The University of Minnesota is a large public research university with five campuses that provide undergraduate, graduate, and professional education to 67,000 students. Given the university's diverse community, a dedicated campus climate effort helps ensure that the campus is welcoming of all persons. Because the student information system (SIS)…

As the technology landscape is continually evolving, transitions to newer software are commonplace in higher education. Change is often difficult to navigate, especially when the change that is implemented fundamentally impacts entrenched business processes. In no place is this more evident than when implementing a new system, whether the…

This is a conversation with Connie F. Cooke, Director, Financial Aid, State University of New York (SUNY) Buffalo State and Sharon F. Cramer, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor, Emerita, SUNY Buffalo State. They started working together twenty years ago when they began to implement a new student information system for the university. The SABRE…

Relationships are key to the success of everything higher education hopes to accomplish, from recruiting the next class to retaining them, guiding them to graduation, creating successful alumni, and fostering satisfied donors. Creation of those relationships can be engaged and facilitated by the technology, communications tools, and ideas…

As members of enrollment management units look ahead to the next few years, they anticipate many institution-wide challenges: (1) implementation of a new student information system; (2) major upgrade of an existing system; and (3) re-configuring an existing system to reflect changes in academic policies or to accommodate new federal or state…

Successful administration of remote programs and services requires that information technology (IT) professionals and university administrators address two critical identity management factors: (1) linking the institutional electronic record representing an individual with the "real" person; and (2) establishing a mechanism/protocol…

On every college and university campus, common themes weave throughout identity and access management (IAM) and its relationship to Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Institutions approach IAM differently as there is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Nevertheless, all face common elements. Over the past few years, a number of…

With all the recent headlines about security breaches and information loss at financial and educational institutions, the higher education community needs to address the issue of using social security numbers as ID numbers. The University of Oregon undertook a change process to assign generated ID numbers to all records in their information…

This article focuses on the migration of the best practices of a one-stop setup to a communication center allowing for a one-stop shop experience via phone. Specifically, the article describes how enrollment managers at Ferris State University chose elements of their one-stop student service center to migrate into the Enrollment Services…

In this electronic age, where information is digital and service is virtual, the registrar profession is changing rapidly to keep up with increasing standards and expectations. EDI and now XML standards enable system-to-system exchanges of academic records information. While many of the registrar's profession display student academic records under…

When a mid-sized public college made a politically unpopular decision to purchase new student information system software, a team of fourteen people from across campus was assembled and charged with facilitating the transition from the home-grown system. This case report describes the challenges they faced as they worked to understand their…

Four out of five institutions of higher education are in the process of implementing (or significantly upgrading) their student information systems. This is more than a technical undertaking. How can a campus be attentive, right from the start, to the needs of its members, and maintain a vision that translates into a shared commitment to…

Navigating the multiple processes for accessing ever-multiplying campus information systems can be a daunting task for students, faculty, and staff. This article provides a brief overview of Identity and Access Management Services. The authors review key characteristics and components of this new information architecture and address the issue of…

Online registration at Boston College, CORSS (Course Registration and Scheduling System), is described. Students register at a specific appointment time to work out an acceptable program with a terminal operator who is a member of the registrar's staff, and leaves the registration area with a printed schedule of courses. (MLW)