Implementation Frequently Asked Questions

 

 

What is Jenzabar?

 

Jenzabar is a software vendor based in Boston that specializes in integrated systems for higher education. Most of their clients are institutions with less than 2,500 students although they do have a number of sites that are larger as customers.

 

 

What was purchased?

 

TLU purchased the Jenzabar “EX” solution with the following modules:

 

1)     Student Modules

·         Admissions

·         Advising

·         Financial Aid

·         Registration

·         Student Life

 

2)     Business Modules

·         Accounts Payable

·         Accounts Receivables

·         Fixed Assets

·         General Ledger

·         Payroll

·         Personnel (HR)

·         Purchasing

3)     Common Module

4)     Portal (web access)

5)     Development Module – purchased 6/30/09

 

 

Why do we have to replace our administrative software?

 

In August 2006, SunGard Higher Education (the parent company) announced the end of support of the student software system that TLU uses in 2011. TLU had no choice but to seek replacement software.

 

Why did SunGard Higher Education announce end of support?

 

Business reasons mainly. SunGard acquired the BiTech Company (which had already acquired SRN – original vendor for TLU’s student software system) among several other acquisitions and decided to consolidate to 2 offerings: a) Banner, and b) PowerCampus

 

Do all TLU software systems need to be converted by 2011?

 

No, only the student software portion (Admissions, Advising, Registration, Financial Aid, and residence life) Admissions is included here because even though TLU used a separate Admissions system, it is still considered the entry point for new students into the system. During the search process, the TLU task force recommended to the cabinet that the Business Office convert as well in order to establish a better platform for efficiency. This was approved.

Late flash: The Development office agreed to convert from Raiser’s Edge to Jenzabar in the spirit of better integration.

 

What other systems were looked at:

 

The task force sent out requests for information to several vendors and received proposals from Blackbaud, PeopleSoft,  Datatel, and PowerCampus (from SunGard).  After reviewing the proposals, only PowerCampus and Jenzabar were invited on campus for serious evaluations.

 

Why will it take until October 2009 to change over to the new software?

 

By design, integrated software systems like Jenzabar require substantial configuration by the institution before they can be used. In other words they don’t work at all “out of the box”. The reason for this is that every institution does things a bit differently and the software must be tailored to meet those needs.

 

*** The Development module will be implemented after the go-live date of the student and business office modules.

 

What kind of impact should I expect?

 

As with any new software implementation there will be some “growing pains” as we migrate to the new system. A concerted effort will be made to not give up functionality that is already in place on campus. To that end, the largest impact will be that TLU will have a Web “portal” for faculty, staff, and students to access information that is in the new software system. The portal will take the place of the current IrisLink web application and add many more self-service options. It is hoped that the portal will take the place of the current TLU intranet as well.  Training for end-users will begin in the  fall of 2009.

 

Special note to faculty: The Jenzabar portal comes with an integrated learning management system (LMS) that could be a replacement for our current Blackboard system. The current plan is to set it up as if we were going to replace Blackboard but we will make the final decision at a later date once we have had chance to get faculty feedback on the new product.

 

Other changes to be mindful of?

 

At this writing, Information Technology is planning on upgrading the campus to Microsoft Office 2007 next summer (2009). Special training workshops will be available for that starting in the late spring of 2009.

 

If I have a concern or question or suggestion how can I voice that?

 

A form on the Intranet has been setup to keep track of comments from the TLU community. It can be found at: http://tlu.tlu.edu/it_jenzabar You are also free to send an e-mail to the TLU project manager, Bill Senter at wsenter@tlu.edu or the usual ishelp@tlu.edu  address.