November 2009 Archives

Here are some of the key aspects we needed to consider when we identify dates to do an upgrade..…

• We need to take the system down for at least 1 week.  This is a fairly big upgrade from a technical standpoint and requires full shutdown of the production ISIS application.
• We have multiple offices all using this same integrated ISIS application, so all have to agree to our downtime window.   This includes Academic Departments, Admissions, Registrar, Financial Aid, Orientation, Accounts Payable, and Alumni/Development. 
• Each office has critical processing periods when they find it essential to have the system available.   These key activities include admissions applications, student orientation, advising, registration, add/drop, faculty grading, billing, financial aid packaging.   
• We then have to consider all 3 academic careers of undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education and their unique business requirements  
• Then we lay this across 4 semesters per year (fall, winter, spring, summer)    

When we package this all up we only come out with a few weeks per year that are reasonable.   The options always are in the middle of our large semesters (fall & spring), so regardless we will have a mid-semester change.   Summer has too many enrollment activities going on with graduation, then new student orientation and rolling registration for fall.  During winter break the Continuing Education session along with Spring Semester application and registration cycle doesn’t allow for any prolonged shut down.

Hopefully this explanation (or excuse) sheds some light on the challenges faced when selecting this upgrade week.  If you have additional questions or comments please let us know.

As you may know, the Intercampus Student Information System (iSiS) is being upgraded to version 9.0 on Dec. 2, 2009. The overall look and feel of iSiS will change and some new functionality introduced.  During the upgrade process iSiS will be unavailable from Tuesday, November 24th @9pm through Wednesday, December 2nd @ 7am --  please plan accordingly.    Attached is a document for Administrative Offices that goes into more specifics about the cutover window.  Also, please check out the website at http://isis.uml.edu for more information.

SA Go Live Announcement for Administrative Offices.doc

The iSiS project team is using multiple methods to keep students, faculty, and staff updated on all the changes occuring with iSiS.   UML Today will be a significant part of the communication plan, so please be on the lookout for the latest news in the "On Campus" section.  In addition to UML Today, there will also be information shared on the HAWKi boards, the Connector, WUML, Facebook, and the iSiS web page.  Preview the new ISIS Poster that will soon be seen around campus.

Here are some older UML Today postings:

• ISIS 8.0 Unavailable During Upgrade 11/24-12/2 (posted 11/10/09) 

• ISIS Upgrade Set for 12/2  (posted 11/5/09)

Optional presentations on Faculty Self-Service functionality are being conducted for anyone interested in learning more about the new iSiS 9.0. An overview of the changes and new features will be demonstrated. These are the following open sessions:

If you are interested in attending one of the sessions please sign up here.

Yesterday afternoon UML Staff members who have ISIS access were invited to training via an email.  There are approximately 320 employees from across campus who are staff users of ISIS.   While the changes to ISIS are not overly significant in terms of functionality, there are big changes in the look and feel.  Hence, the campus business owners determined that it was best to require all staff users to attend one 3 hour training class.    This class will show users the newest features and show them how to access online support.  

If there are questions about who was invited please email UML Training.  

Faculty and Students will have the opportunity to be orientated to the system via  presentations and online communications.   Some information is already available on the respetive training/orienation pages for UML Faculty and UML Students.