ProACT : High Tech, High Touch Prospect and Communication Tracking System CUMREC 2004 “Spicing Up Technology” Austin, Texas May 17, 2004 Van Follette Washington State University Information Technology Services Copyright Donovan Follette This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.
Presentation Outline About Washington State University Business Problems and Opportunity Project Objectives Design Issues and Solutions User Experience Observations Future Possibilities Questions?
Land-grant university Research I status 22,000 students Four campuses Distance education program Multiple learning centers
Washington State University Pullman Tri-Cities Vancouver Spokane ~DDP~
Business Problems Central campus PC-based enrollment management system was not scalable for use university-wide Recruiting units had own disparate communication and tracking mechanisms Recruiting units needed automated communication planning and tracking Data and business processes were not integrated
High Touch, but No Tech Ima Student
High Touch, but No Tech Ima Student
Business Opportunity A strategic University initiative to increase quantity, quality, and diversity of students
Project Objectives University-wide recruitment solution Integration with administrative systems Common data repository with “flexibility” Single comprehensive view of a prospect accessible to all recruiting agents Framework for a robust communication delivery mechanism Centralized data and technical support
Design Issues and Solutions Buy or build? Best technologies and design patterns? Principle-driven design and development i.e. extensibility, scalability, and reuse N-tier client/server, enterprise-level, desktop application Programming language Robust authentication/authorization ‘Near’ zero tolerance for data duplication
Design Issues and Solutions User-Interface design? Intuitive screens Hide data and processing complexities Logical flow for communication design and delivery
User Experience “Communication profiles can be as detailed or as broad as needed.” “Our data is much cleaner.” “We are able to report clean data to the community colleges, and … the exchange of data between us and the community colleges is crucial.” “My favorite feature is the history. We are using this data to examine our marketing strategies and the types of materials we develop.”
“If I’d only known then …” Minus User Involvement Working Relationships within IT Services Learning curve for new technologies Implementation Timeline Understaffed Project Methodology Plus Administrative Support
High Tech Firsts for WSU First secure authentication to non-web environment First WSU-built, enterprise-wide, n-tier, client-server desktop application First application to implement cross-platform database joins with the institutional legacy database First non-MVS application to leverage WSU’s sophisticated associate match-create software via RPC
High Tech Firsts for WSU (cont’d) First application to use an external authorization service to control user access- level permissions First application to fully employ a prototype- and-build methodology First non-MVS source code management, programming quality standards, and quality assurance procedures
Future Possibilities Robust communication delivery mechanism Web-based request for information support Enhancements to include central campus Travel and Event Master Schedule Telecounseling Management Event Participation Recruiting Partner Management
Questions? For further information … Donovan Follette Lynn Hulett Susan Osiensky
The End