Student Administration
Readiness Assessment 2002
Overview
California
State Polytechnic University, Pomona has decided to begin
the implementation of the CMS Student Administration
software in 2002-2003. To prepare for the implementation,
Pomona will complete a Readiness Assessment, as required by
the Chancellor's Office and has selected Cedar Consulting as
the third party to conduct this assessment. Cedar has
developed a Readiness Assessment Plan to guide the
assessment process to completion. A summary of this Plan
follows.
Objectives
The objectives
of the Readiness Assessment encompass not only compliance
with the requirement to conduct an assessment but also
address communication and planning needs, as stated
below:
- Determine
if Pomona is sufficiently prepared to receive the
baseline software so that the implementation will be
successful.
- Increase
communication about and support for the project by
involving stakeholders in the assessment process.
- Identify
risks that should be mitigated to optimize the
implementation.
Methodology and
Participants
Based upon the
CMS Guidelines, Cedar consultants will use the following
methodologies:
Document
Analysis: Cedar will review the
required project documentation, as outlined below, to
determine if Pomona meets at least the minimum level of
readiness:
- Campus
Project History
- Results
from prior the Readiness Assessment and a summary of the
current status
- Campus
Project Manual including scope, goals and decision making
procedures
- Campus
Project Organizational structure including Project
Sponsor, Steering Committee and Project Team members and
definition of project team Roles and
Responsibilities
- Communications
Plan
- Project
Budget and Financing Plan
- Staffing
and Backfill Plans
- Training
Plan
- Project
Workplans
- List of
interviewees
Information
Collection: Cedar will conduct
one-hour interviews with project participants and sponsors
to collect information upon which to respond to the specific
questions in the Readiness Assessment Guidelines. The
participants will receive an interview guide prior to the
interview and as a follow-up they will have an opportunity
to review and validate a written summary of the interview.
According to the CMS Guidelines, the roles to be interviewed
include the following:
- President
- Executive
Sponsors
- Steering
Committee
- Project
Director
- Project
Team Leaders
- Functional
Team Leaders
- Staff from
functional departments in Academic Affairs, Instructional
and Information Technology, and Student Affairs
Insight
Development: Cedar conducts focus
groups with representatives of critical constituencies as a
basis for gaining insights regarding strengths and areas for
improvement. The CMS Guidelines state that the following
constituencies must be included:
- Faculty
- Academic
Senate leadership
- Deans and
college level administrative staff
- Cal Poly
Pomona also will include focus groups of functional users
and students
Timeline
|
ACTIVITY
|
PARTICIPANTS
|
START
|
FINISH
|
|
Develop RA Plan
|
Cedar, PM
|
8/9/02
|
8/19/02
|
|
Review RA Plan with Project
Management Team
|
PM, PM
|
8/23/02
|
9/17/02
|
|
Present Executive Summary to
Steering Committee
|
Cedar, PM, SC
|
9/25/02
|
9/25/02
|
|
Schedule Interview/Focus
Groups
|
AA
|
9/23/02
|
10/31/02
|
|
Prepare composite of
documentation
|
PM
|
11/12/02
|
11/13/02
|
|
Conduct Interviews/Focus
Groups
|
Cedar, TBD
|
11/12/02
|
11/15/02
|
|
Prepare Preliminary
Report
|
Cedar
|
11/18/02
|
11/27/02
|
|
Review Preliminary Report
with PM Team
|
Cedar, PM
|
12/2/02
|
12/6/02
|
|
Present Final Report and
develop Campus Response
|
Cedar, SC, PM
|
12/11/02
|
12/12/02
|
|
Prepare Final Readiness
Assessment and Campus Response
|
Cedar, PM
|
12/12/02
|
12/16/02
|
|
Submit Readiness Assessment
Report and Response to CO
|
PM
|
12/18/02
|
12/18/02
|
Legend:
PM-Project Management Team, SC-Steering Committee,
AA-Administrative Assistant
Deliverable
Cedar will
prepare a Readiness Assessment Report that is organized
according to the following categories of assessment as
prescribed in the Readiness Assessment Guidelines:
- Sponsorship
and Campus Commitment
- Communication
- Project
Management
- Campus
Functional Area Participation
- Funding
- Information
Technology Support
- Network
Readiness
- Workstation
Readiness
- Help
Desk
- Training
Within each
category, Cedar presents the following information:
- A rating of
readiness for each CMS minimum to start and ideal
criteria.
- Strengths
within the category.
- Areas for
improvement within the category.
- Recommendations that
should be implemented so that the institution will be
able to meet at least the minimum to start
criteria.
Completed
Document
- Click
here to download
an Adobe Acobat copy of the completed Readiness Assessment document.
Cedar Consulting
Biographies
Judith Lyon,
Ph.D.
Judith Lyon has been
involved in higher education for over 30 years, working in
institutions of diverse types and in the corporate
environment with a focus upon higher education. She has
served as a faculty member, advisor, department chair,
director of computer services, senior planning analyst,
assistant dean for budget planning, executive assistant to
the president, and vice president for planning and
development. Dr. Lyon has worked in a multi-campus land
grant research university, two large community colleges, and
a four-year state university. She was on the Board and was
president EDUCAUSE. Judith also has experience in the
corporate environment, working for three software companies,
including PeopleSoft, and a big five consulting firm. In
these corporations, Dr. Lyon worked as a vice president for
business development, senior partner, senior vice president
for marketing and professional services and managing
partner. Currently, she is Managing Principal of the Higher
Education Consulting Practice for Cedar Enterprise
Solutions. She has provided management consulting services
to seven of the California State Universities. She received
her B.S. and M.Ed. from the University of Utah and Ph.D.
from the Pennsylvania State University.
Kathryn
Brink, Ph.D.
Kathryn Brink brings 30
years of experience in the higher education sector to her
role with Cedar Consulting. Her experience in complex
institutional environments includes policy analysis, program
design and development, strategic planning, human resource
management, budgeting, and systems technology. She was
responsible for the initial planning and coordination of the
PeopleSoft implementation at the University System of
Maryland. She was the Dean of College Relations at Johnson
State College leading the division that encompassed
admissions, financial aid, alumni/development,
communications/marketing, conferences, and continuing
education. Dr. Brink managed all recruitment and enrollment
functions for undergraduate students including enrollment
management, budgeting, marketing, and university-wide
administrative activities at the University of Vermont. At
the State University of New York, Dr. Brink directed a
university-wide outreach program providing admissions,
financial aid and academic information to the general
public, guidance community, parents and students about the
64 SUNY campuses. She received her BA in Psychology at
Manhattanville College and her Ph.D. in Public
Administration at the University at Albany.
Tim Biel,
Ph.D.
Timothy Biel has over 20
years combined experience in the fields of educational
publishing, technical communications, and higher education.
He has directed award-winning creative and editorial teams
for educational publishers as well as a technical
communications team for a software development firm in the
higher education industry. In addition, Dr. Biel fulfilled
both faculty and senior administration duties during his 10+
years with colleges and universities. As Curriculum Director
for Cornerstone, Tarrant County College's
nationally-recognized honors program, he has staffed,
scheduled, and taught honors courses, conducted faculty
training, served as public liaison, recruited students, and
organized and led admission and scholarship selection
procedures. He has completed Readiness Assessment for The
California State University, Chancellor's Office; San Jose
State University; CSU Long Beach; and Case Western Reserve
University. He currently is working with CSU, Long Beach, in
developing an End User Assistance Plan. He holds a Ph.D.
from Washington State University and BA, Rocky Mountain
College.
Vickie Lynn
Cleary, PMP
Vickie Cleary brings
experience focused in the areas of information technology
project and program management, and process engineering to
her role with Cedar. She is experienced in both structured
and object-oriented systems development methodologies. Ms.
Cleary is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).
Ms. Cleary was the Project Manager responsible for project
planning and coordination between the pilot campuses of
Fresno State University and Sonoma State University and the
Chancellor's Office baseline as part of the California State
University CMS project to implement PeopleSoft Student
Administration, Version 8.
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