UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON INFORAMTION STRATEGY COMMITTEE INFORMATION SYSTEMS IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE

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1 UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON INFORAMTION STRATEGY COMMITTEE INFORMATION SYSTEMS IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE Action sheet for the meeting held on Tuesday 16 th June 2009 Minute Action No 298 Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 10 th March Rewrite minute 289 to more accurately reflect events regarding the development of the Customer Relationship Management System 308 Budgets updates 2008/9 and proposals for 2009/10 (ISISG09-16) Formulate a draft budget plan informed by the committees discussion at June meeting Person responsible Chair/Secretary Head of Finance

2 UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON INFORMATION STRATEGY COMMITTEE INFORMATION SYSTEMS IMPLEMENTATION STEERING GROUP Minutes of the Information Systems Implementation Steering Group held on Tuesday 16 th June 2009 at 9.30am, in Room 227 Mithras House. Present: Ms Carol Burns (Chair), Mr Mike Bewlock, Mr Peter Bradley, Ms Betsy Brewer, Mr Geoff Fayers, Mr Terry Hanson In attendance: Ms Anna Duda (for agenda item 2.4), Ms Catherine Jones (for agenda item 2.5), Ms Hannah Baxter (minutes) Apologies: Ms Judy Evans, Mr Alan Grundy, Ms Julie Kentsley-Holt, Dr Stan Stanier, Mr Rod Mallinder 298 Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 10 th March 2009 (ISISG09-08) The minutes of the meeting were agreed as an accurate record subject to the amendment of minute 289 Customer Relationship Management System. It was agreed that this minute did not accurately reflect discussion at the meeting and would be rewritten. 299 Process for approving information systems proposals (ISISG09-10) Members received the paper and were informed that it was based on the recently approved Framework for Information Systems Development (ISC09-03). This paper had also been to the May meeting of ISC where it had been well received but had now come to this committee because ISISG would have management of the proposed process. The committee agreed that establishing a timetable for new system development would be beneficial. Members asked for clarification as to how the new procedure would be introduced and some concern was expressed that current project work would need to be delayed. In response the Director of Information Services reported that he anticipated the new procedure would be introduced gradually and that initially both the old and new process would operate. The committee approved the procedure and noted that members would need to consider how it would impact on the management of this year s budgets. 300 Proposal for an interim content management system (ISIG09-11) The Director of Information Services introduced the report and noted that it recommended the introduction of an interim content management system in Joomla to cover the period up until the establishment of a university portal system. The proposal was being made because Information Services were concerned about the current lack of consistency in website design across the university. The committee asked how much resource would be available to departments and schools to support the move to Joomla and were informed that Information Services would be able to

3 assist with this work. It was noted that if the proposal was approved it would apply only to the development of new websites. Following further discussion the committee approved the proposal and agreed that whilst an interim content management system was not ideal it would be a beneficial measure until such time as a permanent portal was established. 301 SITS update (ISISG09-12) Members received the report and were informed that it provided the annual update of work on SITS Developments. The majority of work was currently based around the Points Based System (PBS) and had been affected by the lack of clarity in the guidance provided by the UK Boarder Agency. The implementation of PBS would make the university responsible for monitoring student attendance from autumn 2009 and work was continuing to develop a way to record attendance. There was also a requirement to provide visa letters with an increased level of detail for international students including more detailed information about the status of students and their progress on course. The committee were informed that information was likely to be requested at short notice and were asked to ensure that they and their colleagues responded promptly if a request for information was received. With regards to Equivalent or Lower Qualifications, work was continuing on the development of a mechanism to assist students in assessing their status online. It was noted that some students may be unaware of the new legislation and how it would impact on their enrolment. Finance Registry Fee related work was also continuing and the committee were informed that Registry planned to provide students with an indicative fee due at online enrolment for the first time. It was anticipated that the introduction of this facility may result in a number of queries. 302 CRM System (ISISG09-19) Members were informed that a new CRM Steering Group had been convened with Professor David Arnold as Chair. An had been sent to UCISA to gather feedback on other universities experiences of using CRM Systems and the response had been very instructive. The steering group were now attending a series of supplier presentations and the Project Manager was currently preparing an invitation to tender package. The committee thanked the CRM Steering Group for the work they had carried out to date. 303 CMIS timetabling and room booking software update (ISISG09-13) The Faculty CMIS Programme Manager introduced the report and informed members that the job descriptions for the additional posts to support training and development of the system had been completed. These had been delayed during the budget setting period but the job descriptions were now with the Personnel Department awaiting grading. It was noted that the amount of support that could be offered to system users would depend on the experience of those recruited to the new posts. A number of schools were progressing well with their use of the system including SHACS and SASS and The Faculty CMIS Programme Manager had provided training on an individual basis where necessary. It was noted that it would not be possible to provide the

4 training necessary to support schools where the system was not being used or used in a limited way until the new staff were in post. There was some concern about the presentation of data on the eportal as it was not currently easy to control the way in which data was displayed and users only had the option of switching data on or off. However it was anticipated that if SERCO were not able to resolve the problem soon the CMIS Team would begin work on a solution. The committee were informed that whilst this continued to be an issue the eportal would be supported by the department s Programme Analyst. 304 Uni Card The Director of Information Services informed the committee that this project was progressing well. A timetable for delivery was in place and the project team were confident that the card would be available for new students at the start of the academic year. 305 Student number planning database The Director of Information Services had met with the newly appointed Head of Strategic Planning to discuss this issue and a further meeting would be scheduled to identify a way forward for the project. Members attention was drawn to possible overlaps between this project and the proposed Research Database. It was noted that it was likely that both projects would require a similar approach and need business reporting tools in Business Objects. It was therefore also likely that both projects would necessitate the recruitment of a Business Objects specialist. However it was agreed that further discussion would be necessary with the new Head of Strategic Planning before any decisions were made regarding this issue. 306 Network Development Plan (ISISG09-14) The Director of Information Services introduced the Network Development Plan and informed members that this year s report had been presented in a new format with the aim of making the information easier to interpret. It was noted that the full plan, which is contained within a spreadsheet, was available to members on request. Members were also asked to note that where numbers appeared in bold in the report they referred to the project s reference number on the full spreadsheet. The Network Development Manager referred the committee to section 3 of the report which detailed the proposed developments for academic year 09/10. These included; Commission of a business continuity suite on Moulsecoomb Campus- Members noted that the creation of this facility was a priority for Information Services. Department Documents- a number of departments required increased quotas within this area and the opportunity for collaborative storage which would enable departments to share documents.

5 Remote access- There was growing demand for remote access to central services such as personal storage. Members of Registry staff had also requested access to CAMS from home. Access to Skype/ Second Life- The University currently follows the guidelines set by JANET (UK) for the use of Skype however there was an increasing need to relax restrictions on the use of Skype and Second Life. The committee discussed section four of the report, which concerned expenditure plans, and noted the current concern over the unfavourable exchange rate for the dollar. With regards to expenditure which fell outside of the scope of the Network Development Plan it was noted that the creation of the business continuity suite in the Mithras Annex was a priority. The committee thanked Information Services for the report and members were asked to note that the plan was liable to change subject to the need for corporate initiative work and service change requests. 307 Google search appliance (ISISG09-15) The Director of Information Services introduced the paper which explained the function of the Google Search Appliance (GSA) and requested the committee s approval for the funding of a second unit. Members were asked to note that the request made to ISISG for 25,000 to fund the purchase did not include VAT. Members were informed that support for the current GSA would expire in June After this date, if the appliance were to fail, websites would need to be reconfigured rapidly, resulting in disruption to the university s web presence. It was proposed that purchasing a second unit would resolve this issue and allow the original unit to be used as a standby. After further discussion members approved the proposal. 308 Budgets updates 2008/9 and proposals for 2009/10 (ISISG09-16) The Head of Finance introduced the paper and informed members that it was intended to summarise the budgetary position for funding provided by ISISG against approved projects. It was noted that the paper focussed on the budget for 2008/09 and that there were currently underspends in a number of areas including the Student Data Planning Database and the Research Database. Money could also potentially be repatriated to the ISISG budget from SITS Developments and CMIS central timetabling. Members discussed budget commitments and were asked to identify any other projects not covered in paper (ISISG09-16) which were likely to require funding in 2009/10. The Director of Information Services noted that additional funding would be required as a result of the Business Continuity Centre being relocated from the ground to the second floor of Mithras Annex. The committee were also asked to consider the possibility that funding may be needed for the Portal Project in 2009/10. In addition it was anticipated that funding may be required for the Development and Alumni Database. Members also considered whether funding would be available for the recruitment of a full time Business Objects specialist.

6 After further debate it was agreed that the Head of Finance would formulate a draft budget plan informed by the committees discussion. It was agreed that if necessary an additional meeting of the ISISG would be scheduled to discuss budget allocations further. 309 Development and Alumni Database (ISISG09-17) Members received and noted the paper. 310 Digitalisation of Alumni/Registry Records (ISISG09-18) Members received and noted the paper. 311 Dates of meetings for the academic year 2009/10 Tuesday 17 th November 2009, at 2.00pm, in Room 227, Mithras House Tuesday 9 th March 2010, at 9.30am, in Room 227, Mithras House Tuesday 15 th June 2010, at 9.30am, in Room 227, Mithras House Approved June 09 CB/HB