechanisms so that prompt responses are made available to the WorkGroups during the model building (Prototyping) process to follow. Among this initial set of issues identified and documented to date are:

Are student financial debts to one College grounds for limiting access to services at all colleges?
Should VCCS colleges adhere to a single definition of what student demographic information is governed by FERPA regulations?
Clarification is needed on the effect of placement testing on admissions decisions.

Each WorkGroup identified a handful of "gaps" where the software as delivered is insufficient to handle current business needs. All "gaps" appear to be resolvable through customizations; and we have a commitment from PeopleSoft to assist with a couple of modifications that will be handled by them to satisfy key cross-college information access and processing needs. Among the gaps we will be addressing are:

Veteran's Affairs program support
Proper fee assessment for students covered in part by third-party contracts and in part by their personal pursuit of VCCS programs of study
Recording of jurisdiction/domicile according to VCCS and State of Virginia rules.
VCCS Academic Renewal Policy is not supported without customization

WorkGroups identified numerous value-added software features and functions that they anticipate including as components of the System Model they will be refining in the coming months. Highlights from our perspective include:

The ability to maintain an accounts receivable balance for each student.
The ability to package financial aid for groups of students ('batch packaging')
The ability to enter and track incomplete admissions applications.
Enrollment Management Reports
PeopleSoft maintains GPA by a student's career
The ability to support the academic and administrative processes of credit and non-credit students on a single system.

Prototype Preparation (Projected timeframe: May 1 - June 30, 1999)

Overview: During prototype preparation, the prototype database instance will be prepared according to the WorkGroups' prototype action plan specifications so that when the WorkGroups reconvene over the summer they will have access to an operational prototype environment with tables populated with minimal real VCCS table values to suit real VCCS circumstances.

Work will also continue during this period on a number of organizational and technical infrastructure activities to support WorkGroup efforts.

Module Level Prototyping (Projected timeframe: July 1 -September 30, 1999)

The initial part of the module-level prototyping exercise is done by the individual WorkGroups working independently with 'their' piece of the software. The WorkGroups must satisfy themselves that key processes work as they design them, that reports reflect VCCS requirements, that desk procedures and job descriptions can be properly mapped to security setups, etc. During this period, some reports (Grade Mailers, Schedule of Classes, Award Letters, etc) may very well be reviewed, adjusted, and declared "Production-ready". Other reports may remain in rough or outline form. Basic module-specific exercises would include registration, grading, and GPA calculations for individual students; loading federal financial aid (ISIR) data, packaging, and awarding financial aid to sample students, etc. A limited amount of PeopleSoft functional consulting has been budgeted to support this activity, and will be employed to assist with the initiation of these activities. At WorkGroup request, consultants may also be involved in assisting with the resolution and refinement of functionality issues of priority concern to the VCCS.

While the WorkGroup workload will be determined to a significant degree by the tasks they identify during Fit/Gap, as a general rule it can be assumed that the Module-Level Prototyping will represent a workload greater than any other activity within the Prototype Phase of the implementation process. The process will be less-intense than fit/gap activity. Team members should expect, at a minimum, to meet as a full WorkGroup about once a month. The majority of WorkGroup member time during this period is likely to be spent on individual or sub-group assignments. WorkGroup meetings will be devoted to review of progress on individual tasks, and setting the agenda for the next several week's activities.

Crossover issues will continue to be identified and refined, and a regular series of crossover issue meetings will begin to help frame the testing of these items which will be the primary focus of the Integration-Level Prototyping which follows. WorkGroups should also begin to review and test the data conversion, interfaces, enhancements, and report assignments that the Utility is working on.

During Module-Level Prototyping, each WorkGroup will begin drafting process documentation and end user training plans for use by the colleges, and will begin developing the outline of the College Deployment Plan, which will be shared with each College to assist them with their individual implementation agendas. Outlines for process documentation and end user training plans will be shared and discussed with the WorkGroup Chairs before this activity begins.

During this period, the SIS Steering Committee will meet mid-way through the process to hear WorkGroup Progress Reports and review progress to date; and again at the end of the module-level prototyping to hear WorkGroup Reports and to review and approve the work results of each WorkGroup.

Integration Level Prototyping (Projected timeframe: October 1 through mid-November, 1999)

Crossover processes become the primary focus of the integration-level prototype activity. One example of the prototyping exercises conducted during this activity will be the add/drop process, and the consequences of such registration activities on financial aid and student bills. Another example of an integration-level prototype test is the management of Service Indicators (usually referred to as "holds"). Service Indicators will be fine-tuned during this period to satisfy such circumstances as the correct assignment of holds to individual students, and to confirm that appropriate indicators prohibit students from registering for classes, receiving grades, or ordering transcripts based on policy imbedded in the setup of Service Indicator (holds) values.
This will represent a very intense period of activity. Three joint meetings of all WorkGroups are anticipated during this (approximately every third week or so). At these joint WorkGroup meetings, the individual module activities will be performed in full, with discussion of points of handoffs between modules the primary discussion point. Sample cases (fictitious individuals) will be taken through the full Student Administration software/business process workflow, from prospect to applicant, registered student through grading and transcripting, advising and program completion, with financial aid and the fee payment/reconciliation processes for an appropriate distribution of students (in/out of jurisdiction; third party-supported students, students with both credit and non-credit workloads, etc). Topics such as processing of applications, tuition and fees, add/drop process impacts on student account balances and potential financial aid repackaging requirements will be priorities during these meetings.

A modest PeopleSoft consulting budget has been allocated so that a consulting presence will be available during major integration 'events' to assist with the fine-tuning of the software. Between meetings, each WorkGroup and/or inter-WorkGroup subcommittees, may have some 'fine tuning' to do, adjusting tables, processes, and/or reports to accurately produce intended student service outcomes.

By the end of Integration-level prototyping, all data conversions will have been tested, system interfaces completed and ready for end-user evaluation, and most production reports completed, tested, and documented. SIS Steering Committee-approved product customizations should be in final test mode, too. During these activities, WorkGroups will need to meet together as they resolve cross-functional issues and test system processes against college business practices to insure that the prototype solution will handle the range of VCCS student service requirements.

System and Stress-Testing (Projected timeframe: mid-November through December 31, 1999)

This prototype activity is where the system is put through a series of simulated in-production circumstances. There are software tools that can simulate the significant number of simultaneous users likely to be on the system at peak load times; and because many software operations will be user controlled by staff at 23 colleges, any number of tests of system performance will be conducted to satisfy performance criteria. Test criteria will be provided by the WorkGroups regarding key processes that have a time-critical element that must be satisfied, such as: time to print a study list once a student enrollment request has been completed; time to process a tuition calculation, etc. During this period, database tuning (creating new or different file indices to improve software performance) and/or tuning network and hardware environments to deal with peak-load circumstances, will be conducted. A modest technical consulting budget has been reserved to assist VCCS technical staff with preparing system test plans, reviewing results, and participating in any performance tuning/troubleshooting activities.

While the system and stress-testing is underway, the WorkGroups will be finalizing End User Training plans and process documentation and will complete the College Deployment Plan, which will provide detailed recommendations for implementing the software.

The end result of the prototyping activity is a system model that can be presented and demonstrated to key user audiences such as the Chancellor's Cabinet, ACOP, and the Peer Groups. Acceptance of the model will trigger the formal launch of the final project implementation phase, "System Deployment".

SIS Phase IV - Deployment

The final phase of the implementation is labeled Deployment. For the VCCS, that phase will be the responsibility of each of the colleges. Deployment will begin with the delivery of the VCCS SIS Model to the Colleges. It will be a College responsibility to do its own 'fit' against the model, produce any customizations (i.e., unique reports not included in those delivered with the model; interfaces to other third-party software not delivered with the model), and tailor the end-user training and business process documentation to their organization. Each College will develop its own implementation timeline and submit this information to the Project Management Team. The Project Management Team will be available to provide counsel on College-specific implementation issues, and the Utility will be available to provide technical assistance with College-specific customizations.

Last updated May 24, 1999.