Exciting news from SRMS Banner 9 project team

Updates from the SRMS Banner 9 project team

Progress on the MIS Refresh project for the Student Records Management System:

The Student Records Management System is the primary repository and authoritative source for student information and data in each of the EduCampus client institutions.  It is the single largest and most complex information system in use across the Higher Education sector in Ireland.

The current version of the SRMS application available to EduCampus clients was a number of versions behind the latest release offered by the vendor, and there are risks related to the supporting infrastructure. Therefore, it is a key strategic priority for EduCampus to de-risk the existing SRMS infrastructure and environment as soon as possible. Following a formal public procurement process (2018-2020), DXC/Ellucian were the successful supplier based on their proposal that provided for a major upgrade to Banner 9, which is a feature-rich, secure, cloud platform solution.

Project Journey

This Banner 9 project represents a significant level of business process change for EduCampus Clients.  It includes a range of new functionality and features that provide the benefit of more streamlined administrative processes in addition to an improved self-service experience for the students.

Recently, the Project Team have completed a solutions design stage for the Student Information and Records Management System (SRMS) which delivered a model that includes an optimised baseline configuration “blueprint” for the Higher Education sector in Ireland.  This model is flexible and extendable to respond to the needs of our current and future clients.

This work spanned nine months and included 21 interactive, collaborative workshops and feedback sessions with key stakeholders from EduCampus clients across the Institute of Technology (IoT) and Technological University (TU) sectors.

The workshops presented some of the new features and functionality available in Banner 9 that will help to future proof the SRMS as the sector evolves.  Following each workshop, the client feedback was collated and used to develop system configurations that respond to cross-sectoral requirements.

As a result, the optimal SRMS solution provides the flexibility to allow each client site to apply their own, additional site-specific configurations to ensure the implemented system responds to their local needs. Also, it allows further configurations to reflect the business process changes required as the Institutes of Technology and Technological Universities evolve.

This approach helped to inform and build awareness across the sector about the exciting new features and functionality in Banner 9.  It also provided an opportunity for clients to build new knowledge and understanding to help close any gaps that might restrict change. Additionally, it was a positive, client engagement opportunity that helped to solidify buy-in because it was underpinned by the active participation and feedback from all of their key functional users and Banner functional area experts.  This innovative process allowed them to apply their extensive knowledge and experience of Irish HEI sectoral needs to adopt a flexible, responsive methodology for SRMS.

Next Steps:

The next stage of the project isimplementation, and the EduCampus team were delighted to welcome Letterkenny Institute of Technology (LYIT) (now ATU Donegal) as the pilot site and the Institute of Technology Carlow (ITC) (now SETU Carlow) as the validation site.

Progress update:

To date:Wave 1 of Banner 9 upgrade project to upgrade the Student Records Management Systems in 3 client sites has been completed.

The project was completed on schedule thanks to efforts from the client sites, EduCampus and DXC.

The client sites involved in Wave 1 were:

•             ATU Galway-Mayo

•             ATU Sligo

•             Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT)

EduCampus would like to thank all who have been involved in this project and look forward to offering the system to other members of our community in the coming months.

Wave 2 Update:

Wave 2 of the SRMS project started in June 2022 and includes four EduCampus clients: TU of the Shannon (TUS), SETU Waterford, and Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT).  Educampus are delighted to report that all four client sites are on schedule and nearing completion due to the significant commitment from all stakeholders;  in particular EduCampus is grateful for the positive engagement and dedication from our client sites in TUS, SETU Waterford and DKIT.

• TUS and DkIT and have already finished User Acceptance Testing  (UAT) and are currently progressing through hypercare with a view to formally closing the project phase before the end of 2022
• SETU Waterford have finished their User Acceptance Testing (UAT) and are preparing for hypercare

MTU is progressing well, with very strong engagement and commitment from all stakeholders at both campus sites; the project teams are currently ahead of schedule and progressing well through their testing.