Enterprise Systems Committee
Minutes of July 19, 1999
Present: Fred Ryan, Jeff Wright, Anne Russell, John Miller, Debbie McElroberts, Bob
Sneed, George Wellman, Bruce Rowen, Beverly Taylor
1. OneCard Update
Russell provided a status report of current and planned uses of the campus OneCard
system. Summer '98, Food Services implemented the OneCard meal plan for residence
hall students and a debit plan for food purchases by faculty and staff. Card readers were
installed in Whitney, Butte Station, Selvester's, and the BMU.
This last academic year, Information Resources successfully implemented network
printing stations in the Library and THMA open computer labs, as well as the College of
Business lab in Glenn Hall using the OneCard debit plan for payment. This service is to
be expanded this fall into several departmental computer labs.
Other OneCard services implemented last fall included a verification process for
equipment checkout in IMC and two copy machines in the Library. The plan is to expand
this capability to all copiers in the Library and to three microfilm printers this fall.
"Guest" capabilities are also available in the Library through the use of CVTs (cash value
terminals) that accept cash and dispense guest cards.
This month, all OneCard debit plans are being merged in a universal "WildCat Account"
that can be used for any debit plan purchase on the system. Associated Students is
planning on providing this service in the Bookstore for all their purchases in August and
will be installing a CVT in the BMU lobby.
The campus ID card has been redesigned with a new logo and name. The new WildCat
ID cards will be reissued to all faculty, staff and students in the coming year. There are
also plans to change guest card designs each time cardstock is reordered to create
"limited special editions."
In addition to the new design, the new card has a second smaller magnetic stripe on the
back of the card to be used as a QuikCash vending stripe. This will be used for off-line
vending machine purchases with actual cash value stored on the stripe. This is the same
as cash with loss of the card resulting in loss of the value.
The OneCard computer system was replaced this summer and there are plans to upgrade
the existing Diebold database software next summer (2000) to an Oracle-based
WindowsNT platform.
The report demonstrated the rising demand for OneCard services, which includes cardbased door access, and shows use of this system becoming mission critical for the
campus and needing continued funding to support the on-going development of the
system.
2. July 13th CMS board meeting report
Taylor provided handouts and a status report from the July 13th CMS Board meeting.
Status of CMS Function Teams &endash; HR prototyping has developed a list of
modifications. There will be two (2) major and 43 minor modifications. A major
modification is defined as requiring 200+ hours of programming time to implement. In
addition there are two Levels (I and II) of modifications. Level I are required because of
CSU policy, legislative and/or CSU bargaining unit requirements. Level II are required
for data integrity.
CMS Project Directors had three main concerns: 1) continued questions on which Oracle
tools still need to be purchased to implement PeopleSoft (PS); 2) the need for crosscommunication, and the lack of it, between function teams; 3) the need to develop a CSU
staffing transition plan for anyone whose jobs are impacted by the CMS implementation.
The Finance team is getting ready to begin prototyping and to identify consultants needed
to assist in this process. They are working on the chart of accounts. Campuses will be
given the opportunity to review and provide input into this process.
The Student team has been evaluating whether to implement Version 7.5 of PS or wait
for 7.6, which will be providing a Web-based front end. The team was very excited about
the capabilities that PS is promising with the newer version but made the decision to
implement Version 7.5.
A meeting was held with Harrigan and his staff from the State Controller's Office (SCO).
The new CSU alternative approach was presented to them and the SCO provided an
update and timeline to the conversion of their system. The RFP for the system is due to
be released by the end of July. Harrigan asked for feedback by July 23rd from the CSU
on any issues with the RFP. In the updated timeline for the SCO, the implementation date
has slipped from February 2002 to July 2002. They plan to have a vendor selected by
July 2000 and their timeline indicates they will be ready by January 2001 to provide the
CSU with the format specifications needed to interface with their new system. There is
still a lack of clarity about the real impact on the CSU payroll process.
An Integration Meeting between 25 campus personnel and three (3) top PS development
representatives provided insight to the CSU on what PS is planning for their product.
This information will assist the teams in prototyping the new system. PS indicated that it
is in their plan to separate the HR and student database. Each module (Finance, HR,
Student) will be in a separate physical database with "logical integration". It was not clear
exactly when this split was to occur, or what the mechanisms would be for the difficult
task of keeping them in synch. It was stated that although the modules would be
physically separate, a single point of data entry was still planned.
HOSS has completed the RFP for a consultant to assist in the technical architecture.
Hilary Baker, CMS Project Director, said that the technical architecture has not been top
on her agenda since San Diego has the hardware needed for the HR prototyping and this
platform will be adequate for the next year. The timeframe is to bring the consultant on in
August to complete the technical architecture requirements centrally and at each of the
campuses.
David Ernst presented budget information that had previously been presented to the
Presidents. The annual assessment to the campuses will be $10 million. Because of
pushback from the Presidents and the late date of this information, this assessment will be
$5 million for 1999/00 ONLY, raising back to $10 million in 2000/01 and continuing at
that level in all subsequent years. For Chico, this translates into $234,000 for 1999/00 and
$468,000 annually beginning in 2000/01. These figures, particularly the 1999/00
amounts, are higher than what was just recently estimated by the Chancellor's Office, but
they were confirmed by David Ernst last week. These are only centralized assessment
costs and do not include the campus costs. Local campus cost estimates are still subject to
enormous variation because fundamental parts of the process remain undefined, but costs
for Chico have been estimated in the $12-19M range.
The final budget allocations that Richard West and Charles Reed approved for the CMS
project have been finalized and are less than what was asked for. Decisions will need to
be made on how to implement the CMS project within these budget constraints.
The ground rules for the project have changed. It is no longer incentive driven. Ernst
reported that Reed has said that CMS is now a system embraced project, it is NOT
voluntary any longer, and all campuses are expected to cooperate and make a good faith
effort to implement in as timely a manner as possible. A formal memo will be going out
to the Presidents on this issue. There is no further need for a memo of declaration because
of this.
There is still no determination on who will be in the 1st wave with the new alternative
approach. It has not been determined yet if it will be self assessment or a third party who
will determine readiness.
The CO is finalizing an RFP that will have a list of 6 or 7 prequalified consultants that
campuses can use. This agreement is non-exclusive giving campuses the ability to hire
from the list or use someone of their choosing.
The CO is working on a CMS benefits document that Presidents and others can use when
being questioned by stakeholder groups. In addition to the document, they are working on
a 5-7 minute video highlighting the benefits to faculty, staff, and students. These are seen
as necessary since they are anticipating more resistance once the costs for CMS are more
widely known by stakeholder groups.
The CMS Board agreed to include IRMs more in the CMS project. This was a result of a
formal request from the IRMs to become an integral part of development and planning in
the areas of technical architecture and staffing transition planning. The Board requested
that the IRMs first focus on the staffing transition since this is seen as a potential threat as
it was in the case of CETI.
Ryan commented that even with all the changes in the process presented at the Board
meeting, that the recommended approach and committee structure outlined in the Chico
readiness assessment documents still appear to be valid in moving the project forward for
the campus.
At the next ESC meeting additional information will be provided for moving us forward
and clarifying, with the new information received, next steps, priorities, and costs for
1999/00.
3. Oracle Additional Tools License
McElroberts discussed her recommendation to the committee on not proceeding with the
purchase of additional Oracle products and tools at this time. It is clear that at some point
in the future, Chico and all campuses will need to purchase additional licenses to provide
Web access to anyone off campus (i.e., prospective students). But, given the lack of
clarity provided from the CO and Oracle on what we will need or when we will need it,
and the inability of Oracle to provide firm pricing, the committee agreed that waiting was
the best strategy.
4. Y2K July 15th Report to CO
Taylor provided copies of the report sent to the CO on Chico's status for Y2K. Percentage
of overall compliance increased to 88%, demonstrating Chico's significant efforts in the
Y2K effort.
~ Adjourned at 1:00 p.m.