COMPASS explored new functionality and requirements with campus representatives in September
If you passed by the Reitz Union or Emerson Hall last month, you may have seen people talking excitedly about degree audits, service indicators and career-program-plan stacks. Through a series of six COMPASS information gathering sessions held over four days, representatives from UF colleges and units assembled to share their areas’ unique business requirements on topics relating to the development of the new student systems.
An extension of previous student journey mapping and business process analysis sessions, these September meetings constituted an important piece of the COMPASS (Campus-wide Modernization Program to Advance Student Services) analysis and design phase.
On the morning of Sept. 13, UF Vice President and CIO Elias Eldayrie greeted the assembly on behalf of himself and Zina Evans, COMPASS executive co-sponsor and vice president for Enrollment Management. Eldayrie set the stage by sharing the COMPASS goals and guiding principles with a packed house in the Reitz Union’s Chamber. After this overview, COMPASS team members engaged with staff and faculty from across UF through a series of interactive presentations, focused dialogue and breakout exercises on academic advising, academic structure, data needs, reporting and other topics.
By the conclusion of the sixth session on Sept. 21, 182 people from 17 colleges and 26 units had been briefed on program accomplishments to date, asked probing questions, shared their current operational challenges and pain points with the team and each other, and contributed their expertise and perspectives to new design and configuration options. They also got a sneak peek at some cool features of the new Cognos Analytics reporting tool. For their part, the COMPASS team gained greater clarity on campus operations and requirements, confirmed many earlier findings, and identified issues requiring additional research, analysis and follow-up.
The COMPASS team appreciates the generous contributions of time, energy, expertise and insights by the September session participants and the many other campus stakeholders involved in design and analysis meetings over the past several months. COMPASS needs the active participation of campus partners to modernize and standardize the processes and information systems used to manage and deliver services to students. These changes are significant and necessary to support UF’s stature as a preeminent university.
Materials from the campus information-gathering sessions, including presentations and participant lists, are available on the COMPASS website. Questions posed by session participants and answers are currently being compiled and will be posted shortly. Do you have questions or input? Feel free to contact us at uf-compass@ufl.edu. Find more COMPASS news and future opportunities to engage in this important UF initiative by visiting the COMPASS website.