OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT FOR MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
ISIS Peak Use Work Group
Report
Purpose
The ISIS Peak Use Work Group was established as a result of the request of Leonard
Sandridge, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, to focus on processes
in place and make recommendations that would ease the demand on ISIS during four
peak periods: late August, when students return to Grounds; November, during preenrollment for the Spring semester; January, at the outset of the Spring semester; and
April during pre-enrollment for the Fall semester. The goal is to make sure key processes
are adequately efficient before consideration is given to any future investment of
resources. Don Reynard, Director of Applications and Data Services for Information
Technology and Communication (ITC), and other ITC staff played key roles in an effort
to educate the work group. Miles Gibson, Process Simplification Coordinator, drafted
this report after integrating the perspectives of several constituencies.
Members
Nancy Rivers, Chair, Office of the Vice President for Management and Budget
Lynn Davis, Student Financial Services
Miles Gibson, Process Simplification
Yvonne Hubbard, Student Financial Services
Ce Kimata, ITC
Bob LeHeup, Office of the University Registrar
Rachel Most, College of Arts and Sciences
Gary Nimax, Office of the Vice President for Finance
Don Reynard, ITC
Carol Stanley, Office of the University Registrar
Anda Webb, Office of the Vice President and Provost
Current ISIS Processes
Technical Limitations of ISIS
Prior to the implementation of the new mainframe and operating system, the ISIS
database had a technical limit of 250 simultaneous connections. Under a new licensing
agreement, that limit will rise to approximately 1200 simultaneous connections, although
ITC will not be able to determine a real maximum until the performance of the new
mainframe and software has been benchmarked against the standards of the previous
mainframe and software. Without sufficient power to handle these connections, ISIS’s
new limit of total simultaneous connections may fall well short of 1200 and could remain
at 250. (See Appendix A for detailed ISIS technical information). ISIS is currently
available most days from 2 AM to 9:30 PM. Its downtime is longer on Sundays to
accommodate weekly and special maintenance.
Process Simplification
Office of the Vice President for Management and Budget
6/28/2016
ISIS Peak Use Report, page 2
Demand for ISIS
Demand for ISIS is highest during the heart of business hours, from mid-morning (when
student use rises dramatically) through the afternoon. Staff use is largely limited to
business hours, although ITC has worked with many departments to move the running of
as many large reports as possible to nighttime hours. Faculty use may not be limited to
business hours (no survey has been conducted on faculty use of ISIS), but use tied to
faculty advising is highly likely to be performed during business hours (during or
immediately prior to advising appointments). Students tend to use ISIS at all available
hours and are the constituency most likely to be attracted to evening and nighttime use.
A 2003 survey of undergraduate and graduate students showed an overwhelming
preference for ISIS downtime to fall on or after midnight, leaving ISIS available at least
until midnight (see Appendix B for full survey results).
Pre-Enrollment, Final Registration, and Adding and Dropping Courses
The peak periods of ISIS are driven mostly by:
 pre-enrollment, which all returning students perform in November and April
(incoming first-years pre-register for most courses during summer orientation,
although most complete course registration during the peak period in late August);
 final registration, which all students must perform;
 the adding and dropping of courses, which most students perform during peak
periods, often multiple times;
 and the various actions of faculty advisers, academic departments, and school
registrars.
Students tend to defer their use of ISIS until the peak periods, often out of necessity.
Final registration cannot be completed until all student holds have been removed, and
students often are not in a position to pay all financial holds (e.g., tuition bills, parking
fines) or have registration holds removed until they return to Grounds shortly before the
start of classes. Approximately twenty percent of the University’s 19,650 students have a
financial or registration hold in August, and approximately thirteen percent return in
January with a hold. With a significant proportion of students receiving some sort of
hold every semester, final registration, at least in its current form, will likely remain a
contributor to heavy ISIS use during the August and January peak periods. For example,
in August 2003, more than 6000 students—almost one third of all undergraduate and
graduate students--performed final registration on the two busiest days for ISIS, the
Monday and Tuesday before the start of classes.
The November and April pre-enrollment periods are by design peak periods for adding
and, to a lesser extent, dropping courses. For instance, during seven school days
immediately preceding and following Thanksgiving 2002, more than 90,000 courses were
added or dropped via Web-based ISIS. Returning students are not allowed to add or drop
courses from the third week of June until the first week of August (to facilitate the preenrollment of new students during Summer Orientation), and very few returning students
begin adding and dropping again until late August because of the rules of supply and
demand. If, for instance, a course becomes full during April pre-enrollment, students
Process Simplification
Office of the Vice President for Management and Budget
6/28/2016
ISIS Peak Use Report, page 3
know that there is little likelihood of their being able to add into the course until late
August, when many students will be dropping courses to make room for the addition of
others. Few students drop courses until they are ready to add others, further contributing
to the bottleneck. Therefore, although returning students may begin adding and dropping
courses in early August (after a mid-summer moratorium), the demand for these courses
ensures heavy use of ISIS in late August, when many students repeatedly attempt to add
desired courses.
Furthermore, current rules require students to enroll in a minimum number of course
hours without exceeding a maximum. As a result, many students enroll before the start
of classes in “placeholder” courses that they have little or no intention of taking, simply
to satisfy the minimum requirement. When they wish to attempt to add a popular course,
the rules on maximum hours often necessitate that they drop the placeholder course
before attempting to add the other. Thus, over and over during Final Registration, a
student might drop a course, fail in an attempt to add another course, then add the original
course back to his schedule. Some students add or drop the same course twenty or more
times during a single final registration period
Demand for Web-Based Services
The stress on ISIS during peak periods has been exacerbated by the push for Web-based
services. Responding to demands from students and faculty, the University Registrar and
Student Financial Services (SFS) have collaborated with ITC to expand the services
offered by ISIS on-line, in recent years adding access to information about bursar’s and
registration holds, the Virginia Student Academic Audit (VISTAA), grade reports,
detailed searches of the Course Offering Directory (which while technically not a part of
ISIS is often accessed from ISIS), and many more. Student demand is not limited to a
desire for this Web access: built upon their experience shopping and surfing the Internet,
students want instant access to these services and increasingly view any delay as
substandard.
Communications
The University Registrar, SFS, and the schools all communicate with incoming students
via email, yet many new undergraduate and graduate students do not activate their
University email accounts in August. By August 8, 2003, only 57% of new
undergraduates and 41% of new graduate students had activated their accounts. By
August 22, those numbers rose only to 74% and 65%, respectively. Almost all students
activate their University email accounts by the end of September, but delayed activation
means delayed receipt of important messages that affect final registration. The
University Registrar, for instance, sends in the final week of August two sets of emails to
all non-registered students, who may be more likely than the general student population
not to have activated their email accounts. And because the accounts have been
created—just not activated--emails sent to these accounts do not bounce back to the
senders, so there is no sure way of knowing who has received the message.
Process Simplification reviewed summer communications from Student Financial
Services, the University Registrar, and the College’s Dean’s Office and found them to be
Process Simplification
Office of the Vice President for Management and Budget
6/28/2016
ISIS Peak Use Report, page 4
clear and understandable. These offices maintain a reasonable limit on their summer
communications with students and avoid duplicating communications sent from other
offices.
Changes Made
1. New Mainframe Hardware
The new mainframe for ISIS was installed in late January 2004. Pre-enrollment for fall
2004, the first major ISIS event to take place using the new mainframe, ran well. One
key factor seems to be the new mainframe’s single processor: The old mainframe had a
three-way processor, with one-third of total CPU’s dedicated each to CICS, SUPRA, and
CrossPlex Thus, when any of these three reached its capacity of 33 percent of the total
CPU’s, its performance would degrade, even if one or both of the other processors was
not performing at capacity. The new mainframe has a single processor, configured so
that power can go where it is most needed. During pre-enrollment in April, CICS,
SUPRA, and CrossPlex at different times went well over 33 percent of CPU’s, and the
mainframe occasionally hit 100 percent of CPU’s, but performance never degraded. As a
result, operations that occasionally took minutes to complete during previous peak
periods ran at their normal speeds, typically of less than one second. The new mainframe
also has 10 to 15 percent more total power than the old mainframe, but the versatility of
its single processor seems to have made the biggest difference in improved performance.
Measurement: The pre-enrollment processing load in April does not come close to
equaling that of fall semester final registration, but ITC will continue to “tweak” the
system in search of further improved performance.
2. ISIS Online
ITC made enhancements and changes to the application in late winter and early spring
2004, which appear to have improved response time and through-put during the fall 2004
pre-enrollment period in April.
Measurement: Subjective measurements from this process will serve as baselines for
comparison with the next major ISIS event in August. These subjective measurements
include such questions as: Did things improve? Did they stay the same or get worse?
While no substitute for quantitative reporting, subjective measures may be the best (or
only) means available for evaluating overall performance, given the complex interrelationships of multiple components. For example, with the implementations of a new
mainframe, new operating system (see number 3 below), and application changes, it will
be impossible to isolate and quantify the effects of each on overall system performance.
3. New Mainframe Operating System (ZOS)
This upgrade was implemented in late May 2004.
Measurement: The next major ISIS event, fall 2004 final registration in August, will
provide subjective measurements that will serve as baselines for comparison with the
next major ISIS events in November 2004 and January 2005.
Process Simplification
Office of the Vice President for Management and Budget
6/28/2016
ISIS Peak Use Report, page 5
4. Ensure That All New Students Activate Their University Email Accounts
In its Packet B notice to incoming students, which is sent in early June, ITC directed
students to activate their University email accounts no later than July 1. During Summer
Orientation, which provides a captive audience of 98% of incoming undergraduates,
students are again being directed to activate their accounts either during or shortly after
their Orientation session, if they have not already done so. Parents in attendance are
being told that activation is important to ensure that students do not miss important
information about holds or course enrollment. A further contributing factor is Housing’s
decision to put housing applications on line: Students that activate their email accounts
will learn sooner about their housing for the fall.
Graduate students are harder to reach, but the Dean’s Office in the College is working
with departments to emphasize the importance of activating University accounts. Many
of these departments may in fact be relying upon email to communicate important
information to their new students, thus providing an incentive for them to help.
Measurement: ITC will monitor the activation of new email accounts throughout the
summer.
Changes Under Consideration
5. Change the ISIS Online Shutdown Time (from 9:30 PM – 2:00 AM to 12:00 AM –
5 AM)
Rescheduling overnight production jobs to allow for a midnight shutdown will require
planning by the ADS Student group and the users, as well as a commitment from ITC
Operations to support more activity on third shift. ITC must first benchmark the impact
of the new mainframe operating system on the current ISIS shutdown schedule of 9:30
PM to ensure that batch run times have not increased from the old mainframe’s numbers.
Status: ITC is currently benchmarking the new mainframe operating system and has not
yet determined whether or not ISIS’ downtime can safely be moved. If a later downtime
is implemented, SESPOG, ITC, and other related offices will work with University
Relations take advantage of the opportunity to market this change to students, specifically
citing ITC’s responsiveness to student demand as reflected in the related survey (see
Appendix B).
Measurement: ITC will again apply the subjective measures described above to the
results and compare them in a very general way to the April course enrollment results. To
have an equal course enrollment process for comparison purposes would require that ITC
wait until November, when course enrollment takes place for the spring 2005 semester.
(Fall final registration in August should only be compared with another final registration,
since that activity is unique and significantly different from the pre-enrollment cycles.)
Process Simplification
Office of the Vice President for Management and Budget
6/28/2016
ISIS Peak Use Report, page 6
6. Encourage Faculty to Use Web-Based Wait Lists for Classes
The Dean’s Office in the College of Arts and Sciences has developed a Web-based
waiting list tool that it wishes eventually to make available to all faculty at the University.
When faculty use the system, once it becomes available, they will choose a date after
which admission to their course is by instructor permission only. Instead of logging onto
ISIS repeatedly in attempts to add the course, students will instead need only to add their
names to the course’s waiting list, which is accessed via the College’s website, not ISIS.
This tool will not affect the process of actual course enrollment, which remains a manual
effort performed by support staff via green-screen ISIS.
Status: The Dean’s Office intends to test the waiting list tool in Fall 2004 with four
departments: Biology, Economics, Politics, and Spanish. Faculty in these departments
will be trained in the use of the system and encouraged to employ it, especially for
popular courses.
Measurement: At the end of the January 2005 Final Registration period, the College will
be able to provide statistics on the number of courses for which this tool was used and
will work with the four departments above to assess its effectiveness.
7. Increase Limits in the ISIS Software Components
Increasing the limits of simultaneous users on CrossPlex, SUPRA, and/or CICS would
not require application changes. Most of the limits in these programs are dynamic
enough to be changed “in flight.” ITC, the Registrar’s Office, and other key offices need
to be prepared if the system crashes and must be restarted (which would require
approximately one hour for recovery, based on past experience). Mainframe Services is
willing to work with the ISIS Managers on changing parameters based on mutual
consent. There is no way to simulate increased limits without the use of extremely
expensive programs, and therefore any increased limits will have to be attempted on the
live system.
ITC and the ISIS Managers also need to have a step-by-step plan on which limits to raise,
what values to use, when to pause, when to continue, and what danger signs to monitor.
Status: No changes are planned for the spring 2005 course enrollment in November 2004
because, as a timed-release event, there would significant impact on the students if the
system crashes. Any tests of increased limits will therefore occur during a non-peak
period a probably not before the end of 2004.
Checkpoint: During the Spring 2005 Final Registration period in January 2005, ITC can
apply the subjective measures described above to the results and take note, compare them
in a very general way to the previous ISIS events, and establish a third baseline before the
next major ISIS event in April 2005. These results will provide guidance in helping ITC
and the ISIS Managers determine how well the system is performing without increased
limits to the ISIS software components. The ISIS Peak Use Work Group recommends
that these increases be tested at an appropriate time, and that ITC and the ISIS Managers
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Office of the Vice President for Management and Budget
6/28/2016
ISIS Peak Use Report, page 7
decide upon the best limits for these components within the environment of the new
mainframe and operating system.
Other Possible Changes
There are numerous other potential changes that might lessen the demand for ISIS Online
during peak periods. A subcommittee was formed to explore only one at length: the
possibility of changing the process of final registration for many students. The
subcommittee recommended no changes to final registration at this time, in part because
it is connected with numerous other important processes, including the process of
determining student fiscal liability, and significant changes could complicate or impair
these other processes (See Appendix C for report).
Other potential changes, while lessening demand for ISIS Online, might also have
unforeseen consequences and might prove highly unpopular with students, faculty, and/or
staff. The University could, for example, change the rules governing the minimum and
maximum course hours for which students can enroll before the start of classes. Such
changes would have far-reaching ramifications, since these minimums and maximums
have been put in place for many reasons, and the changes could potentially increase,
rather than lessen, demand.
Other changes, such as mandating wait lists for all popular courses or limiting the number
of times students can add or drop courses, do not seem to have compelling cost or process
efficiency benefits to offset the negative impact to students and faculty.
Conclusion
The work group believes that the implementation of the four changes made and three
changes under consideration will improve the ability of ISIS to meet demand during peak
use periods. Their implementation will lead to a system that is: more powerful, with
greater versatility in powering various components; faster and more efficient in
processing commands; available for more of the typical student’s waking hours; and
capable of handling more simultaneous commands than the current limits allow. It
remains to be seen the extent to which their implementation will change the culture
surrounding student use of ISIS. For instance, if most new students activate their
University email accounts before the height of the Final Registration period in late
August, the result may be that more students perform final registration, act to remove
holds, and complete course enrollment earlier than at present. And if many faculty avail
themselves of the College’s Web-based wait lists, fewer students may log onto ISIS
during Final Registration in vain attempts to enroll in already-full courses.
ITC and the other offices directly involved in the key changes provided have made it a
priority to measure their effectiveness and to take or recommend appropriate further
actions as necessary. With the ongoing expansion of Web-based services offered via
ISIS, it is impossible to predict whether or not the demand for these services will be met
effectively by the improvements currently being planned and implemented.
Process Simplification
Office of the Vice President for Management and Budget
6/28/2016
ISIS Peak Use Report, page 8
At this time, the work group makes no recommendations beyond the implementation of
the seven key changes above and the ongoing measuring of their effectiveness. The work
group’s charge was to seek process solutions to the problem of meeting demand for ISIS
during peak periods, and the group believes that the key changes offered herein may
significantly ease strain on the system and may prove sufficient until ISIS is replaced by
a new student information system. In our opinion, no further action is currently required
by Mr. Sandridge regarding ISIS processes. Process Simplification will continue to
collaborate with ITC to monitor the outstanding changes under consideration, reporting
back if necessary.
Process Simplification and SESPOG appreciated the opportunity to bring the key student
service providers together in an effort to work across management areas to improve the
processes that support ISIS for the delivery of enhanced student services.
Process Simplification
Office of the Vice President for Management and Budget
6/28/2016
ISIS Peak Use Report, page 9
Appendix A
ISIS Peak Use Technical Information
Note: This information was compiled before the implementation of the new
mainframe and software, on which ISIS is currently running. It represents ISIS’
technical environment in late 2003.









During normal periods, ISIS operates at roughly 35% of capacity. During peak
periods, it reaches 100% of capacity, causing delays in accessing ISIS and degraded
performance.
ISIS database currently allows 250 simultaneous connections, regardless of the source
of the connection. This can be any combination of ISIS WEB connections (up to
100), ISIS desktop application connections (“green screens”), and ISIS batch jobs. A
new licensing agreement will increase this limit to approximately 1200, although
performance issues may make the actual limit somewhat lower. That limit cannot be
determined until the new mainframe and software are installed.
ISIS WEB currently allows 100 simultaneous connections. This number is the
maximum allowed based on the technical balance that must be maintained between
all the software needed to deliver ISIS WEB to the University. A new limit will be
decided upon after the new mainframe and software are installed and a new total limit
of simultaneous connections has been determined.
A “green screen” user uses up one ISIS database connection from the time the user
signs on until the time that the user signs off, regardless of how many “green screens”
the user accesses
An ISIS WEB user uses up one ISIS WEB connection per active use of a function.
The connection is released when the activity is done even though the user may still be
viewing the results on the Web page. If the ISIS WEB user wants to do another
activity, then another ISIS WEB connection must be available at that time. For
example, a student signs on to ISIS WEB (which uses and releases an ISIS WEB
connection for validation of ID and Password) and goes to the address maintenance
function where the addresses are displayed upon arrival. An ISIS WEB connection is
used and released during the act of displaying the addresses. If the student reviews
the data, changes one of the addresses on the screen and presses the submit button,
then upon submission another ISIS WEB connection will be used to make the change
to the ISIS database and return a result to the screen. This design allows 100
connections to service all requests in seconds and even sub-second response time
during non-peak periods.
ISIS “green screens” are used by almost every administrative office and by every
school/department at the University.
ISIS WEB is currently used by students and by faculty that are associated with
academic advising.
Production ISIS batch jobs are primarily run at night between the hours of 5:00 PM
and approximately 2:00 AM, with the heaviest load occurring between 9:30 PM and
approximately 2:00 AM.
ISIS WEB and ISIS “green screens” are unavailable from 9:30 PM until the
production ISIS batch jobs are completed (approximately 2:00 AM).
Process Simplification
Office of the Vice President for Management and Budget
6/28/2016
ISIS Peak Use Report, page 10




During ISIS peak periods ISIS WEB activity is given priority over the ISIS “green
screens” activity and ISIS batch jobs in relation to the total cycles available on the
mainframe. The total cycles available is related to the processing power of the
mainframe.
Batch jobs run by ISIS users and users of other data still stored on the mainframe
have been reduced as a factor during the peak ISIS periods over the past few years.
Technically, the number of slots available to run batch jobs on the mainframe is
reduced significantly during the peak periods, making it impossible to run more than
one or two batch jobs simultaneously. Also an information campaign is mounted
before and during the peak periods to ask all the users of the mainframe to refrain
from running batch jobs during the periods where possible and to run any mandatory
jobs at off peak hours.
ISIS WEB has a five-minute inactivity timeout at which time the student or faculty
member is kicked out of the system and must sign back on and re-validate.
Students and faculty can get kicked out of ISIS WEB in less than five minutes during
peak usage. For example, if a student signs on to ISIS WEB and views his grades
from last semester then tries to go change his address maintenance function and there
are already 100 ISIS WEB connections in existence at that second, the student will
get kicked out of ISIS WEB even though five minutes have not elapsed.
ISIS Function During Peak Times (be:
 The system itself slows down during these peak times. It is in part a function of the
power (i.e., weakness) of the current mainframe that it does so. So, while a single
action may only take a fraction of a second under normal circumstances, during the
peak times it can take much longer.
 So, during the peak times, it becomes more likely that 250 users are accessing ISIS at
once. The green-screen users are "on" ISIS all the time, and more Web users are
trying to get ISIS to perform their operations, which are all taking longer.
 If a user clicks a button to perform any ISIS operation, but there are already 250
users, ISIS simply doesn't let the operation go through. There is no queue, and
frustrated users just have to keep clicking their buttons until their operation does go
through. At peak times, ISIS sometimes tells users that the system is full and
suggests that they try at a non-peak time.
 The new ISIS mainframe will probably NOT be much more powerful than the current
mainframe, and thus, the problem in #1 above won't go away. That's why Mr.
Sandridge asked Don Reynard to seek solutions for easing peak-time demand. If we
cannot find effective ways to bring down demand during the peaks, the new box has
room for the addition of more power, if the University is willing to pay for it.
 Also, regarding the nightly downtime from 9:30 to 2:00. Ce Kimata knows of no
documentary evidence that students prefer this downtime to something like 1:00 to
5:00 AM, but she knows from experience that, even before ITC brings it back up at 2
AM, users are beginning to try to access ISIS, and they have NO dead periods in the
early-morning hours--either during peak periods or the rest of the year.
Process Simplification
Office of the Vice President for Management and Budget
6/28/2016
ISIS Peak Use Report, page 11
Appendix B
Survey of Preferred ISIS Down Time
We wish to know which five-hour block of time you would prefer for ISIS to be
OFFLINE and UNAVAILABLE for use.
In other words, you should select the block of time when you feel you would be LEAST
LIKELY to desire access to ISIS.
Please rank your preferences
1 AM to 6 AM
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Respondents Score
153
1,224
348
2,436
31
186
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
4
0
0
Total
534
3850
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
290
103
79
0
1
0
0
2
2,320
721
474
0
4
0
0
2
Total
475
3521
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
87
71
373
0
1
1
0
0
696
497
2,238
0
4
3
0
0
Total
533
3438
21
20
50
8
1
1
0
0
168
140
300
40
4
3
0
0
2 AM to 7 AM
12 AM to 5 AM
11 PM to 4 AM
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Total
101
655
Process Simplification
Office of the Vice President for Management and Budget
6/28/2016
ISIS Peak Use Report, page 12
Rank Respondents Score
Please rank your preferences
7 PM to 12 AM
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
7
8
0
0
0
0
6
72
49
48
0
0
0
0
6
Total
30
175
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
2
5
11
2
8
0
0
0
16
35
66
10
32
0
0
0
Total
28
159
4
4
8
1
0
6
0
0
32
28
48
5
0
18
0
0
23
131
1
9
4
0
0
0
6
0
8
63
24
0
0
0
12
0
20
107
10 PM to 3 AM
9 PM to 2 AM
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Total
8 PM to 1 AM
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Total
Process Simplification
Office of the Vice President for Management and Budget
6/28/2016
ISIS Peak Use Report, page 13
Appendix C
Final Registration Workgroup Report, May 2004
Final Registration Workgroup Members:
Lynn Davis, Student Financial Services
Miles Gibson, Process Simplification
Ce Kimata, ITC
Yvonne Hubbard, Student Financial Services
Robert LeHeup, University Registrar
Rachel Most, College of Arts & Sciences
Ken Sinarski, Comptroller
Stash Stanley, University Registrar & Workgroup Chair
The Final Registration Workgroup reached consensus on the process map and timeline
(Appendix D) for the final registration process. During two recent meetings, the group
also discussed a number of possible improvements to the current process. Conversation
included items that could significantly impact the final registration process and that
merited further study.
Improvement Points
1. New Mainframe Hardware
During a meeting with Mainframe Services on 4/26/04, it was reported that the first
major ISIS event to take place using the new mainframe (pre-enrollment for fall 2004)
seemed to have run well. While we know that the pre-enrollment processing load in April
does not come close to equaling that of fall semester final registration, we were told that
‘system tweaking’ will continue to be undertaken and evaluated. SESPOG, UREG, and
ITC are committed to building upon the conversations that took place on 4/26 to try and
facilitate better communication and attention to the needs of our clients/customers.
2. ISIS Online
Enhancements in addition to requested application changes, including some potential
performance improvements to the application, ran well during the fall 2004 preenrollment period in mid-April. These changes appear to have positively impacted
response time and through-put. Subjective measurements from this process will serve as a
baseline for comparison with our next major ISIS event in August.
3. New Mainframe Operating System (ZOS)
This upgrade has been paid for and is planned for implementation in late May 2004. This
has not yet been fully tested by the ADS Student Group and the users; testing began on
April 1. Next major ISIS event: fall 2004 final registration in August.
Process Simplification
Office of the Vice President for Management and Budget
6/28/2016
ISIS Peak Use Report, page 14
4. Change the ISIS Online Shutdown Time
Rescheduling overnight production jobs to allow for a 12:00 midnight shutdown will
take planning time on the part of ADS Student group and the users, as well as a
commitment from ITC Operations to support more activity on 3rd shift. Benchmarking
the impact of the new Mainframe Operating system on the current ISIS shutdown
schedule of 9:30 pm must be done first to make sure that batch run times have not
increased from current numbers. This change is tentatively planned for July 2004. Next
major ISIS event: fall 2004 final registration in August.
Checkpoint - Fall 2004 Final Registration in August: We can apply our subjective
measures described above to the results and compare them in a very general way to the
April course enrollment results. To have an equal course enrollment process for
comparison purposes will require that we wait until November when course enrollment
takes place for the spring 2005 semester. (Fall final registration in August should only be
compared with another final registration, since that activity is unique and significantly
different from the pre-enrollment cycles.)
5. Modify Limits in the ISIS Software Components
Modifying CrossPlex, SUPRA, and/or CICS would not require application changes. Most
of the limits in these programs are dynamic enough to be changed ‘in flight’. We need to
be prepared if the system crashes and must be restarted (approximately 1 hour recovery,
based on past experience). In the recent meeting, Mainframe Services seemed willing to
work with us on changing parameters based on mutual consent. We also need to have a
step-by-step plan on which limits to raise, what values to use, when to pause, when to
continue, and what danger signs to monitor. These are not planned for the spring 2005
course enrollment in November because that is a timed-release event and there would
significant impact on the students if the system crashes. Next major ISIS event - spring
final registration in January 2005.
Checkpoint - Spring 2005 Final Registration in January 2005: We can apply our
subjective measures described above to the results and take note, compare them in a very
general way to the previous ISIS events that are different, and establish a third baseline
before the next major ISIS event in April 2005.
Recommendations
1. No changes in final registration at this time
The group believes that only after all of the above modifications have been done should
we consider making application changes to the way Final Registration and/or Add-Drop
and/or any other ISIS functions are handled. We can discuss possibilities between now
and February 2005, but we might rule out any reason to execute any change(s) at all
because of the lack of good measurements. However, we believe that rushing to make a
change without sufficient measurement of the current processes may be a significant
waste of precious, collective resources. We need baseline data first and the time to collect
that data and compare it to an equivalent process cycle before making significant changes
in the final registration process.
Process Simplification
Office of the Vice President for Management and Budget
6/28/2016
ISIS Peak Use Report, page 15
2. Publicize on-going improvement efforts
Create a structured response to the survey taken of students regarding the hours that ISIS
online should be available. Work with Carol Wood, SESPOG, Mainframe Services,
ITC/ASD, UREG, SFS and Cashiering to ‘spread the word’ about efforts underway to
improve ISIS Online.
3. Determine what constitutes ‘student fiscal liability’
With an eye toward the future, we recommend that the University create a policy that
stipulates whether any/all course enrollment is sufficient to constitute full fiscal liability
for the student. Perhaps General Counsel can assist in this matter.
Process Simplification
Office of the Vice President for Management and Budget
6/28/2016
ISIS Peak Use Report, page 16
Appendix D
Final Registration Process Workflow
(process maps begin on next page)
Process Simplification
Office of the Vice President for Management and Budget
6/28/2016
ISIS Peak Use Report, page 17
Final Registration
START
Student initiates
ISIS OnLine
session
n -retry
Successful
initiation
?
y
Activates "Final
Registration"
n
Exit
y
Already final
regstered
?
y
Successful
?
n
Try again during
open Final
Registration period
n
Has Final
Registration
begun
?
y
to Late
F. R.
y
Is Final
Registration
over
?
n
Consult school or
Admissions.
Try again
n
Is student
expected for
current term
?
y
Clear blocks.
Try again.
y
Registration
blocks
?
n
ISIS changes student's
status to 'H'
to
Graduating
Process Simplification
Office of the Vice President for Management and Budget
6/28/2016
ISIS Peak Use Report, page 18
GRADUATING
page
to
Start
ISIS
Final Registration
prompts
Is student
graduating
?
y
n
With
a gaduate nonprofessional
degree
?
y
ISIS Degree
Candidate flag set to
"Y"
y
ISIS addresses
updated
n
Address screen displayed
to permit address
changes.
Address
changes made
?
y
End of ISIS
OnLine function
n
SFS functions as
needed.
End of
Final Registration
Process
Process Simplification
Office of the Vice President for Management and Budget
6/28/2016
ISIS Peak Use Report, page 19
LATE page
To Start
ISIS RRB
Check for
blocks
Is there
a block other
than SFS
?
Int
Studies ?
y
Int Studies
Block Removal
y
Student Health
Block Removal
y
School of Enrol
Block Removal
y
Dean of Students
Block Removal
y
Undergrad Admin
Block Removal
n
n
Is
student able to
come to UREG
?
y
Student must come to
UREG office to complete/
turn-in Late Registration
Application (LRA).
y
Health ?
n
n
Student takes LRA to SFS
for outstanding fee
payment and SFS sign-off.
ISIS SLR
Assesses late fee
where appropriate.
School of
enrollment
?
n
SFS block
?
n
Is 7th
week of
classes past
?
y
LRA must be
signed by the Dean
Dean of
Students
?
y
n
n
SFS
Block Removal
ISIS RTM
Change Att Status field
to 'E'
<PF6> to update
Undergrad
Admissions
?
ISIS RAR
Change Att Status
to 'H'
<PF6> to update
ISIS SLR
Assesses late fee
where appropriate.
ISIS RAM
Update address if
needed.
<PF6> to update.
END
Process Simplification
Office of the Vice President for Management and Budget
6/28/2016