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Collaboration to improve Units Database (extract from January UNESIS UPdate) Working from the old Units Database, the Student Information Transition Team (SITT – see our November UPdate) worked hard to clean up the data and publish the 2004 Handbook in December. And with that big effort, they’ve said farewell to the old FileMaker Pro database. It’s served its purpose over the years, but the University is ready for a new and improved version. So now we face another challenge: porting the units data to a stable, robust platform ready for integration with the Callista student system. A potential deal with Queensland University of Technology (possibly also involving Edith Cowan University) means we may not have to face that challenge alone. IT Director Peter Edwards (see our May ’03 UPdate) is brokering the deal. He, Steve Campbell (Project Manager for the new Units & Courses Repository, UCR, a.k.a. ‘Units Database’) and Julianne Paltridge (Assistant Registrar – Systems) spoke with a number of universities last year, including QUT and Edith Cowan. They quickly found many common issues. QUT is keen to upgrade its current Filemaker Pro database. Edith Cowan has already built a sophisticated units database, but is considering porting it to a more robust platform such as Oracle, as it’s an industrial-strength database management system. Possibly taking Edith Cowan’s database as our starting point, we are hoping to collaborate with QUT to develop a better, Oracle-based solution, and then perhaps share the results with Edith Cowan. The UCR project team has already begun the process of re-creating in Oracle the functionality of UNE’s existing FileMaker Pro database. Steve Campbell explains that Oracle is the logical choice for the units database. ‘It’s industry standard, robust, and will allow us to interface the Units & Courses Repository with our existing enterprise systems, as well as with the Callista student system. It also gives us much greater control over the quality of the data, since it includes powerful field validation tools.’ The team will integrate the new database with the student system (as two sibling systems that help make up UNESIS) and other systems such as electronic reserves room and online examinations. Online booklists went live in December, allowing students to check book requirements for their units on the web. For system users, the new Oracle-based Units & Courses Repository will look much like the old FileMaker Pro database. The biggest difference will be in how users access the database – instead of connecting to the data via FileMaker Pro, users will retrieve it via online forms. Steve will be visiting with system users in January and February to familiarise them with the web-based system. The plan is to integrate the new database with the student system (as two sibling systems that help make up UNESIS) and other systems such as electronic reserves room and examinations online. The UCR project team has already created online booklists, which students have been able to check on the web since December. For system users, the new Oracle-based Units & Courses Repository will look much like the old FileMaker Pro database. The biggest difference will be in how users access the database – instead of connecting to the data via FileMaker Pro, users will retrieve it via online forms. Steve will be visiting with system users in January and February to familiarise them with the web-based system.
E-workflows for Unit & Course development (extract from January UNESIS UPdate) The most powerful database in the world is only as useful as the data it holds. The old saying applies: ‘garbage in, garbage out.’ While we’re excited about the direction the Units Database is headed, we need to ensure that the data that goes into it is accurate, up-to-date, and complete at each step that a unit or course goes through in its development process. Consultant Graeme Burton (see July 2003 Update) is analysing UNE’s unit approval process to develop an electronic workflow for checking the quality of the data through every step. Workflow (in the IT context) uses electronic systems to manage and monitor business processes. It allows the flow of work between individuals and/or departments to be defined and tracked. ‘Approving a new unit is a very complicated process, and without checks in place there is a high risk that it won’t be recorded properly in the database,’ Graeme explains. ‘A unit might begin life as one academic’s bright idea, but before it gets approved, it will need to pass approval by the Head of School, the faculty Teaching and Learning Committee, the University-wide Teaching and Learning Committee, the Academic Board, and UNE Council. Important data such as unit description, teaching mode, and graduate attributes all get recorded along the way. An electronic (or e-)workflow will help us guarantee that all the units data are recorded correctly and in the right place, and the people involved in the approvals process are proactively informed of what’s going on and where their input will be required.’ Many universities are struggling to manage their units databases with outdated technology and inefficient business processes. UNE has the opportunity to develop a product that can be marketed more widely in the tertiary sector. Adding the element of e-workflow to a robust new database will help ensure the integrity of the data, and add to the market appeal of the new product – whether potential buyers are other universities or Callista, to offer as part of its student system package.
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