Student Information Systems and Articles, Papers, and Reports

A start-up company from a former Blackboard executive is positioning itself to help colleges boost retention with communication tools ... and lots of data.

This research bulletin is designed to help senior college and university administrators better understand the complexities of both financial aid and information technology support for efficient and effective management of the financial aid resource. Using the financial aid technology pyramid as a framework, the bulletin illustrates how to use the pyramid in enrollment management, financial aid, and IT planning and implementation.

College representatives at Educause conference ponder outsourcing e-mail to Google and how to embrace students’ Facebook habits.

It is time to think differently about administrative systems in colleges and universities. Using the Kuali Student Service System as an illustration, this ECAR research bulletin discusses a vision, and a set of functional and technical principles, for the next generation of administrative systems. Although the vision and principles are being developed for a new student system, they can serve as a framework for the development of an administrative system in any area of higher education. They are also a guide to what to look for in planning to select and implement a next generation vendor-supplied administrative system.

"For the first time, incoming students at San Francisco State U. can select who they want to live with by searching online profiles."

Although advances in social networking technologies allow for new and perhaps more efficient means of learning and communicating, they also pose some significant challenges in higher education, especially for those campus professionals who provide student and academic services.

This study, designed and analyzed by ECAR on behalf of the Council of Higher Education Management Associations (CHEMA), identifies the forces of change that are building for higher education and seeks to understand their potential implications. The report adds the voice of higher education's administrative leadership to the dialogue about the future of our institutions. Sponsored by 22 CHEMA member associations, the study examines how administrators and officials engaged in college and university support functions anticipate that higher education will change over the next ten years by identifying the changes, opportunities, and threats these leaders foresee for higher education, for their institutions, and for specific functional areas. In addition, the study discusses how prepared institutions are to manage change and shape their own futures.

As both of the reviewers note, these two books are both geared toward providing suggestions and strategies to the IT manager. The first review on The Visible Ops Handbook: Starting ITIL in 4 Practical Steps, notes that this book is an invaluable guide to IT change management. The second review is on Student Information Systems: A Guide to Implementation Success, which discusses how to navigate the implentation process of a student information system (SIS).

Implementing a portal provides an opportunity for collaboration, reflection, and change on campus.