Initiation FAQ

The short answer is no.

Because our current SIS functionality is the result of many years of creating processes to support poor or missing system functionality, we are untangling system functionality from processes.

We will make decisions on current processes based on conversations with campus partners to either discontinue functionality or approach it differently in the new system.

As we progress, we'll keep you updated. Subscribe to the SIS newsletter for monthly updates to be delivered to your inbox. 

SIS guiding principles are employed in every decision, process and task.

• Design processes and reporting to optimize a student-centered experience.
• Maximize configuration options, minimize customization.
• Lead with UC San Diego’s internal resources with external guidance and support from an implementation partner.
• Adopt and streamline as much out-of-the-box functionality as possible in the new student system, and minimize cloning of current processes.
• Meet user needs in the context of what’s best for the institution as a whole.
• Full and successful integration with other campus enterprise systems.

We partner with the Strategic Organizational Change Management (SOCM) office to:

• Structure the project
• Understand the change impact
• Establish accountability, governance and change networks
• Strategically manage change for our users

We use two methodologies:

Business Process Analysis (BPA) and Experience Analysis and Design (EAD).

• BPA is a methodology for the analysis of a business, with a view to understanding the processes and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of its operations. It describes the processes involved, parties participating, information exchanged, and documents produced. 
• EAD combines qualitative and quantitative methods to assess our systems and services from the perspective of our students.

The Student Information System Team includes experts from campus, technology, procurement and training.

We have the funding (backfill) to fill in job duties for staff that are tasked on the ESR project. 

These methodologies provide solid information on the SIS replacement from business user and student user perspectives.

• Incorporates more voices and counterbalances singular interest. 
• Supported by research and past results.
• Discern and catalog the needs of the institution to map against current business processes.
• Reveal some existing functionality was no longer needed because of improvements in existing business processes or because new functionality better served the student experience.

We are inventorying and analyzing how current work is conducted.

As we implement the new system we will rely on this current state baseline to help us understand and communicate changes.

Should we identify a sub-system that needs to be integrated into the SIS, we will direct it to the ESR process to justify this need.

However, we do expect in most cases that the new SIS functionality will meet current and future needs.

Many SIS products deliver functionality that is out-of-scope for the SIS project. Examples include human resources, finance and degree audit.

More information on project scope may be found on the ESR-SIS project site.

It is too early to know which applications will be retained and which will be phased out.

We are working diligently to analyze current functionality and inventory existing systems and uses.

We will be evaluating:

• How well each application meets user needs
• How difficult it will be to retain the application alongside the new SIS
• How the functionality of the new SIS compares to that of the application
• How the functionality of the application overlaps with and compares to that of other applications

This landscape will evolve so please watch for more communication about this in the future!

• BPA (Business Process Analysis)
• EAD (Experience Analysis and Design)
• ISIS (Integrated Student Information System - UC San Diego's current SIS)
• RFP (Request for Proposal)
• SaaS (Software as a Service, as in the “cloud”)
• SIS (Student Information System)
• SME (Subject Matter Expert, pronounced "Smee")
• SOCM (Strategic Organizational Change Management, pronounced "Sock'em!")

There are many more in relation to the project management structure and the technical aspects of the SIS itself.

Many acronym definitions can also be found on the Acronyms and Abbreviations page.