1. LEADS – Developing an Agile System for Students Nick Green, Greg Smith WatITIs Conference December 4, 2012

2. Themes - Introductions - History of LEADS - LEADS System Overview - Our Values - LEADS Key Concepts/Components

3. Introductions Nick Green - Waterloo Grad – Computer Science - Developer in the IST IS group (Student Technology) - Started working full-time at the University in 2011

4. Introductions Greg Smith - Western Grad – Business (HBA and MBA) - Business Analyst in IST IS Group (Student Technology) - Started working at Waterloo in 2009 - Interested in leadership and student success, and how technology enables them - Winter is his favourite time of the year – Life-long skier

5. History of LEADS Began as a joint project between Housing and Student Life Office Named “ERA” (Event and Resource Administration) Partial replacement of legacy Housing Hiring System There was a need to do non co-op, non HR-related hiring and training administration centrally on campus LEADS improved and expanded upon ERA base Current main clients are SSO and Housing

6. LEADS System Overview Four modules: 1. Hiring 2. Event Registration 3. Orientation 4. Scheduling

7. Our Values We value: Client Interaction (Student and Staff) Built for students with the help of students (involving co-ops) Flexibility (within LEADS and in our working style) Continuous improvement Prioritization process with clients

8. Our Values Agile values individuals and interaction over processes and tools Agile values viable products over comprehensive documentation Agile values customer collaboration over contract negotiation Agile values responding to change over following a plan

9. Our Values Our “Agile” We have adapted the Agile method of software development to meet our needs and working environment Extremely high degree of client involvement in development at all stages Working with areas where requirements change frequently – We embrace this Relationship building = Our priority

10. Our Values Client Interaction within our “Agile” Development Facilitates building based on a thorough, evolving understanding of client requirements Better communication = happier clients & better over-all product Finding the balance between satisfying one clients needs, and making sure the solution works for everyone Constant refinement to create a better, more user friendly product

11. Key LEADS Concepts General Concepts End to end solution Flexibility to adapt to various environments around campus – Front-end customizable Ease of use Permission based access levels

12. Key LEADS Concepts Self Service Ability to use the system (after minimal training) without need of developer help/interaction Ability for user to bring other users into the system safely and easily Easy to use permissions

13. Key LEADS Concepts Permissions Diagram on next slide

15. Key LEADS Concepts “Modular” Reusable “types” Easy to grow, and add Extremely flexible

16. LEADS System Overview Four modules: 1. Hiring 2. Event Registration 3. Orientation 4. Scheduling

17. Example: Orientation Use LEADS as a cultural change tool as well as improving processes Previous process was all paper-based, few statistics reported, no data integrity Process to LEADS allowed for all-digital process: Pre-registration (Accept or decline) Check-in during Move-in weekend (with wristband) Attendance tracking at Orientation events Data collected can be used for student success projects moving forward Building database of hugely valuable data over the next number of years

18. LEADS “Cool” Components - Programs - Auto Reminders - Flexible Form Builder

19. Next Steps Phase 4 – Scheduling – Development and rollout Continue roll-out of Phase 1 (Hiring) and 2 (Event and Training Administration) to other areas of campus Determine reporting priorities for clients and integrate reporting capabilities Determine campus-wide support procedures and practices

20. LEADS – Developing an Agile System for Students Nick Green, Greg Smith WatITIs Conference December 4, 2012