Projects  |  Campus News  |  Faculty & Staff News  |  Student News   In This Issue … September 21, 2007 SIS news … Fiddler discounts... Free PVCC Phoenix Art Museum admission … CFS Workflow Training… Phoenix Astronomical Society at PVCC… Soccer player of the week… PVCC volunteers at Jerry Lewis telethon... Women's soccer remains unbeaten   Projects Update   SIS As you have heard, the launch of the MCCCD New Student Information System (SIS) has been moved to early next year. This is a good time for me to express my appreciation for the training, testing, and hard work that so many of you contributed toward the success of this landmark project. The following should be helpful in answering any remaining questions you might have. Q&A on New SIS What was the CEC’s decision and why was it made? The CEC decided to move the go-live date for the new Student Information System to some time after the completion of normal registration for the spring semester. This decision was made in order to avoid any potential disruptions of student and faculty utilization. We will not deliver the system until we can assure users that there will not be interruptions in service.  Why was the date moved? As we continued to test the new Student Information System, we found a number of factors which, when taken together, could have disrupted our students’ ability to register for next semester’s courses. Because we are focused on creating successful experiences for our students, we decided to avoid the possibility of that disruption. Why move the date until after registration for next semester? When you look at a college schedule, you find there are only a few windows of time when you can implement a major change such as the Student Information System without running into such activities as registration. To minimize potential disruptions, our goal is to introduce the system at a time when traffic is not at its high point, nor is it as critical to the registration process. What caused this change? A number of factors contributed to this decision. The core issue is that we want to provide a fully tested and fully stable SIS in order to ensure the best experience possible for our students. The best way to accomplish that is to change the go-live date. The process of testing a system involves running it under load, and troubleshooting any issues that develop. We have been carrying out this process, but the number and complexity of the issues we are dealing with exceeded our expectations.   Could you foresee the factors that have contributed to this schedule change? We could and did anticipate the kinds of issues that have arisen, and we have been able to deal with them. What we did not anticipate were the number of them and their complexity. Given their number and complexity, we could not be sure we could eliminate all the obstacles before the October go-live date. Rather than face that risk, we decided to move the date. Do you have confidence that you can deliver the system early next year? We have confidence that we can bring the system on-line early next year. We know this because we know how other organizations have accomplished these tasks with similar systems. There are multiple steps to be taken. We know what they are and how to accomplish them. Dealing with the issues that arise might be thought of as detective work -- identifying and solving a series of problems. We have been proceeding successfully with that work. Based on our progress and the work of other people with other systems, we’re confident we can deliver an effective system by the time the next “window” opens. Do you anticipate additional costs? There may be additional costs, which would be paid from the proceeds of the 2004 bond issue. However, if those costs involve updated hardware, they could involve purchasing items that we were planning to purchase, anyway.  IT systems are constantly being updated and upgraded, so it would not be a surprise if an investment that we need to bring the SIS on-line is something we planned to do in 2008. SIS training The implementation of SIS (Student Information System) remains on the “front burner” at our college, so this is a reminder that PVCC faculty and staff will be asked to sign up for the required training between now and the go-live date. The schedule and registration forms are available at the following link, http://www.pvc.maricopa.edu/nss/. The SIS Faculty Training workshops and the SIS for Division Chairs & Secretaries workshops are being rescheduled and more information will be forthcoming shortly. If there are any questions, call JoAnn Caufield at 7-6574 or Chrystle Hall at 7-7784. PVCC Features & Benefits   Fiddler discounts Special previews of PVCC and Arizona Jewish Theatre Company’s joint production of Fiddler on the Roof will be held for all PVCC students, faculty and staff at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, October 4th and 5th. Tickets will be $20 with a current PVCC ID, and are available at the Center for Performing Arts Box Office. Remember also that the student rush price, available one-half hour to curtain, is $15, available at the box office, or online at www.azjewishtheatre.org.  The musical runs October 6 through October 21. Free Phoenix Art Museum admission Our PVCC staff and students are fortunate in that through June 30, 2008, regular admission to the Phoenix Art Museum is free to all who show a current MCCCD ID. This includes students, faculty, and staff, but does not include admission to special exhibits, such as the upcoming Masterpieces Replayed exhibition in January, 2008. For further information, call (602) 257-1880 or log onto www.phxart.org. Campus News   Understanding finances I encourage you to attend a useful training session, CFS Workflow Training, scheduled for next week, Wed., Sept. 26.  The training is recommended for all employees who create and approve invoices for payment.  District Accounts Payable personnel will be conducting training on how to approve blanket and service invoices for payment.  The current hard- copy invoice process will be replaced with an online process.  The target implementation date is October 2007.  The session will be held 9:30 –11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 26, in KSC208. For additional information, contact PVCC’s Fiscal Office at 77350. Phoenix Astronomical Society at PVCC For some time now, PVCC has played host to many of the Phoenix Astronomical Society’s star-studded events. Students, faculty or staff interested in astronomy are encouraged to attend their meetings and ever-popular Star Parties. Below is the PAS calendar for the rest of the year: •    Thursday, Oct. 4, 7 to 9:30 p.m. in the PVCC Library. ASU’s Melissa Morris will be the guest speaker on Indirect Detection of Water in Forming Planetary Systems. •    Thursday, Oct. 18, 6 to 10 p.m. Star Party near the telescope deck behind room G147. Weather permitting. Children welcome. •    Thursday, Nov. 1, 7 to 9:30 p.m. Ross Tucker, NASA Solar System Ambassador, will be the guest speaker. •    Thursday, Nov. 15, 6 to 10 p.m. Star Party, near the telescope deck behind room G147. Weather permitting. Children welcome. •    Thursday, Dec. 6, 7 to 9:30 p.m. in the PVCC Library. Author/engineering physicist Bobby McGehee will be the guest speaker, author of New Universe Theory. To find out more about PVCC’s PAS events, contact Dave Hellman at 7-6685, or log onto www.pasaz.org. While admission to PVCC’s PAS events is free, RSVP is requested. Student News   Soccer player of the week Congratulations to PVCC’s scholar/athlete Cesar Mexia, who was named ACCAC Men’s Soccer Player of the Week for the week ending September 16. Mexia put on a scoring display in both Puma victories last week, opening with four goals on four shots in a 5-2 win over Glendale, then netted another four goals on four more shots in a 7-2 defeat of Arizona Western. He currently leads the nation in goals. PVCC volunteers at Jerry Lewis telethon On Labor Day, members from our chapter of Phi Theta Kappa answered phones at the Channel 3 television studios in Phoenix, and took pledges for the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy. The telethon, which takes place annually, raises money for research in the hopes of finding a cure for this terrible disease. Students in PTK have contributed time for the past seven years, but this year was especially notable, as we received recognition as being one of only 18 groups that had at least 10 members present. Our thanks go out to Scott Mason, Phi Theta Kappa chapter president, who has organized this event for two years straight. Women's soccer remains unbeaten The 10th ranked PVCC Women’s Soccer team defeated Chandler-Gilbert Community College Wednesday with a 2-1 victory. “This team has what it takes to go all the way,” said Coach Bingham. “When we play to our potential and have a total team effort, we are very successful.” On Saturday, the Pumas play Pima Community College, so let’s give them our whole-hearted support. Cordially, Mary Kay President Do you have an interesting program, or outstanding accomplishment or student to highlight? If so, e-mail the News Desk at pvcc.news@pvmail.maricopa.edu A publication of the Paradise Valley Community College Office of the President 2007 © Maricopa County Community College District