  
Concordia Administrative Information System
Project History and Update
Contract
Signing: SCT press release
Contract
Signing: BHE/CUS press release
CAIS organization
formed
September
1998
Summer 1998
April 1998
August 1997
July 1997
June 1997
November 1996
SCT Banner2000 signing: SCT press release
Board for Higher Education/Concordia University System Selects SCT for
Enterprise Solution
Thirteen sites will deploy systems
CONTACT:
Eric Haskell
Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
610.578.5175
www.sctcorp.com
MALVERN, PA April 19, 1999—SCT (Nasdaq:SCTC) announced today that the Board
for Higher Education/Concordia University System (BHE/CUS) has signed a license
agreement for the full suite of Banner2000 products and services, including SCT
Aspire for distributed learning and Campus Pipeline, the industry’s first
enterprise information portal (EIP). This agreement was signed in SCT's second
fiscal quarter, which ended March 31,1999.
Under the governance of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) in St.
Louis, the Board for Higher Education oversees 12 private institutions,
including two seminaries, in 12 states across the country. The Concordia
University System unites the 10 colleges and universities into a national
consortium. The LCMS headquarters also will implement Banner2000 systems,
bringing the total sites to 13.
"This agreement with SCT represents an opportunity to renew the
connections between our schools with a solution that offers leading edge
features for self-service and institutional management. On every campus, staff
will be able to reduce the time and effort spent on clerical tasks and spend
more time with the people we serve," said Dr. Alan Borcherding, assistant
to the president of the Concordia University System. "Our schools are now
positioned to move into exciting collaborative ventures that involve new modes
of educational delivery.
"The collegial spirit that has developed among our staffs will be our
strongest asset as we move forward into the deployment phase. We have full
confidence in SCT’s leadership during the difficult task of
implementation."
At the advice of a consultant in 1997, the BHE/CUS went out for bid on a new
solution to replace inadequate systems developed within the institutions.
Concordia chose SCT from a group of eight vendors that entered the selection
process.
During the next several months the campuses will document their business
processes and participate in a joint activity to set up the software in a way
that meets the majority of the needs on each campus. In a second phase, each
software module will be deployed to each campus for further configuration to
meet specific campus requirements.
"We are gratified that we can offer a product robust enough to unite 13
sites across the country and accommodate large and small institutions,"
said Rod Everhart, president of SCT Education Systems, an SCT business unit.
"The extensive planning that has taken place already on all the campuses
underscores Concordia’s commitment to a successful project. We look forward to
being an integral part of that effort and are proud to welcome the Concordia
University System to the SCT family."
SCT is the education market technology leader, providing software and
services to support the business processes of higher education in nearly 1,300
colleges and universities throughout the United States, Canada, and worldwide.
SCT, headquartered in Malvern, Pa., is a leading provider of client/server,
mission-critical, enterprise software and a series of information technology
services for higher education, manufacturing and distribution, government, and
utilities. The company provides long-term information and technology solutions
and is a recognized leader in outsourcing. SCT has nearly 3,700 employees and
serves more than 2,500 clients worldwide. For more information, visit SCT's Web
site at www.sctcorp.com.
SCT Banner2000 signing: BHE/CUS press release
The Board for Higher Education/Concordia University System has signed a
contract with SCT Corporation to purchase administrative software for use on the
campuses of our twelve LCMS colleges, universities, and seminaries.
This software will replace various outdated systems currently in use on our
campuses. It offers many leading-edge features that will enable more effective
business practices and provide important tools for managing our institutions.
Faculty, staff, students, alumni, and prospective students will be able to
access the system directly through the Internet.
During the next several months the campuses will document their business
processes and participate in a joint activity to set up the software in a way
that meets the majority of the needs on each campus. In a second phase, each
software module will be deployed to each campus for further configuration to
meet specific campus requirements. Installation concludes with conversion of
current data and user training.
The preparation for this significant project has been shared among the staffs
of our campuses and the current computing service center. Thanks to their
efforts, we have a solid basis of research and planning as a foundation for the
project. The collegial spirit that has developed among our staffs will be our
strongest asset as we move forward into the deployment phase. We are also
pleased that a strong relationship has developed with SCT personnel, we have
full confidence in their leadership during the difficult task of implementation.
Questions should be directed to the chief information officer of your school
or to Alan Borcherding <alan.borcherding@lcms.org>
or Scotti Hermansen <hermans@cuis.edu>.
The CISAC resolved in September 1998 to begin a transition to a new
governance structure known as Concordia Administrative Information System. CAIS
moves our administrative computing to a new level of cooperation and
self-governance.
The Concordia Administrative Information System [CAIS] is a
consortium of LCMS campuses and clients for the operation of a common
administrative information system. CAIS refers to the collaborative network of
personnel and administrative computing activity as overseen by a CAIS Council
(participatory management) and a CAIS Board (policy-based governance).
September 1998: decisions regarding vendors and
governance
CISAC met and made several recommendations to the campus presidents.
The campus presidents affirmed the recommendation of CISAC to proceed with
contract negotiations with PeopleSoft and SCT, to be conducted by a team led by
Dr. William F. Meyer.
The presidents also affirmed a plan for the presidents to serve as a
governing board and for one representative of each campus to serve on a
management council. They also affirmed a plan to create a Service Center that
will coordinate the AIS activity and provide computing services to the campuses.
The Tech Team met in May to narrow the list of vendors to CARS, PeopleSoft,
and SCT. Personnel from the schools made site visits to clients in their
geographic areas.
In late June and in late July each of the three vendors made two day
presentations to over 160 users and supervisors. This gave people from each
campus an opportunity to gain impressions of the usability of each product and
also to get a taste of what will be possible with new technology.
A group representing the Core Team and Tech Team visited the corporation
headquarters of each vendor. This has provided significant insight into the
corporate climates, enabled discussion of the future technologies of the
vendors, and brought the visitors into contact with the personnel we will be
dealing with on a long-term basis.
After reviewing presentations by six vendors, the CISAC voted to empower the
Technical Team to reduce the list to three and continue the evaluation process.
August 1997: technical evaluations
The Technology Team moved forward with research on several fronts: computing
infrastructure of each campus, evaluation of vendors and software, technology
futures, and support models for each campus.
The primary criteria for reviewing vendors at this stage of evaluation: fully
integrated core applications, capable of multiple support models, system wide
solution, technology level, platform independence, company culture and strength,
functionality.
Of the initial list of 36 vendors, 18 were eliminated because they do not
offer a fully integrated product that includes the four basic modules.
July 1997: campus needs study
Representatives of each campus gathered in St. Louis to learn the procedure
that will be followed in documenting the administrative and business processes
on each campus. Jim Porter (George Washington U.) and Therese Nelson (U. of
Chicago) have been retained to design the campus needs assessment instruments
and provide training.
June 1997: CISAC initiates project
In its June 1997 meeting CISAC voted to accept a report by EDUTECH, a
nationally prominent consulting firm. Major points in their report, which was
accepted by CISAC as the plan to guide the new project, include:
- The current CUIS system must be replaced.
- Software should be purchased, not written by us.
- An integrated solution should be purchased to avoid the many problems
involved in a best-of-breed approach.
- The current CUIS needs to be replaced by a model based upon
owner-participation involving all the campuses.
- The schools should work together to share technical expertise.
There is common agreement on the following observations.
- We don't have the everyday functional tools we need to operate our
institutions effectively.
- We do not have the tools effective decision-making.
- We will need to significantly enhance the capability to provide student
and faculty interactivity with the administrative computing system.
At its November 1996 meeting the College Information System Advisory
Committee (CISAC) agreed to engage a consultant in the field of computerized
administrative systems. Recognizing the fact that the current CUIS (“River
Forest” system) requires significant upgrading of hardware and software, the
group sought to review the administrative computing equipment, functions, and
needs on all of the twelve campuses and recommend a strategy for future
collaboration as a system of schools.
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