FDU Data Systems

From September, 1991, through January, 2002, I served the University as an Assistant Vice President with portfolios in Academic Affairs, Academic Administration, Information Systems, and finally in Human Resource Information Systems. During that period I worked extensively with the collection, storage, and retrieval of academic information including faculty data, payroll data, academic productivity information, personnel data, and student registration data. I also created extensive systems of reports on these various data sets, singly and collectivly. As a result of this experience I have served on or chaired several committees where my expertise was useful. Below is a small collection of the reports and recommendations that I have written during the last five years. Because they deal with sensitive University information and occationally contain blunt criticism, I have protected the actual reports with a username/password system. If, after reading the the brief summary, you wish to read the actual reports, email me with a request for access and details on why you seek it.

University Information Systems and Reports

In October, 2003, eighteen months after I left my position as Assistant Vice President for Human Resource Information Systems, I was asked to consult on the final phase of the conversion of the HR information system from PeopleSoft to Datatel. At that time I wrote a memorandum to the two campus provosts outlining my opinions on the state of the University's information and data reporting systems. This is the original memo with annotations added. Parts of the document would be revised were I to redo it today but the main thrust and most of the points made remain valid.

 

Data Collection and Reporting Needs

In February, 2007, I assumed the chair of the Learning Outcomes Assessment Committee's (LOAC) Data subcommittee. This memo is my initial assessment for the sub-committee of the state of the University's data systems. It includes a discussion of the various database systems at the University including the UniData system which is the data base management system on which the Datatel Colleague application runs.

 

Data Subcommittee Report

This is the final May, 2007, report of the LOAC's Data subcommittee that I chaired. I wrote the report. The committee approved it. It contains the subcommittees recommendations for solving the outstanding issues of data collection, storage, and reporting as they relate to outcomes assessment. Some of the recommendations have been acted on. Others remain unimplemented..

 

Workload and Payroll Proposal

In parallel with my chairing the Data subcommittee of the LOAC I assumed an informal consulting role for the Office of the VPAA, then headed by Willard Gingerich. My charge was to develop a proposal to solve some of the non-Learning-Outcomes problems that were identified during the recent Middle States Association re-accreditation visit. This proposal for revamping the data input and reporting methods used in the University payroll and workload systems resulted from this consulting role. The proposal is actually based on one that I made as I left my position in HR in February of 2002. The proposal was approved by the University Provost and some progress was make on its implementation. However, the project has been sidelined by MIS and the Provost in favor of other items deemed more important.