University-wide COMPASS information gathering sessions slated for September

In mid-September, the Campus-wide Modernization Program to Advance Student Services — or COMPASS — will conduct a series of university-wide sessions. These “interactive design and prototyping,” or “IDP,” meetings will gather more focused input on topics specific to colleges and business units directly affected by changes to the student system.

The university-wide sessions constitute an important piece of the program’s analysis and design phase for gathering requirements and documenting business practices related to student services across UF. The September sessions will focus on COMPASS-SIS, which will replace the current student information system with Oracle’s Campus Solutions software, and will continue efforts already begun in the student journey mapping and business process analysis sessions being conducted with campus groups.

In August, colleges and several campus units will be invited to appoint representatives with particular strategic, functional or technical expertise to participate in the September sessions. These representatives will come together with COMPASS team members to share their areas’ unique business requirements with respect to the following topics:

• Academic Structure — the organization of colleges, departments, majors, degrees offered, academic terms and academic calendars
• Course Catalog and Schedule of Classes — course/class characteristics and requirements
• Self-funded Programs, Courses and Classes — policies and procedures relating to non-fundable, self-supporting college credit courses or programs
• Student Attributes and Registration — including student groups, milestones, test scores, enrollment rules and eligibility for clinicals/rotations
• Academic Advising — rules structure, student academic reports and student-specific requirements
• Data Needs — transactional and warehouse reporting on student information

COMPASS needs the active engagement of campus partners in this information-gathering effort. Thorough identification of business requirements will provide the foundation for the configuration and development of new systems that truly meet the needs of students, faculty and staff. Additionally, the process offers opportunities to explore and promote common business practices among colleges and core offices, reducing secondary systems.

After college and unit representatives have been selected, their names will be listed on the COMPASS website later this month. If you have input you would like to share, you may contact your college or unit representatives or submit your comments directly to the COMPASS team at uf-compass@ufl.edu.