Delta 2006 News - October 11, 2001

New processes get underway as academic history conversion, Barat incorporation completed

The Delta 2006 team is focusing on several eagerly anticipated projects, including degree audit and prerequisite checking, now that the academic history conversion and incorporation of Barat College of DePaul into PeopleSoft are complete.

"Unexpected technical difficulties combined with the size of the workload meant that the final history conversion took up most of the summer," said Bob Kozoman, associate vice president for the Integrated Systems Administration Group. Some 150,000 student records were reloaded the weekend of Sept. 8-9.The successful conversion enabled a variety of processes, including accurate calculation of cumulative GPAs, to run correctly. A number of related processes, such as transcript production, also made the final transition to PeopleSoft.

Barat College of DePaul class schedules, facilities, faculty, staff and student records also were incorporated into the system this summer, enabling those at the Lake Forest campus to use the same Web and desktop tools as at other DePaul locations. Fall registration went smoothly for students at all locations, including Barat, said Mark Elsen, director, Student Systems and Services.

In addition, advisers and faculty now can access and analyze the results of student assessment scores, such as English and math placement tests, through PeopleSoft. A separate program called EM Tracker previously provided this functionality.

"Now academic advisers can pull up placement recommendations based on scores through PeopleSoft. It's the same functionality, but now conveniently located in the same location as other student information," Elsen said.

With these projects complete, the teams are turning their attention to several Phase II projects that have been delayed or on hold pending completion of the history conversion and availability of staff time. Work on prerequisite checking, degree audit and automated admission is progressing despite reduction of the number of outside consultants from 12 to 5, Kozoman said.

"Pilot degree audit programs for the School of New Learning and The Theatre School are being readied for rollout, most likely during the first week of November," said Kozoman. Programs for other colleges will be released on a staggered schedule so that refinements identified during each rollout can be incorporated.

"We expect to have the automated admission process in production by mid-October, freeing admission staff to work one-on-one with prospective students," added Elsen.