News Archive

April 3, 2012:  Conversion, conversion, conversion!! Most of the month of March was spent preparing for the second pass of data from Datatel Colleague to Jenzabar EX which happened the last week in March. The team had to dig deep into the data to make sure the Colleague data was clean enough for this next conversion run and to make sure the Jenzabar consultants had all the information they needed to correct issues that occurred during the first data conversion pass that began in December. Now that this second pass of data is complete, it is once again time for the team to check all the data in Jenzabar EX to see if it looks as it should and document issues that are found.

The last two weeks in March, 24 staff members participated Basic Infomaker training. Infomaker is a powerful report writing tool that will help these people pull data out of the system. There were two one-week classes of intense instruction and labs. Overall the feedback of these sessions has been positive and all are excited to start writing reports to be used with the new Jenzabar software.

Module Managers are working with the Information Technology (IT) staff to assign account securities for accessing the software. Once these configurations are determined, IT will finish setup of these accounts so that everyone can start working with the software on a more routine basis.

Jenzabar consultants worked on Beloit systems remotely to continue setting up the Jenzabar Internet Campus Solution (JICS) software, which is the web portal that will replace functionality currently available in WebAdvisor. The team will configure this software in May.

The team now prepares for Training Trip 4 (TT4) which will begin April 10 and continue through the end of the month. Module Managers help create the agendas for the TT4 sessions to assure that outstanding topics are covered. At the end of TT4, all participants should be able to successfully use the Jenzabar EX software.

March 7, 2012: The Jenzabar consultants were on site from Feburary 13th through March 2nd for Training Trip 3. These sessions were focused on basic daily operations training for college staff who will enter information into Jenzabar EX. The team also identified additional issues related to the conversion of Datatel Colleague data into Jenzabar EX.  

Congratulations goes out to the Financial Aid team! During the week of February 13th, they officially went live with their new software, PowerFAIDS. Financial Aid and Admissions staff will use PowerFAIDS to complete all financial aid packages for the 2012-13 year. 

The Module Managers continue to work on cleaning up data in Datatel Colleague for conversion purposes and setting up configurations in Jenzabar EX. They will also start to work on Process Validations worksheets, which contain step by step instructions for the processes in each module (e.g. registering a student, running a payroll, doing a check run in accounting). The team is required to complete these worksheets to ensure that they know how to use the Jenzabar EX software.

The Jenzabar implementation team is preparing for training using the Infomaker reporting software.  Module Managers and IT will be using Infomaker to create mission critical reports on an ongoing basis.  Output such as student transcripts, payroll checks, and data reporting are some example of reports that will be generated using Infomaker.

February 6, 2012: At the beginning of January, the first pass of data from Datatel Colleague to Jenzabar EX was completed.  A data pass involves converting our existing Datatel Colleague data into the Jenzabar EX data structure.  Relevant team members met with the Jenzabar consultant on January 12 and 13 to start to validate, or review, the data.  Most data was converted smoothly.  A few issues were identified that will be corrected prior to the second pass of data from Datatel Colleague to Jenzabar EX.  This second pass of data is currently scheduled for the beginning of April.  The Beloit Jenzabar project team will continue to review and check data all the way up until “go live” in July 2012.

Jenzabar consultants will be on site from Feburary 13th through March 2nd for what Jenzabar calls, Training Trip 3.  The goal of this trip is to provide basic daily operations training for college staff who will enter information into and run daily procedures with EX.  During the week of February 13th, the Financial Aid office will officially “go live” with their new software, PowerFAIDS.  PowerFAIDS will make financial aid packaging and awarding a more streamlined process.  The Financial Aid office will begin processing financial aid applications using the new software immediately following this training trip.

January 4, 2012: December was a very busy month for the Jenzabar project team as preparations were made for the first pass of data. This is the process by which the information that exists in Datatel Colleague is copied into the Jenzabar EX database. The team worked to complete configurations in the EX software and answer questions about how certain pieces of information from Colleague should appear in EX.

Consultants from Jenzabar completed the final data mapping and coding documents and the Beloit team reviewed, made changes and signed off on these documents.

A Jenzabar consultant began the first pass of our data from Colleague to EX on December 28th. As of this writing, the data pass is still in progress and is scheduled to be completed by January 11th. The Beloit team is very excited to see what our data looks like in the system and will begin the process of validating that the data was converted properly.

December 5, 2011: The Jenzabar “mapping” consultant presented final design and mapping documents for the Beloit team to review and approve. The mapping document contains approximately 4,000 data fields that exist in Datatel Colleague and shows how this data will “map”, or be converted, into Jenzabar EX. This is a very crucial step in the project because if the data does not exist in this document, it will not be converted into Jenzabar EX. At the end of December, IT will create a file of Colleague data that will be imported into EX during what is called the “first pass of data” scheduled the first week in January.  The module managers continue to configure the EX system and have been asking the Jenzabar trainers pertinent questions in preparation for this January event. 

IT and HR  are working together to identify training requirements related to the conversion to Jenzabar products. Stay tuned for more information during the Spring 2012 semester as we prepare for the conversion in July.

The custom reporting review is complete.  Custom reports have been reviewed and prioritized.  Our next step will be to prioritize within the priorities and to determine who will work on creating the needed reports.

November 8, 2011: IT had successful sessions with the Jenzabar technical consultant during the first week of October. Staff learned how to maintain, upgrade and back up the server software. Many on campus will be pleased to know that the Jenzabar software will be available even when backups are in progress during the very early morning hours. The consultant also showed staff how to install and configure the software that will be on the individual staff computers.

The project team accomplished a great deal during the week of October 18 while four Jenzabar consultants were on-site (see photos below)! This was the first time the module managers were able to actually log into the software and start to use it. They started to make business process decisions and configure the system to support those processes. The team also worked through a spreadsheet with 4,255 rows of data fields that presently exist in Datatel Colleague and had to decide where this data should end up in Jenzabar EX. The team will have less than two weeks to review this document in November and give a final stamp of approval.

Gail Pateros works with Jenzabar trainer, Lynne Boone, to configure Jenzabar EX to support the  college's payroll process.

Heather McLean and Lori Rhead configure the EX software to support the processes in the Human Resources department.

Mary Boros-Kazai and Linda Lauterbach decide how Datatel Colleague data should be converted into Jenzabar EX.

October 4, 2011: September continued to be a busy month as the module managers worked double-duty to complete the system configuration worksheets in order to meet the September 30 deadline. There have been many exchanges with the Jenzabar consultants over the last few weeks to assure that sound system configuration decisions are being made. All of this is in preparation for a very important Jenzabar consulting visit in October called Training Trip 2 (TT2).

With the configuration worksheets complete, the module managers will refocus their attention on a very important data “mapping” document. This document is basically a very long list of data elements from Datatel Colleague with references to where that data will end up in Jenzabar EX. The module managers need to review this document carefully and answer questions that the Jenzabar specialist has posed to them. The review of this document must be completed by October 14.

The Jenzabar technical consultant was scheduled to come to campus in September to install the Jenzabar software on the servers, setup computers with the user interface and train IT staff on how to support the software. Unfortunately, the consultant had to cancel this trip. The consultant did begin the server installation remotely; however, the remaining crucial steps are tentatively scheduled for October 5-6.

Great progress is being made to identify and prioritize reporting needs in the new system. If you currently work with reports from Datatel Colleague and have not been approached about your reporting needs, please be sure to talk to the module manager responsible for your area to make sure they understand your needs.

A decision was made to delay the implementation of the Budget Module until after the main Jenzabar EX system is “live”. As the module managers work on the set up of the General Ledger for EX, they have discovered that the configuration of that piece should be the priority at the moment. Once all are certain the GL module is functioning as it should in EX, the team will move forward and implement the enhanced Budget Module.

September 6, 2011: Jenzabar consultants were on campus August 8 and 9 for a discussion about what data in Datatel Colleague will be brought into the Jenzabar EX system.  All module managers were involved in this discussion.

IT staff performed an initial extract of Datatel Colleague data.  This data was sent to a Jenzabar consultant who will determine what possible issues we will have converting the data as well as where the data will go in Jenzabar EX.

The module managers have been very busy the last few weeks and will continue to be in preparation for a Jenzabar consulting visit in October called Training Trip 2 (TT2). They are completing configuration worksheets and making conversion decisions that will affect how the Jenzabar EX system will function and how the Datatel Colleague data will be converted. Work is also being done to identify reporting needs in the new system.

August 1, 2011: 

Training Trip 1 is complete - this trip was focused on sharing information with the Jenzabar trainers to help them learn more about Beloit College. The Jenzabar trainers also reviewed the configuration worksheets that team members need to complete by the end of September in preparation for Training Trip 2, which will be in October. 

Financial Aid will use PowerFaids for 2012-13 financial aid processing and will “go live” with PowerFaids in February 2012 during Training Trip 3

President Bierman presented the Project Charter to the team and the Project Plan is now complete. Success Statements created by senior staff have been reviewed by the team.

June 30, 2011: The team is gearing up for Training Trip 1.  There will be three sessions for Training Trip 1 held over three weeks (July 6-22).  This training trip will consist of full module demonstrations as well as training for module managers on preparing for system configuration.  The module managers will be asking some of you to attend the demonstration sessions.

June 22, 2011: "Command Central" setup has begun at the Turtle Creek Bookstore.  Two rooms are being set up to act as a meeting space and a training space for the Jenzabar project.

June 15, 2011: JET (Jenzabar EX Team) meetings begin Monday, June 20th.  Team meetings will consist of the various module managers and IT staff.

June 14, 2011: Project kick-off meeting is a success!  Our Jenzabar Project Manager, Matt Denman, and our WAICU Project Manager, Bill Schultz, were on-site for a day and a half long meeting.  They reviewed the project implementation plan and timeline.

Milestones Archive

April 3, 2012 Milestones:

• Upcoming Milestone: April 10-27, 2012 Training Trip 4
• Most Recent Milestone:  March 20-30, 2012 Infomaker (reporting tool) training

March 7, 2012 Milestones:

• Upcoming Milestone: March 20-30, 2012 Infomaker (reporting tool) training 
• Most Recent Milestone:  Training Trip 3 (February 13-March 2)

February 6, 2012 Milestones:

• Upcoming Milestone: February 13-March 2, 2012 Training Trip 3
• Most Recent Milestone(s): December 28-January 4 First Data Pass (from Colleague to EX); January 12-13, 2012 Data Validation; January 23, 2012 Interim Project Review
  

January 4, 2012 Milestones:

• Upcoming Milestone(s): January 12-13, 2012 Data Validation Consulting and January 23, 2012 Interim Project Review
• In Process Milestone: December 28, 2011 - January 11, 2012 First Data Pass (from Colleague to EX)
• Most Recent Milestone: November 7-November 9, 2011 Jenzabar completes the final data mapping document and November 28-December 9, 2011 Jenzabar starts to write conversion program

December 5, 2011 Milestones:

• Upcoming Milestone(s): January 3 - 11, 2012 First Data Pass (from Colleague to EX) and January 12-13, 2012 Data Validation Consulting
• Most Recent Milestone(s): November 7-November 9, 2011 Jenzabar completes the final data mapping document and November 28-December 9, 2011 Jenzabar starts to write conversion program

November 8, 2011 Milestones:

• Upcoming Milestone(s): November 7-November 9, 2011 Jenzabar completes the final data mapping document and November 28 - December 9, 2011 Creation of the Data Conversion Program
• Most Recent Milestone: October 18-21, 2011 Training Trip 2

October 4, 2011 Milestones:

• Upcoming Milestone: October 18-21, 2011 Training Trip 2
• Most Recent Milestone: September 22-23, 2011 EX Software/Server Install and September 30 Due date for Module Managers to complete Configuration Worksheets

September 6, 2011 Milestones:

• Upcoming Milestone: September 22-23, 2011 EX Software/Server Install and September 30 Due date for Module Managers to complete Configuration Worksheets
• Most Recent Milestone: August 8-9, 2011 Data Analysis and August 29-September 2, 2011 Initial Data Extract and Mapping

August 1, 2011 Milestones:

• Upcoming Milestone: August 8-9, 2011 Pre-Conversion Data Assessment
• Most Recent Milestone: July 6-22, 2011 Pre-configuration Training/Training Trip 1

June 30, 2011 Milestones:

• Upcoming Milestone: July 6-22, 2011 Pre-configuration Training/Training Trip 1
• Most Recent Milestone: June 13-14, 2011 Jenzabar Project Kick-off Meeting