Preparing for the Kickoff of the Curriculum Management Project

As part of the primary work for the Student Information System (SIS) Project, we will implement the curriculum management system, CourseLeaf, for course and curriculum proposal and maintenance, catalog management, learning outcome tracking and management and the metrics required for accreditation.

Since signing the contract with Leepfrog Technologies Inc., the vendor of CourseLeaf, the SIS Project team has been hard at work preparing for the formal kickoff of the project to implement CourseLeaf. In preparation for kickoff, the core project team has been gathering the many stakeholders involved, either as implementation team members or participants on the steering and advisory committees. The core team has also been assessing the readiness of stakeholders and the wider university community for the project.

Steering Committee

Much like the Student Information Systems Committee (SISC) provides leadership and strategic decision-making for the SIS Project, the Curriculum Management Project steering committee ensures the project's success through visible, active leadership and support. The following are the responsibilities of the committee.

• Steer project by making decisions impacting strategy, scope and timeline
• Provide or refer subject matter expertise to the implementation team
• Resolve conflicts or escalate conflicts to Governance
• Support the changes in words, behaviors and action

 The steering committee is composed of the following key project stakeholders and leaders:

• Stacey Brydges, Teaching Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry
• Shelly Janger, Curriculum Director, Office of Pharmacy Education, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (SSPPS)
• Laura Fandino, Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs, Division of Extended Studies (DES)
• John Hildebrand, San Diego Divisional Senate Chair and Professor, Scripps Institute of Oceanography (SIO)
• Lori Hullings, Executive Director, Academic Senate
• Carlos Jensen, Associate Vice Chancellor of Educational Innovation
• Nigel Johnson, Director, Medical Education Technology (MedEDTech), School of Medicine (SOM)
• Cindy Lyons, University Registrar, Office of the Registrar, Enrollment Management (EM)
• Jim Rawlins, Associate Vice Chancellor of Enrollment Management
• Leo Porter, Teaching Professor, Computer Science & Engineering
• Jonathan Whitman, Senior Director, Student Information Services, Information Technology Services 

Advisory Committee

While the Steering Committee provides high-level, strategic advice to the project, the advisory committee provides more tactical guidance. The committee brings direct subject matter expertise to design and configuration decisions and guidance on change management and system rollout plans. Committee members are "super" users of the tool for which they advise or members of units that will directly or indirectly support those affected by the change. The responsibilities of the advisory committee are as follows:

• Advise project design team on project decisions, especially those that affect system users and usability
• Provide or refer subject matter expertise
• Contribute to or provide input on the development of the change management, testing and training plans
• Identify and recommend strategies for closing end-user knowledge, skills and abilities gap(s)
• Support the changes in words, behaviors and actions

The advisory committee is composed of the following individuals:

• Claire Bennett, Registrar, Medical Education, SOM
• Dana Brehm, Senior Director of Educational Strategy, School of Biological Sciences
• Trevor Buchanan, Applications Programmer, Academic Senate
• Elisa Crossman, Undergraduate Advisor, Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science (SPH)
• Sara Danford, Change Lead
• Tina Duke, Change Practitioner
• Erin Espaldon, Director of Student Success Research & Analytics, Institutional Research
• Vidal Espina, Project Manager
• Pamela Fruge, Assistant Dean, Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE)
• David Garrison, Senior Associate Registrar, Office of the Registrar, EM
• Nancy Gilson, Director of Academic Degree Programs, School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS)
• Carrie Goldsmith Mercer, Health Professional Education Specialist, SPH
• Lisa Gole, Director, Medical Education
• Alisha Graves,  Course Scheduler/Instructional Planner, Rady School of Management
• Ashley Hill, Associate Director, Academic Senate
• Irene Hom, Business Officer, Bioengineering
• Lori Hullings, Executive Director, Academic Senate
• Shelly Janger, Curriculum Director, SSPPS
• Liz Kelley, Director of Academic and Instructional Affairs, DES
• Shirley Lam, Program Coordinator, Eleanor Roosevelt College (ERC)
• Erica Lennard,  Assistant Dean, Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA)
• Katherine Levy, Business Officer, Institute of Arts and Humanities
• Cindy Lyons, Change Lead and University Registrar, Office of the Registrar, EM
• Kimberley Newmark, Assistant Registrar for Scheduling, Office of the Registrar, EM
• Natalie Noles, Director of Student and Instructional Services, School of Biological Sciences
• Bekah Palmer, Academic Services Manager, DES
• Edith Pigon, Instructional Web Programmer, SSPPS
• Joshua Reeves, Student Affairs Manager, SIO
• Scott Rollans, Director of Student Services, Mathematics
• Charmaine Samahin-Manns, Director of Student Affairs, Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)
• Brian Smith, Project Manager for the SIS Project
• Amy Tran, Director of Student Affairs, Chemistry/Biochemistry 
• Alia Welch Partida, Coordinator of Academic and Student Affairs, Human Developmental Sciences 
• Rachel Wellisch, Director of Student Affairs, Computer Science and Engineering (CSE)
• Jonathan Whitman, Senior Director, Student Information Services, Information Technology Services (ITS)
• Gila Zanelli, Director of Undergraduate Education, Rady School of Management

Implementation Team

Members of the implementation team are individuals directly working on the project tasks to achieve the technical and functional objectives of the project. The team members fulfill various roles, from a project manager to a subject matter expert, system or workflow configurator, business systems analyst or change manager. 

While each team member has specific responsibilities that align with their role, the implementation team is responsible for the following:

• Meet and collaborate with the system vendor to learn the new system
• Work with subject matter experts to establish and meet business needs
• Configure the system according to technical and functional requirements
• Document and communicate updated processes, procedures and policies
• Execute tasks and produce deliverables as outlined in the project and change management plans

Individuals on the implementation team are also members of the advisory committee. The implementation team is composed of the following individuals: 

• Claire Bennett, Registrar, Medical Education, SOM
• Trevor Buchanan, Applications Programmer, Academic Senate
• Elisa Crossman, Undergraduate Advisor, SPH
• Sara Danford, Change Lead
• Tina Duke, Change Practitioner
• Vidal Espina, Project Manager
• Pamela Fruge, Assistant Dean, DUE
• David Garrison, Senior Associate Registrar, Office of the Registrar, EM
• Ashley Hill, Associate Director, Academic Senate
• Lori Hullings, Executive Director, Academic Senate
• Shelly Janger, Curriculum Director, SSPPS
• Shirley Lam, Program Coordinator, ERC
• Erica Lennard,  Assistant Dean, GEPA
• Katherine Levy, Business Officer, Institute of Arts and Humanities
• Cindy Lyons, Change Lead and University Registrar, Office of the Registrar, EM
• Maurice Nelson, Interim Academic Services Manager, DES
• Kimberley Newmark, Assistant Registrar for Scheduling, Office of the Registrar, EM
• Bekah Palmer, Academic Services Manager, DES
• Edith Pigon, Instructional Web Programmer, SSPPS
• Charmaine Samahin-Manns, Director of Student Affairs, ECE
• Brian Smith, Project Manager for the SIS Project
• Jonathan Whitman, Senior Director, Student Information Services, ITS

Readiness to Begin the Project

In addition to gathering all of the above stakeholders into the teams and committees that will support the project, the SIS core project team has also been hard at work meeting readiness criteria to begin the project, which includes items such as the following:

• Updating the project charter
• Defining and documenting project and change management strategy and scope
• Defining the project vision, guiding principles and success criteria
• Measuring the readiness of all the above stakeholders to engage in the project

After meeting the readiness criteria requirements, the governance committee will be presented with a detailed report on the readiness criteria to determine whether the project is ready for its formal kickoff and the official start of project activities.

 We thank all of the above individuals for their active, ongoing support and participation in the project and we look forward to continuing to work together to see the project through to its successful completion.