leveraging campus information systems for effective compliance certification and system improvements...
TRANSCRIPT
Leveraging campus information systems for effective compliance
certification and system improvements
Presented by:Tim LoganDarryl StuhrTrey GormanEric Ames
Maximizing the Value:Overview
• Problem:
How to accomplish SACS site development for online submission efficiently and effectively?
Maximizing the Value:Overview
System Design Criteria• Simplicity• Reliability• Accuracy• Usability• NO LIVE LINKS!!!!!• Single document format – PDF
Maximizing the Value:Overview
Elements of site • Portal/Welcome• Institutional Overview• Help/Technical • Compliance Certification
Narratives Documentation
• Faculty Roster• Document Directory
Maximizing the Value:Overview
Elements of the online compliance delivery system • Web site authoring and management system• Document management system• Faculty roster
• interactive query and display system
Maximizing the Value:Overview
Options: Custom system for SACS reporting
• Pros– Allowed for customized system
– Complete control of system design
• Cons– Starting from scratch – time and cost of development
– Narrow base of technical support
– Little value beyond SACS project
Maximizing the Value:Overview
Options: Adaptation of existing enterprise systems
• Pros– Improved support– Established reliability– Speed of implementation– Distributed workload– Focus on SACS-specific data & requirements– Possible long-term benefits to enterprise systems
• Cons– Less freedom of design – working within existing system parameters– LOTS more people involved – coordination of efforts, varying
understandings of importance and urgency– Integration of disparate systems
Maximizing the Value:Overview
Decision: Use and adapt existing university systems
• Deciding factor: Support– Development
– Operation
– Redundancy
– Back-up
• Selling point: Improvements to university systems
Maximizing the Value:Overview
Elements of the online compliance delivery system • Web site authoring and management system
• Baylor Content Management System• Welcome, Help, Compliance Narratives
• Document management system• DSpace – BEARdocs
– Documentation
– Faculty CVs
• Faculty roster – interactive query and display system• Baylor faculty/staff directory – adapted
Maximizing the Value:Overview
Portal Sections
Person DatabaseSACS Database
BEARdocsDSpace
Simplicity, Reliability, Accuracy, Usability
Welcome, Help,Institutional Overview
Compliance Certification
Faculty Roster
Document Directory
Systems
SACS Reaffirmation of Accreditation Portal
Content Mgmt System
Maximizing the Value:Content Management System
Web site authoring and management system
Need:
System for creating and managing HTML for a Web site with well-defined structure and thousands of links to documentation.
Maximizing the Value:Content Management System
Web site authoring and management system– background system that creates and maintains
university Web sites
Compliance site – 2 separate sites– General Information template (generic HTML)– Compliance Certification template (special within CMS)
Maximizing the Value:Content Management System
Maximizing the Value:Content Management System
Maximizing the Value:Content Management System
Pros– Supported campus system– Reasonable functionality– Design, programming assistance
Cons– Limited flexibility– Limited HTML editing
Maximizing the Value:Content Management System
Maximizing the Value:Content Management System
Maximizing the Value:Content Management System
Maximizing the Value:Content Management System
Maximizing the Value:Content Management System
Value added to CMS– Windows authentication– Stress testing– Print template
Maximizing the Value:Additional Information
Maximizing the Value:Document Management System
Document Management System
Need a system to:
• Store,• Secure,• Search,• Organize,• Manage links to thousands of documents
Maximizing the Value:Document Management System
Options:
• BEARdocs (DSpace) • BearSpace (Xythos) • Baylor-developed Content Management System
Maximizing the Value:Document Management System
DSpace/BEARdocs:
• BEARdocs – our Document Management System• BEARdocs is DSpace, a digital repository system
HP-MIT Alliance:http://www.dspace.org
• Extensive metadata• Authorization and security options• Full-text searching
Maximizing the Value:Document Management System
Decision to use DSpace as our DMS
Pros:• Full-text searching capabilities of our PDFs
• Good security options
• Authenticate against Active Directory
• Jump start for Baylor’s institutional repository
• PostgreSQL backend
• Hierarchical organization for our documents
Maximizing the Value:Document Management System
Maximizing the Value:Document Management System
Maximizing the Value:Document Management System
Decision to use DSpace as our DMS
Cons:• No document versioning
• Disparate system; second log-in needed
• Open-source project; limited community support
• “Noise” in repository– SACS documents are not scholarly research
Maximizing the Value:Document Management System
Value:
• Implementation Speed• Enterprise System Support• Enhance Core Systems• Cost Savings
Maximizing the Value:Document Management System
Backup and Redundancy
• Nightly backups with our campus-wide backup system• Warm server, using Rsync
Maximizing the Value:Document Management System
Facts and Figures
• 2,030 items in SACS Narrative Collection• 1,381 Curricula Vitae• 4,191 total SACS documents• 662 documents accessed by reviewers (Nov. 1st)
Maximizing the Value:Document Management System
Maximizing the Value:Faculty Roster
Faculty Roster
Need an interactive system to display faculty information– Name– Courses taught– Education– Other qualifications– Link to CV
Maximizing the Value:Faculty Roster
Application Architecture Adaptation of online University Directory
SACS DB – Static clone of live Enterprise DB
Maximizing the Value:Faculty Roster
Value addedUniversity Directory
• Accurate education data• Display of courses taught• Course descriptions added to course listings
Enterprise DB• Improved data organization• New data fields, incl. URL for CV• Administration hierarchy – provost, dean, chair
Maximizing the Value:Faculty Roster
Search capabilitiesStandard – name, college, discipline
Filters: GTAs, Exceptions
Others: Course-based listing (all sections of a course),
Department-based
Maximizing the Value:Faculty Roster
Data Display – Careful consideration of each field– Separate views for reviewers and admins
Maximizing the Value:Faculty Roster
Maximizing the Value:Faculty Roster
Maximizing the Value:Faculty Roster
Benefits of Leveraging Existing Systems Implementation Speed and Focus
• More time for underlying data issues• Tradeoffs: Less flexibility, extra complexity initially
Enterprise System Support• Support from Head of Admin Computing, DBAs, HR
Enhanced Core Systems• Improvements to University Directory, Course Listings,
Enterprise DB
Cost Savings• No need for purchased application • Less programmer time required
Maximizing the Value:Document processing
Document processing
Handling the huge volume of paper and electronic documents
Maximizing the Value:Document processing
Process– Narrative process
• Deadlines• Collaboration• Accountability
– Document management• Standard platform/system• Lists!
– Data management• Acrobat• Good scanner• Automatic document feeder
– Staffing• Document manager
Maximizing the Value:Document processing
ProcessPros
• Better beginnings = happier endings• Standardization
Cons• Time intensive• Staffing concerns
Maximizing the Value:Document processing
Process – value addedBest practices for Institutional Effectiveness
• Faculty roster• Faculty credential gathering• Academic assessments
Digital CV collection
Value of Acrobat• Web page capture• Binders• Security
Maximizing the Value:Other considerations
Alternate delivery mechanisms
CD version (optional)• PDF of entire compliance site - interactive• Print version of faculty roster• No documentation
Print version (required)• Compliance narratives – 409 pages• Faculty Roster – 428 pages• No documentation
Maximizing the Value:Other considerations
Report a Problem mechanism
Maximizing the Value:Summary
Steps and Considerations– Choose between existing system vs. new system– Establish standards for documentation, narratives, etc.– Web site: tool to manage HTML and web pages– Roster: user-friendly interface with required information– Document storage: safety, reliability, ample space– Consider costs & benefits to university post-SACS
Also– NO LIVE LINKS!– Standard document format (PDF recommended)
Maximizing the Value:Questions
• Q & A
Maximizing the Value:Additional Information
• Link to this presentation and other relevant materials:– Baylor University SACS Presentation Dec06.pdf -
• https://beardocs.baylor.edu/handle/2104/4834