B.I.G. Writing the B.P.A.

I attended the first B.I.G. (Banner Implementation Group) meeting on Monday. I replaced Jim N. on this committee. B.I.G. is the committee that will implement our new MIS system. The other faculty on the committee is Belen. There are two consultants, one works for Rio Hondo and the other works for Banner/Sungard (the software company). Our consultant seems like a no nonsense type of a man. He is in the process of figuring out Rio's business practices.
He asked each group to come up with business practices that we can implement. The software is very flexible and robust. However, it has to be customized to fit our business practices. Once the system is programed, it will be hard to go back and make changes. We have to decide on our procedures before we start implementing the system. The software is flexible but having contradicting procedures can lead to failure of the MIS. We need a road map before uploading any features because it will be messy to change anything midway through the process.

So here is my homework: I have to sit down and write down how teachers submit grades, Add/drop, and get our roster now. I need to get the Curriculum people to walk me through the curriculum process, so it can be duplicated in the software. I may have to consult with the SLO people too (I hope not. They are so slooo) if the software can track these tedious forms. I will have to consult with A&R and the Academic Senate to come up with acceptable procedures.

This is going to be a big change and people do not seem to realize how big! It will end all back door channels and the software will enforce the procedures. Before we write anything down please contact me and relay your concerns. As I write these BPAs I will post them here and send them out to faculty before presenting them to the Committee. If you see anything you do not like please hit the reply button or post your comment on this blog.