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