This is the fourth in a series of updates that started with the iNews article Student Systems 2012: Rebuilding Berkeley student systems in 2006.
2012 development plan update: Kuali Student
Technical architecture recommendations. The fall 2007 update introduced the Kuali Student Service System project. The Kuali Student team recently released their technical architecture recommendations. More information about these eight open-source web-service technologies can be found on the 2012 Wiki and in the recent iNews article October 2007 — January 2008 OCIO and IST accomplishments.
Application architecture recommendations. Application architecture recommendations are being prepared for publication this month. The report will detail the Kuali team's successful attempt to redefine the functionality and design of a "next-generation" student information system within the framework of service-oriented architecture (SOA). Viewing through the lens of SOA forced more than fifty team members from seven institutions to break from preconceived notions of student information systems. For example, the concept of a "Learning Plan" grew from a familiar curricular planning tool to a complete mechanism for matching curricular and extra-curricular activities to the stated or proposed goals of a given learner.
Ultimately, the report identifies the common infrastructure services and Learning Unit Management services [1] which define the body of work for the next phase of the project. But you can also find details about the Service Oriented Analysis and Design (SOAD) methodology the team developed, the collaboration tools and methods used, and a "recipe" that departments can use to get started with their own SOAD. Check the 2012 Wiki and the 2012 quarterly reports for further information about the application architecture recommendations.
2012 implementation plan update: ProSAM — upgrading financial aid
In 2007, the 2012 Executive Governance committee approved a three-year plan to upgrade the campus financial aid system. The joint implementation effort between Student Affairs and IST started in January 2008 and focuses on a federally certified vendor product called ProSAM. The implementation involves migrating off the campus mainframe and moving to an Oracle database. Consistent with the Kuali Student vision, ProSAM is being designed to become a module that plugs into the Kuali SOA infrastructure.
2012 people update
New staff. UC Berkeley veteran James Dudek has decided to join the Kuali Student development team as a business analyst. You may know James from his work on the L&S ISYS project or from his leadership of the campuswide Business Process Analysis Working Group (BPAWG).
Gary Struthers was recently hired as an application architect on the Kuali Student team. Gary joins the team from Savvion, Inc., where he worked on a variety of J2EE and SOA projects for clients ranging from Southwest Airlines to Bell Canada.
Recruitment. The campus is currently recruiting for the Director of Student Service Systems. This new position reports directly to Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs and the 2012 Executive Governance committee. The Director will focus on
- rethinking Berkeley's student service processes
- integrating multiple student systems
- expanding communications with students
- creating a student system user community that has shared service values and IT standards
The Director will oversee the Kuali Student and ProSAM projects as well as be accountable for the creation and execution of the strategic plan to replace all legacy student systems. For more information, see Job 7839 at http://jobs.berkeley.edu/.
A Senior User Interaction Designer is also being sought. This person will play a key role in the Kuali Student project and work closely with the Educational Technology Services User Experience team. For more information, see Job 7772 at http://jobs.berkeley.edu/.
Previous updates
- Student Systems 2012 project update. iNews, September 2007.
- Student Systems 2012 project update. iNews, February 2007.
- Student Systems 2012: Rebuilding Berkeley student systems. iNews, September 2006.
Notes
[1] Learning Unit Management is the Kuali Student module for managing learning units that are recognized by the institution. A learning unit (LU) is an abstract concept representing any component of learning (i.e., competency) completed as part of the student learning experience. Learning units are the core product of the institution. They can be highly regimented and coordinated as part of a specific goal (e.g., complete first year of law school), or they can be flexible and loosely coupled activities that support an experiential goal (e.g., attend a series of lectures and write a paper).