In the next five years, the ISIS man may become a thing of the past.
The Integrated Systems Project, a five-year effort to overhaul the University's administrative software, advanced from its planning stages to implementation today. The project eventually will replace existing software systems in three phases, finance, human resources and student services - including ISIS.
The new technology will increase the University's overall efficiency in achieving its educational goals, project Director Bill Randolph said.
The project will provide "more and better service in support of the core missions of the University, which are teaching, research and public service," Randolph said. "We want to maximally support those endeavors."
The project will make useful information more accessible to students and faculty, he said.
The phase initiated today is financial applications, which is divided into two subsections. The first subsection includes the general ledger, grants management, accounts receivable and cash management programs. The second includes budget and procurement systems.
Current programs in all three areas will be replaced by a new system from Oracle software, which will integrate all administrative operating systems.
Twenty-four separate programs now are in place, all of which will be consolidated into the new system.
Leonard Sandridge, executive vice president and chief operating officer, said the project will be a technological step up from the independent systems now in place.
"The systems we have now are unreliable, difficult to maintain and they do not support our information needs effectively," Sandridge said.
The integration of these information systems also should prevent students and faculty from having to enter data multiple times on different systems.
Theoretically, students who apply to the University online never will have to re-enter data such as their addresses or social security numbers, because their "keystrokes would migrate to other sections of the system," Randolph said.
The various programs included in the system - from budget and payroll to grades and course information - will have "the same look and feel," allowing users to transfer proficiency from program to program, he said.
"What one person knows on one system will now transport to another system, so you would already have some familiarity" when working with a new program, he added.
The new program will be easier to use than current systems because it was designed with users' needs in mind, ISP Executive Committee member Colette Sheehy said.
"In the past, the focus has been serving the needs of central administrative offices," Sheehy said. "It really didn't take into consideration what the departments needed, but this program is very much directed toward the end-user."
The overall cost of the project is estimated at $58.2 million. Both state and private funds will support the project.
The University has applied for one-time state funding, Randolph said.
Sandridge said the project also ultimately will cost less to operate than systems now in place.
The project will be partly "funded by savings that result from the implementation of the system and some of it will come from our basic operating budget," he said.
Project officials estimate it will generate $40.6 million in cost savings and cost avoidance.
Each phase will take place gradually, Randolph said.
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