Cat Herding in the Green Mountains:

1
Cat Herding in the Green Mountains
An Enterprise Information System for the Vermont
State Colleges

• Linda Hilton, Chief Information Officer
• Eric Sakai, Director of Learning Technologies

2
Organizational context

• Five colleges, 12,000 students
• Community College of Vermont
• Castleton State College
• Johnson State College
• Lyndon State College
• Vermont Technical College

3
Challenges

• Aging SIS
• Paperbound, labor-intensive processes
• Poor customer service
• Little system collaboration

4
Core Process Review

• Analyze business operations, map processes
• Combine process redesign and SIS implementation
• RFP, fall 99

5
SASIStudent and Administrative Services
Initiative

• New chancellor and presidents led implementation
• Mandates single data base, uniform business
  rules, no customization!
• Web-based services model
• Six inter-institutional implementation teams
  central meeting place
• Training from vendor, internal project manager
• Debate, decisions about common policies/procedures
  
• SASI as lever for broader organizational change

6
Course catalog consolidation

• Necessary for single data base system
• Serves student needs
• Results
• Streamlined curriculum, fostered collaboration
• Elimination of transfer credit within VSC
• Increased study options for students (e.g.,
  online)
• Increased inter-institutional enrollments

7
Blackboard integration

• Single LMS (Basic) deployment, spring 2000
• Data integration piloted, fall 2003
• Blackboard Enterprise operational, spring 2004
• Web services consolidated in VSC Portal, spring
  2004
• Content System implementation, fall 2006

8
System enhancements

• SIS live for fall 2002
• AIS teams established, fall 2003
• VSC Portal operational, spring 2004
• Online application system, fall 2005
• Data warehouse spring, 2006
• Scheduling system development, spring 2006

9
Outcomes lessons learned

• SIS implementation as lever for organizational
  change
• Methodology for system collaboration
• Applicants in Portal
• Alums in Portal
• Help Desk single point of contact for users

• Library catalog online databases
• Conference events tools
• Identity management
• Security
• Disaster Recovery
• E-mail

10
Outcomes lessons learned

• Interplay of business process redesign and system
  implementation
• Challenge of training and documentation on the
  fly
• Data integrity problems
• Lack of IT and back-up staffing
• Executive buy-in crucial

11

• Questions?

12
Contact us

• Linda Hilton
• Chief Information Officer
• Vermont State Colleges
• Linda.hilton_at_vsc.edu
• Eric Sakai
• Director of Learning Technologies
• Community College of Vermont
• Eric.sakai_at_ccv.edu