The Role of SIS in Designing Personalized Student Services

1
The Role of SIS in Designing Personalized Student
Services

• Bill Haid
• Executive Director of Enrollment Services
• Colorado State University

2
Presentation Outline

• Services to Learners
• Higher Education Environment
• Student Information Systems
• Educational Record
• FERPA
• New Services in the Future

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True or False?

• Its a great time to work in administrative
  systems
• Todays students look to the web first for
  service
• 75 of our attention should be focused on online
  services
• Online services can match the campus service
  culture

4
Services to Distance Learners

• Need the SAME services available to traditional
  students but accessible any time, any place
• Need some ADDITIONAL services that focus on
  online students needs

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Services Needed by All Students

• Admissions
• Registration
• Financial Aid
• Marketing/Recruiting
• Advising
• Library

• Bookstore
• Career Counseling
• Personal Counseling
• Services for Students with Disabilities

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Services Needed by Distance Students

• Technical support
• Orientation to online learning environment
• Opportunities for connecting with
• Faculty
• Other learners
• The institution

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Example

• Generic student service
• Website for enrolled students, log on, click to
  register
• Personalized student service
• Welcome, Pat. To change your schedule click on
  course and add.
• Customized student service
• Welcome, Pat. As a history major, you may be
  interested in these courses next term.

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Current Environment in Higher Education

• Budget constraints
• Insufficient technology resources
• Need to attract quality students
• Strive to improve the academic experience
• Provide increased services
• Meet student/parent expectations

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Institutional Culture

• 83 Student-centered
• 75 Values and leverages technology
• 87 prefers web-based solutions
• 38 Adopts change easily!
• Synergy, LLC Student Information Systems 2002,
  Survey Report, February 2002

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Colorado State University

• Continued enrollment growth
• Expansion of student services
• Budget constraints
• Beginning project to replace student information
  systems
• Anticipating integration benefits and additional
  functionality

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What Is a Student Information System?

• Database or databases containing information
  about students
• Used to support services to students
• Used to maintain a students educational record

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Student Information Systems

• Marketing and Recruitment
• Admissions
• Financial Aid
• Records and Registration
• Student Billing
• Academic Advising

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Integrating or Interfacing?

• Information common to multiple parts of the
  student system, such as address
• Integrated means a change in one place
  automatically updates information in the other
  place
• Interfaced means that a program or person must
  update or reenter the new data in the other place

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Example

• Student provides a new address to the registrar
• Registrar updates the records database
• The student billing system needs the new address
• An integrated system will pull the new address
  from the records database
• An interfaced system will update the billing
  system from the records system usually after 24
  hours!

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Student System Software Providers

• SCT Banner
• SCT PLUS
• PeopleSoft Student Administration System
• Datatel
• CARS
• Homegrown!

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Cost of a New Student Information System

• Based on size of institution
• Cost of software license
• Cost of annual maintenance
• Cost of system implementation
• Cost of project team
• Implementation timeline

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Replace or Rebuild?

• Maintenance costs
• Enhancement costs
• Technical costs
• Service expansion
• Additional factors (Y2K)

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Options for Web-based Services

• New functionality included in new systems
• Web-enable existing systems with middleware
• Web portals to interface with legacy systems

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What Is an Educational Record?

• Everything an institution keeps and maintains
  concerning a student
• Examples
• Personal information
• Academic information
• Financial information
• Disciplinary information

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What Isnt an Educational Record?

• Information maintained by an individual, such as
  faculty records
• Certain types of information maintained by the
  institution
• Examples
• Employment records
• Health records
• Police records
• Counseling records

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Quiz Time!

• A students written permission is required before
  information from their educational record can be
  released.
• True?
• False?
• I dont know.

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What Is FERPA?

• Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974
• Concerns educational records
• Provides student access to their own record
• Protects release of record except as provided

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Quiz Time

• A students directory information may be released
  in compliance with FERPA without the students
  consent.
• True?
• False?
• I dont know.

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Directory Information

• Defined by institution name, address, telephone,
  place of birth, major
• Deemed harmless if released
• May be released without consent
• May be withheld by request

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Directory Information Examples

• Name
• Address
• Telephone
• Email
• Enrollment status

• Field of study
• Dates of attendance
• Date and place of birth
• Photograph
• Degrees and awards

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Prohibited from Directory Information

• Social security number, student ID number
• Race, ethnicity, nationality
• Gender
• Grades

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Personally Identifiable Information

• Everything else that is not directory information
  in an educational record
• List of personal characteristics that would make
  the students identity traceable
• Includes grades, courses, test scores, other
  family information
• May not be released without consent of the student

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What is a Record?

• Handwriting
• Computer media
• Print
• Video or audio tape
• Film
• Microfilm and microfiche

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What Can be Released?

• Directory information if student has not
  withheld
• Personally identifiable information with prior
  consent

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Quiz Time

• Parents can obtain confidential information from
  their students academic record.
• True?
• False?
• I dont know.

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Exceptions to Prior Consent

• School officials with legitimate educational
  interest
• Federal, state, and local authorities involving
  an audit or evaluation
• In connection with financial aid enrollment
  verification
• To comply with judicial order or subpoena
• To parents of dependent students
• To the student

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Quiz Time

• Faculty have a right to inspect education records
  of any student attending your college without
  giving a reason.
• True?
• False?
• I dont know.

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Who are School Officials with Legitimate
Educational Interest?

• As pre-defined in the institutions policy
• Advisors
• Faculty
• Administrators
• Service providers

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FERPA and the Patriot Act

• Adds a new exception to FERPA
• Allows for access to student records under
  terrorism investigation
• Prohibits disclosure of the request to student
  and others

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Online Services

• Distance learners
• Campus learners
• When a trip to campus is not feasible
• When online service is more convenient

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Enhancements to Student Services with an
Integrated SIS

• Electronic signature/authentication/security
• System communication with push messages and event
  triggers
• Running what/if scenarios, including degree audit
• Work flow and document flow about a students
  interests or preferences

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Lessons Learned

• It always takes more time
• More money
• More staff
• In the end, its worth it

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Resources Used for This Presentation

• US Department of Education, FPCO
• http//www.ed.gov/offices/OM/fpco/
• American Association of Collegiate Registrars and
  Admissions Officers (AACRAO)
• http//www.aacrao.org

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Bill Haid

• Executive Director of Enrollment Services
• Colorado State University
• Email william.haid_at_colostate.edu
• Phone [phone]