FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The University of Arkansas recently announced it has licensed PeopleSoft's pure Internet solutions for higher education to replace the University's current student information system, SAFARI.

Support for the old system ends in 2004 when the vendor terminates the development and maintenance of the old software.

The old information system is a massive software system that resides on the UA campus administrative mainframe. The new system will take approximately 18 months for the installation and full implementation in a Unix-server environment.

Admissions data, recruitment data, scholarship awards and financial aid awards are handled by the software system, as well as fees paid by students, student housing information and registration for classes, grades and graduation requirements.

By using PeopleSoft's Internet applications, all campus services and information will be accessed much more conveniently. UA students will be able to register for classes and faculty members will be able to gather information from databases - all over the Internet.

PeopleSoft for Higher Education includes software for financial, human resources, enterprise performance management, student administration and procurement. However, since the UA campus uses BASIS, a custom-written software system that handles the financials and human resources, only the student administration system was purchased. PeopleSoft currently serves 550 higher education customers.

"I'm truly excited to have this opportunity to participate in a project of this scope and significance to the campus," said Randy Apon, assistant vice chancellor and director of Integrated Student Information Systems (ISIS). "Everyone wants his or her work to matter. This
is a great chance for me to make a difference for our campus."

As the director of the ISIS project, Apon will oversee the creation of specifications and design of the new campus-based integrated student information system for the UA campus.

"The significance of this project is so great that it is hard to capture in words," Apon said. "Everything about a student that needs to be remembered is entered into and handled by the student information system software. The impact, then, to the student is that these crucial aspects of a student's interaction with the University will be greatly helped by the PeopleSoft software system."

Once all of the modules of the new system are available to the campus in about 18 months, UA faculty, staff and alumni with appropriate security privileges will have Internet access to such academic and financial information as student accounts, class registration and financial aid. PeopleSoft solutions will fully integrate student information across the system and organize the information through efficient data management and reporting. The system will also keep reporting information for federal and state agencies and any data concerning a student's relationship to the University.

The University's Web site will also be able to display the entire catalog of studies for students, prospective students and guests. Registration will be able to be done entirely online - students will be able to check the availability of classes, and check class prerequisites, while at the same time allowing students to continue using the HOGCALL, telephone registration if they need or prefer it.

Students will also be able to check their grades and transcripts, as well as review bills and check on financial aid payments. Students will even be able to instantly pay their bills online by using a credit card, and prospective students will be able to apply online from anywhere in the world.

Faculty and students with appropriate security privileges will also have access to student academic records online, and students and faculty will be able to perform degree progress evaluations based on student records throughout the University. By posting grades on the Web, students will get their grades the day their professors enter them as opposed to waiting two weeks to receive them through the mail.

As the University puts into place the new system software, the ISIS project will expand its staff. According to Apon, there will be five regular staff members on campus, including a project/program specialist, a training coordinator/documenter, a communications specialist and a work study student. As a part of the software purchase, PeopleSoft’s partner, Ciber, will provide implementations services in support of the implementation work of the University that will occur following the initial installation of the $11.1 million new system.

Also to support the implementation of the new system, the University will hire 15 temporary backfill positions to allow current campus experts to work on the ISIS project for 18 to 24 months.

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