Wednesday, October 15, 2014

New ERP an investment in student success

A new enterprise resource planning system (ERP) in the early stages of implementation at Daytona State College will significantly streamline institutional business processes. But perhaps more substantial is how it ultimately will help enhance the learning landscape for students.

This summer, the District Board of Trustees approved Oracle's PeopleSoft as the software solution to replace Daytona State’s existing ERP system, a move that President Carol W. Eaton called “one of the most significant investments we can make to promote student success.”

Ciber Inc. is the vendor guiding the $12 million system’s three-phase deployment for the institution, starting with a Human Capital Management (HCM) component that includes such areas as human resources, benefits and payroll. This first phase is expected to be deployed in January 2015. A Financial Management System (FMS) that includes purchasing, accounting and asset management modules is planned to go live by July next year.

The Ciber project manager charged with overseeing the DSC installation, Jose Peres, said deployment of the new ERP initiative, dubbed RISE (Resources Implemented for Student Engagement), presents a platform for continuous quality improvement in areas that will be heavy users of the PeopleSoft product. “One of the things Dr. Eaton has emphasized to us is that she sees this as an opportunity to review institutional practices, for example, in areas such as advising, enrollment, financial aid and student accounting, as we move forward with the system rollout,” he said.

The HCM and FMS will be virtually invisible to DSC students; however, a third Campus Solutions component slated to go live in spring 2016, will offer students a powerful new experience designed to help them stay on track as they navigate toward completion of their academic programs.

“Campus Solutions includes a lot of features that we don’t have right now, essentially standardizing and centralizing the student experience when combined with the new portal,” said DSC Project Manager Jane Davis. “It will provide students with more tools and help them make informed decisions.”

Discovery sessions to define much of the Campus Solutions details have yet to take place; however, broadly speaking, features will include such things as more efficient admissions and registration processes, detailed advising data and alerts, student account balances, holds and online payments, real-time financial aid information, schedules and academic program check downs, and other self-service instruments students will be able to access either themselves or while consulting with an academic advisor.

“A lot of what the students will notice most is in the student portal, which sits on top of the Campus Solutions module, and all the other pieces that go into it,” Davis said. “We’ve already started talking to students and getting their feedback. We want to include them in the process to ensure we are delivering a product that best fits their needs.”

Details and updates about the RISE rollout can be found at www.DaytonaState.edu/RISE.