Faculty advisory group gets first look at SIS replacement
October 20, 2009 - Class rosters, teaching schedules and student advisee lists all were on the agenda as members of the university’s Faculty Technology Advisory Group (FTAG) took their first look at PeopleSoft’s Faculty Center interface.
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University to Rufus Initiative team on basic setup: "Ok, with some changes"
September 30, 2009 - In six sessions held during August and September, 138 representatives from across the university helped validate the way PeopleSoft will process student biographic and demographic data as well as how the system will store the university's academic structure.
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Academic Structure validation sessions under way
September 21, 2009 - Validation sessions for PeopleSoft's Academic Structure module will be taking place this week. This work is essential to properly translating the university's current academic structure into the new system. Representatives from throughout the university will discuss college, department/school, and subject area structures as well as information about campuses, locations, terms, and majors/minors/certificates.
The Big Picture - More than just a new SIS
September 16, 2009 - The Rufus Initiative consists of six major components. Each is essential to one or more periods in OHIO's relationship with its students. Several of these components also will play a major role in the university's larger IT improvement plans.
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Rufus Initiative part of OIT's "Year of Change"
September 9, 2009 - The Rufus Initiative is one of several OIT initiatives that will see major progress in the coming year.
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Slides from Institutional Intelligence validation sessions available
September 8, 2009 - A copy of the PowerPoint slides from the recent Institutional Intelligence validation sessions can be downloaded using the link below:
At a Glance: Admissions & Financial Aid, procurement updates
August 26, 2009 - The Rufus Initiative team recently met with undergraduate admissions staff to discuss the capabilities and features in PeopleSoft that will impact their operations. Graduate admissions, distance learning and OUCOM will be contacted as well.
On the Financial Aid side, the team is working with OUCOM and Payroll to reduce the need for paper forms by bringing scholarship applications and PACE/Work Study forms online.
The RFP for the university's web portal currently is out with vendors, and the university is in the latter stages of contract negotiations for a Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) package.
Faculty, staff help refine PeopleSoft's Campus Community module
August 14, 2009 - In validation sessions held on August 3, 5 and 6, forty-eight individuals representing a wide range of academic and administrative departments helped the Rufus Initiative team refine its approach to storing student biographic and demographic data in the new PeopleSoft SIS.
The sessions focused on Campus Community, the PeopleSoft module that will store name variations, addresses, telephone numbers, and other basic biographic items. Because nearly every student-centered process at the university depends in some way on this information, it was essential to validate the team's assumptions with the wider university community.
After Campus Community, the team will move on to the Academic Structure module. Validation sessions for that module are planned for mid-September.
Fall quarter fee to appear on student bills
August 7, 2009 - Fall bills are on their way to students. Included among other line items will be the first instance of the "STUDENT INFO SYS & NETWORK FEE" that is helping fund the Rufus Initiative and NextGen Network projects. Full time students will see a $22 charge, while part time students will see a pro-rated charge.
Feedback requested on portal requirements
August 3, 2009 - The Rufus Initiative team would like your feedback as we develop a Web Portal for the university. This portal will provide “one stop shopping” access not only to the new SIS but also to existing services like Blackboard, e-mail, university news, etc. Individual users will be able to customize which services they see when they log into this portal and choose how they receive communications and reminders from the university about academic tasks, deadlines and updates.
To insure that we purchase portal software that meets the university’s needs, we ask that you take a few moments to look over the requirements that we have compiled and send any feedback you might have to rufus.initiative@ohio.edu before Thursday, August 6.
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Portal requirements gathering complete - RFP to follow
July 21, 2009 - Faculty, administrative staff and students are clear about what they want from a university portal: everything. They want a single, secure, customizable location that gives them access to the information, communications and transactions they need, based on their specific roles at the university.
After conducting numerous faculty, administrative staff, and student focus groups, the Rufus Initiative's portal committee has analyzed the diverse, sometimes competing needs of the university community and compiled that information into a requirements document that will be used to draft an RFP.
According to the requirements document, the OHIO portal should:
- be centrally branded but customizable by the end user for both content and layout
- integrate with Oracle/PeopleSoft's Campus Solutions, Oracle HR and Finance, the Adirondack housing system, Blackboard, and other online applications
- provide the ability to deliver information/announcements/alerts to users via the medium of their choice
- offer emergency alert capabilities
- allow content from other systems to be pushed, based on user roles, to provide highly visible alerts and notifications
- offer a secure gateway for financial transactions
- allow users to grant limited access to portions of their information, such as students granting access to parents for paying bills or viewing grades
- be compatible with mobile devices
The committee currently is drafting an RFP based on this information. Members of the university community will have an opportunity to comment on a draft version of that RFP in the coming days.
Selection process moves forward for IdM and CRM
July 17, 2009 - The respective search committees for the university's Identity Management (IdM) and Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) solutions both are moving closer to a decision. The CRM committee's three vendor finalists will be on campus the week of July 20, with a decision expected in early August. The IdM committee has narrowed its choice down to two vendors, both of whom will be invited to demonstrate their solutions on campus in the coming weeks.
CRM and IdM both are prerequisites to implementing the new PeopleSoft student system. CRM will help the university communicate with prospective students and manage those individuals' data, including applications for admission and all necessary followup contacts. IdM will provide a secure, central repository for personal identities and roles. The student portion of identity management is essential to the Rufus Initiative; however, the IdM solution also will include faculty, staff, and special roles like guests and parents.
Building the Foundation: Status Update
July 2, 2009 - The Rufus Initiative's success depends on having a solid foundation. This includes purchasing and configuring several independent, foundational services as well as designing consistent data structures for the university. Here are progress updates on three Rufus Initiative core services.
Identity Management - Vendor responses to the university's RFP are back, and a committee of key stakeholders currently is choosing the top contenders to invite to campus for demos.
Constituent Relationship Management - The top three vendors competing for this service will be on campus later this month to demo their systems and answer questions.
University Portal - The team currently is gathering requirements from representative groups in all areas on all campuses. This phase is scheduled to conclude on July 16, after which the group will create and issue an RFP
President, Trustees help kick off Rufus Initiative
June 25, 2009 - The Rufus Initiative formally got under way on Thursday, June 25 with a kickoff in the Baker Center Theater. The event included endorsements from the President and the Board of Trustees, a video premiere and a visit from Rufus the Bobcat.
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Project Kickoff & Video Premiere Scheduled for June 25 in Baker Theater
June 21, 2009 - Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to attend the Rufus Initiative kickoff in the Baker Center Theater on June 25, 2009 from 8:00 am to 9:00 am. The event will premiere the latest Rufus Initiative orientation film and will include remarks by President Roderick McDavis, Chief Information Officer Brice Bible, and Ciber executive Mike Dillon. For those who cannot attend in person, the event will be streamed live and recorded for later viewing.
Recorded stream
Rufus Initiative Orientation Film (YouTube video)
Project name, contest winners announced
June 8, 2009 - It's official. The NextGen SIS project now will be known as the "Rufus Initiative." Thanks go out to the students whose suggestions helped the committee make their decision, and congratulations to the 4 students who won NextGen gear for participating in the contest.
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Chancellor approves fee in support of bond issue
May 13, 2009 - Chancellor Eric Fingerhut of the Ohio Board of Regents has approved the university's request to institute a student fee to help pay for the NextGen network and SIS programs. The fee, not to exceed $25 per quarter, will begin fall 2009 and will pay for half of the program's annual debt service. The other half will come from general fund budget reallocations. Work will begin immediately.
103 attend second open forum on network and SIS
May 12, 2009 - 103 students, faculty and staff participated in today's NextGen network and SIS replacement project forum. 79 attended in person at Baker Center, while an additional 24 participated via the interactive stream.
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Second open forum in Baker 240 on May 12 at noon
May 11, 2009 - The university will be hosting its second open forum on May 12 at 12:00 pm in Baker Center 240 to discuss the NextGen network and SIS replacement projects. The forum will follow the same format as last week, with a short overview of the two projects and a Q&A session. Pizza will be provided..
"What's in it for you" - PDF slide show
Live, interactive stream - available May 12 from 12 pm - 1 pm
PowerPoint from forum
90 attend open forum on network and SIS
May 5, 2009 - Ninety students, faculty and staff participated in today's NextGen network and SIS replacement project forum. Sixty attended in person at Baker Center, while an additional thirty participated via the interactive stream.
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Students, faculty & staff invited to first of two open forums
May 1, 2009 - The university will be hosting an open forum on May 5 at 4:00 pm in Baker Center 240 to discuss the NextGen network and SIS replacement projects. The forum will open with a short overview of the two projects, followed by a Q&A session. Pizza will be provided.
View the forum invite(PDF)
Negotiations under way with implementation partner finalists
April 23, 2009 - Ohio University currently is negotiating with the top implementation partner finalists as part of its RFP process. Once contract negotiations are complete, the chosen implementation partner will begin working with OHIO's functional and technical leads on all aspects of the project.
IO Consulting selected to deliver functional training modules
February 27, 2009 - Through a competitive bid process, Ohio University has selected Io Consulting to deliver a series of module-specific functional courses for PeopleSoft Campus Solutions. More...
