COMPUTING SYSTEMS UPDATE
A Report to the Community
Prepared by the Office of the Vice-President (Institutional Affairs)
November 10, 1995
INTRODUCTION
The computing plan for the University envisioned the end of 1995
as a major switchover point, as major systems and applications are
moved from mainframe computers to a distributed environment.
With six weeks left to go, this report brings the York community up
to date on how the schedule has been staggered to phase in the new
systems. The items below reflect the status and best estimates of
progress for each system as of today's date. The report is purposely
brief, and highlights primarily the major systems at York, in order
to achieve wide circulation in a timely way. Many projects already
circulate information bulletins which will provide further details in
the normal course, and wider communication to the community is
planned as development continues.
VM1 ACADEMIC SYSTEM
All undergraduate teaching activities have been migrated off VM1
and efforts are continuing to move research data. VM1 will be shut
down on December 31, 1995 as scheduled.
PRIVATE FUNDING
The system is up and running. A demonstration to the PeopleSoft
company, whose tools were used in its production, has led to an
invitation to York to speak with representatives of other universities
such as Harvard and Cornell about how the system was built.
HUMAN RESOURCES
Following an intensive testing period, the first payroll off the new
system will be run in November. The system will be run in parallel
with the old over November and December to conduct final
assurances, with the new system going live solo in January.
STUDENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (SIS)
The SIS plan has been revised to reflect the phased development of
system modules. The Course Offering File and Appointment
Booking modules have been signed off, and work on other modules
is progressing well, with a plan to have the Enrollment and Voice
Response modules in place by March 1996, and the remaining
modules, primarily Grades and Transcripts, available between
March and May. Until the bulk of the system is operational, likely
March 1996, the existing Student Records System (SRS) will serve as
the current input and reporting mechanism.
STUDENT ACCOUNTS RECORDS SYSTEM (STARS)
It is anticipated that the first statement off the new system,
including all charges for tuition and housing, will be mailed to
students next week, with a notice explaining how to read the
statement and, in particular, the bottom line. There is still work to
be done on items such as interest calculations and the process for
issuing refund cheques, and as a result refunds will be slightly
delayed until the end of November or beginning of December. The
current expectation is that the outstanding work to complete STARS
will require an additional four months to make the system fully
operational and complete. The current Student Accounts system
(STAC) will be maintained as an input mechanism until the new
Student Information System (SIS) goes live.
LIBRARY
The development of Yorkline+ is proceeding well, with staff
undertaking database conversion and loading, reviewing results,
and preparing training packages. Work is continuing with the
vendor on outstanding items such as the interface to the present
UNIX database server, and performance testing and transaction
loads are being tested in concert with CCS. The revised
implementation date is mid-May, which is optimal in terms of
timing for academic and fiscal activity.
FINANCE
Implementation of the Finance system has been rescheduled to the
beginning of the 1996/97 fiscal year (May 1, 1996) because of the
current state of the software development by the vendor and the
imminence of the 1995/96 year end. The relationship with
PeopleSoft continues positive and discussions are continuing, with
every expectation that planned enhancements developed in concert
with York will result in a product that will better serve our
requirements. It is important to note that this decision is based on
timing, since we cannot afford to take a risk at compromising our
financial year end, plus a belief that a better product will result in
the final analysis with more work. It is still our intention to
implement a fully integrated Finance and Human Resources system
using the PeopleSoft products. This is simply a rescheduling of the
Finance portion until year end. The present Finance system will
continue to be used for the rest of 1995/96.
JETFORMS
A number of forms currently in use by Purchasing and Human
Resources have been adapted to JetForms use with a high degree of
success. Work is continuing on resolving the technological aspects
of transferring the forms using e-mail. Pilot projects using the
electronic forms will begin early in 1996.
E-MAIL
PROFS will be discontinued and unavailable as of December 31,
1995, with administrative users primarily switching to Z-Mail.
Further information about the University e-mail standard will be
circulated by CCS.
YORKCARD
Continuing technical difficulties have been experienced in the
production and delivery of cards of acceptable quality, but at this
point most of these have been addressed and it is anticipated that
the cards will be distributed to students by the end of November.
NETWORK
Work is ongoing to keep the network up to a level which can
support all of the academic and administrative applications.
SUMMARY
While the development of major computing systems is being phased
in over a slightly longer time period, moving all functions off the
mainframe is still the University objective. Those involved in
developing the new systems are making an extraordinary effort to
ensure that this goal is achieved, and we will all be the beneficiaries
of their work. In turn, members of the community are to be
commended for their patience and understanding in these difficult
times of transition, and it is hoped that this information will help
answer many of the questions being asked about system
development and implementation.
Joanna Carlberg
Assistant to the Vice-President (Institutional Affairs)
S910 Ross
-44600
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