Summary of Feedback from SME Listening Sessions

Between October and December 2025, we held targeted listening sessions with functional and technical subject matter experts (SMEs) and members of the Triton Student System (TSS) implementation team. These sessions were designed to help us better understand and adapt to the project pressures, risks and realities as we move toward delivering a stable, functional initial release of TSS by July 2026.

While we are operating within significant budgetary and timeline constraints, we remain focused on actively managing risks, strengthening readiness and supporting the people doing the work. The candid feedback we received has directly shaped how the project is being governed, supported and prioritized in this critical phase. 

Below is a summary of what was gleaned in the listening sessions, as well as what actions we’re taking based on what we heard.

1. You Said: Resource/Workload Strain, Timeline Concerns

SMEs reported feeling overwhelmed by the competing demands of their day-to-day operational responsibilities, while also supporting the transition to TSS. Many shared that they felt uneasy with the aggressive project timeline, the budget, resourcing and other constraints.

• Ongoing support from the Executive Vice Chancellor, Interim Chief Information Officer, and governance members to reinforce project priorities across the university and support units in adjusting workload, service expectations and resource allocation during peak project periods.
• Continuing to work with SMEs to document and escalate risks, particularly resourcing-related concerns, as user acceptance testing (UAT) progresses and additional impacts become known. Risk management and contingency plans are shared with governance and executive leadership to support local planning and response.
• Confirmed the project escalation process (see Governance). Questions and concerns can be first addressed by speaking with your supervisor or unit director. Any further queries can be sent via email to the implementation team at esr-student@ucsd.edu.
• Updated the project website to better highlight the most important project details. We are consolidating information from multiple locations into one centralized, easy-to-access page to allow for clearer visibility into what's happening now, what’s coming next, what's changing and how to begin preparing for the launch of the new TSS.
• Revamped and simplified the project newsletter to highlight key information directly within the email, reducing the need to access additional resources, such as articles or videos. Updated the language in the newsletter to be more accessible to a broad audience, not just those working “behind the scenes.”
• Committed to providing as much advance visibility as possible into major testing, cutover and training activities to support proactive workload and resource planning, while recognizing that timelines may evolve as project needs and decisions unfold.
  • User acceptance testing (UAT) calendar and schedule, were updated to show up to 3 months in advance of current testing. 
  • Detailed cutover plans were made more broadly available for those seeking deeper insight into the implementation timeline.
  • The Major Milestones living resource will continue to be regularly updated to ensure high-level major cutover milestones are visible to the university.
  • Ongoing meetings with SMEs and knowledgeable groups to preview in-progress training materials and confirm learning needs have been met will continue through 2026 as future-state functionality stabilizes.

2. You Said: Need for Project Management Skills & SME Support

While we are fortunate to have the expertise of some SMEs who have participated in the implementation of a new student information system before, we also have many who have not participated in a project of this scale before. They reported feeling uncertainty about some project management tools and practices, such as creating effective test cases, logging system defects found during testing, tracking time spent working on the project to inform future work and knowing who to go to for support. 

• Launched targeted 1:1 and small-group support for implementation team members and SMEs requesting extra guidance. Avenues available for support include office hours, Microsoft Teams chats and channels, and email (esr-student@ucsd.edu). 
• Provided general support materials to SMEs, including guidance for user acceptance testing and resources for clearly reporting risks and concerns.
• Expanded support for SMEs developing test cases and reporting testing outcomes by providing pre-defined test case templates, example scenarios and a simplified method for bulk issue capture. 
• Simplified project time-tracking processes for SMEs, recognizing the administrative burden it was placing on the team was cutting into the time they had available for participating in key project activities, like UAT. 

3. You Said: Concerns About Future State Functionality, Manual Work & User Experience

Feedback from the SMEs reflects an understandable concern that the initial release of TSS will involve more manual work than ISIS. This is a normal part of implementing a new enterprise system as users transition to new processes and tools. SMEs also had related questions about automation timing, evolving future-state workflows and the impact of integrations or features that may be introduced in future releases.

• Maintaining an inventory of areas where new manual work will be introduced in the initial release, which will be refined as UAT progresses. These insights are incorporated into risk and contingency planning to support proactive mitigation and informed decision-making, ensuring both local planning conversations and executive leadership visibility into operational impacts and related resourcing concerns.
• Developing a resource detailing the functionality that will be included in the initial release of TSS. As part of this the UAT process, scope of the initial release is being finalized to reflect validated workflows and system capabilities. The scope of the initial release will be shared following the conclusion of UAT, once validation decisions are complete. The current expectation is to share this information in May. 
• Held demos of the TSS user interface as functionality has stabilized to provide users early visibility into future TSS workflows and an opportunity to raise questions well before formal system training begins. Demos are informed by SMEs and business process owners to reflect operational realities. Recordings of past sessions are available on the TSS website, and future demonstration topics may be suggested through a Google Form.
• Providing just-in-time training to users as cutover progresses and functionality becomes available to them.
• Designing training that balances how to perform actions in TSS with orientation to the system interface to support operational continuity. 

Expressing Our Gratitude

To everyone who shared feedback: Thank you. Your input has strengthened our plans, improved our readiness and helped keep the project grounded in the realities of those who will use TSS every day. We recognize the pressures you’re under and appreciate your continued support under demanding timelines and constraints.

As the project progresses, we’ll continue to assess risks, respond to feedback, clarify expectations and make sure no one navigates this transition alone. We encourage anyone with questions, concerns or feedback to contact us. We can be reached at esr-student@ucsd.edu.

Category: Student & Faculty, News

For questions about the project contact esr-student@ucsd.edu. 

Learn more about the SIS Project at esr.ucsd.edu/student.