From the Chancellor...

As you know, the Student Information System (SIS) that is currently used throughout the Nebraska State College System will not be supported by the provider after the year 2011. Consequently, we have the opportunity to find a new SIS that will better serve our students, faculty and staff.

This website was designed to keep you informed about the process of finding a new SIS. It will also have information about implementation once a new system is selected.

First though, let me provide a little background about the NSCS SIS project. To begin the process of selecting a new SIS, Ed Hoffman, NSCS Vice Chancellor for Facilities, Planning and Information Technology, led a system-wide committee made up of representatives from each of the colleges. This group did a needs analysis that then provided the basis for the committee to create a Request for Proposals (RFP). The RFP was sent out last summer and we received five responses. In October, the committee spent six days in North Platte listening to presentations by the top three vendors capable of providing user friendly programs.

In December, Governor Dave Heineman asked us to consider joining the University of Nebraska to find a SIS that would benefit both of our systems. After many discussions, which included determining the short and long-term cost savings, we decided to jointly pursue a common SIS solution with the university. As part of our joint arrangement, the NSCS will now utilize the university’s Systems Application Products (SAP) administrative and financial system for our administrative computing needs. SAP connects to NIS through a specially designed interface.

By working in partnership with the university we project savings of approximately $2.7 million or 11 percent of the original planned costs. In the longer term, there are likely to be more substantial savings and efficiencies related to the implementation and maintenance of a single system rather than two separate and distinct systems.

In February, NU President J.B. Milliken and I went before the Appropriations Committee of the Legislature together to seek funding for the new SIS.  Our decision to work collaboratively on this project was well received by the committee. The Governor recommended that our project receive $10 million this year toward the purchase of the new SIS. This was seen as a “down payment” for the entire cost with the expectation that the Legislature would fund the balance of the cost of the project in the next biennium. All of us in the NSCS are pleased that the Governor and the Appropriations Committee recognized that an up-to-date SIS is critically important to our enterprise.

To all the NSCS folks who have worked so diligently to make this process work, I say thank you. While we have come quite far in the process, the real “heavy lifting” will begin as we implement the new SIS and as we migrate from NIS to SAP. I am sure that we will come out on the other side of this process in a position to better serve our students and Nebraska.

Finally, I want to thank President Milliken and all the folks at the university who have made this unique and collaborative effort a very positive and rewarding experience. The NSCS was brought into the process as a full partner and our views and opinions are well received. Thus, I am confident that we will succeed together in ways that will be beneficial to the NSCS, the university and the state.

Stan Carpenter
Chancellor