AAfter months of training, planning and consulting, the administrative systems project moved out of the theoretical realm on January 1 with the successful implementation of the Payroll module. The January payroll for staff and faculty was produced using the new Datatel software. Long hours of planning and preparation resulted in one of the cleanest payroll runs ever accomplished at Whitman.
The live date for payroll was closely followed by that for Admissions. This module went live in February and included our first experience converting data from the legacy computer system. All went smoothly.
The next major milestone is spring pre-registration on the new system April 17. Preparation for this event includes going live on modules such as Curriculum Management, Academic Records, Faculty Information, Registration and Student Accounts. Setting up all these modules has resulted in some very busy months for many staff members.
Getting information out of the new system becomes ever more important as each module achieves its live date. To this end, we have deployed a number of different reporting tools and techniques, including programmed reports and ad-hoc reports using Excel or Safari Report Writer.
One of the other exciting things coming very soon are more web-based tools for faculty, staff, and students. For quite a while, we have enjoyed a number of web-based utilities like class rosters, class enrollment information, the college catalog, and the college directory. Certainly with the new system we are going to continue offering these services. In addition, we are implementing a number of other tools for staff, faculty and students. For employees, there will be tools to check on the remaining sick and vacation days. Faculty will have a wider range of pre-registration and advising tools to assist them, and students will be able to get unofficial transcripts right off of the web! Better yet, this is only the beginning...
For more details about the administrative information system implementation, visit the project web page at:
