Background

Sydney Student scope and brief

Sydney Student (formerly known as FSAP) was initiated in 2007 to provide an overarching framework for reviewing and improving student administration processes and systems across the University. FSAP was tasked with the University’s commitment to implement the key 2007 Student Administration System Steering Group (SASSG) recommendation to commence the acquisition of a package-based industry-standard student administration software solution.

The scope of Sydney Student includes the acquisition and implementation of a new system that will replace FlexSIS as well as undertaking improvements to current student administration business processes and governance structures to maximise the value of the technology investment.

Sydney Student directly supports the achievement of the University’s 2007-2010 Strategic Plan objectives for Student Experience (SE1 and SE3) and for ICT (IT1.4 and IT2.2).

Scope of student administration

Sydney Student considers the domain of "Student Administration" to be the ‘end-end’ collection of functions, processes and activities which support management of the student lifecycle from (prospective) student recruitment through to alumni. The student administration domain interacts closely with other University domains such as research, teaching & learning, marketing and alumni management.

Student administration provides support for and contributes to the delivery of “Student Experience” in the University value chain.

Why invest in student administration reform?

FlexSIS was conceived in 1996 and developed by the University’s in-house software programming as a replacement solution for the mainframe-based Student Records System (SRS) first developed in 1980. “FlexSIS” is currently the key University system that supports student administration, in combination with a series of independent systems and business processes that have evolved over time.

System and process requirements of different faculties and divisions have over time led to the development of a number of local solutions to meet immediate, short-term needs, rather than a collective and coherent approach to student administration across the University.

Concerns about the suitability and sustainability of FlexSIS have emerged over time. Some of these include:

• The high cost of operating and supporting the system
• The mismatch between system functionality and the University’s needs
• Inherent design limitations
• Poor system performance
• Inflexibility.

Since FlexSIS was commissioned, the availability and maturity of commercial industry-standard software packages has improved greatly. Today, only a small number of institutions continue to develop, maintain and operate their own student administration system.

Equally, concerns about the efficiency, coherence and long-term sustainability of current student administration processes have emerged over time. Some of these include:

• Short-term, non-strategic approach to process design
• Lack of established guiding policies and procedures
• Inconsistent service levels across the University
• Insufficient knowledge-sharing across faculties and divisions
• Multiple processes, of differing levels of efficiency, to manage the same function.

The review process

There have been several formal reviews of FlexSIS and the student administration function conducted in recent years, which have collectively informed the consideration of various reform options by University leadership and the decision to embark on the Sydney Student roadmap. These include:

• In 2002 the University commissioned the "Strategic Review of FlexSIS" from an independent third party specialist that yielded findings and recommendations across nine key areas.
• In 2005 the DVC Infrastructure commissioned a "FlexSIS Strategic Review". This identified the major challenges for FlexSIS and made 34 recommendations.
• In 2006 the University established a new Student Administration Program to implement the priority recommendations of the 2005 review.
• In 2007 the University established the Student Administration Systems Steering Group (SASSG) which assessed four strategic alternatives for the future. This resulted in the decision to discontinue further investment in the FlexSIS platform, and commence the acquisition of an industry-standard packaged-based solution.