SIS Project: What We've Heard (June 2023)

You have likely already heard that the SIS Project team is in the final stages of the third Request for Proposal (RFP) for a new student information system. The conference room pilot (CRP) sessions with the vendors ended in May, and the CRP evaluators have submitted their final scores to be reviewed by the SIS governance committee.

There has been a lot of buzz surrounding the third RFP and CRP sessions, and we wanted to address some of the questions that we have been hearing. 

Why is the university trying to replace ISIS now? Why can’t we wait?

Our current student information system, ISIS, is starting to show strain, and there are many limitations that prevent us from being able to operate efficiently. Additionally, ISIS is unable to meet the needs of many institutional initiatives at this time, and this prevents us from moving forward on crucial projects. Lastly, there are many supporting applications built up around ISIS to help the university function on a daily basis, but these applications are outdated and extremely time consuming to maintain, especially in terms of today’s cybersecurity compliance requirements. Read more on the importance of replacing ISIS in this article.

We have brilliant staff–why can’t we build our own system?

There are many reasons as to why it is not viable for UC San Diego to build its own system. Firstly, engineering our own system would be incredibly expensive, both in the development and the maintenance of the system. The ongoing responsibility to upkeep the system would be ours, and we would eventually end up in the same place that we are now with ISIS. Additionally, we have seen many other universities try to build their own system and have substantial shortcomings, challenges and negative impacts to the student experience. Our university leadership and stakeholders are very conscious about avoiding this same fate by learning from others’ experiences and making different choices.   

When do we expect to have a new system implemented?

The go live date is anticipated and dependent upon many factors. It is incredibly important to the entire SIS Project team and governance committee that the university is ready and prepared to launch a new student information system. This is impacted by several considerations, some of which include the academic calendar, staff resources, successful completion of preparation work and projects, and adequate training and communications. You can expect to continue to receive more regular updates from the SIS Project team as we move closer to the start of implementation. In the meantime, we are happy to hear your feedback, thoughts, or concerns on the project. Please contact us at esr-student@ucsd.edu at any time.