By Dawn Renta, DPA, Director of Graduate Academic Operations and Student Progress, West Chester University of Pennsylvania, and Past President, MSACROA
System transitions, such as upgrades or new implementations, can be cumbersome, time-consuming, and stressful. Michael Moore, Senior Associate Registrar at Wake Forest University, presented some practical guidelines and recommendations on how to navigate a system transition by using the “intangible tools” commonly associated with registrars’ offices in his session "Surviving SIS Upgrades and Implementations: A Registrar's Toolkit."
Registrars’ Intangible Tools
Moore noted that the registrar’s connection to the campus community and curricula, adaptability, patience, and grace are all intangible tools that can make a system transition successful. The strong connection that the registrar’s office has to the campus gives the registrar’s office a “panoramic view” of the student experience, which can help guide the project.
Additionally, registrars must often pivot quickly or take on new tasks with little notice while being patient and understanding. Given the hiccups that can happen with new systems, being adaptable is a key skill, along with giving patience and grace to all involved.
Recommendations for Successful System Transition
While the intangible tools are essential, Moore asserted that other factors are crucial to a successful system transition.
For example:
A dedicated staff team should work on the project. Positions should be backfilled so the system implementation team can focus its full attention on the new system.
Ask someone who is critical of the new system to serve on the implementation team. They can point out flaws and question changes to improve the process.
Have a scribe to document the decisions made and why they were made. Since system implementation projects can take years to complete, having a written record as a reference is helpful as the project progresses.
Opportunities for Improvement
Moore pointed out that system transitions are a good opportunity to rethink standard practices and procedures to improve the efficiency and integrity of the new system.
He recommended that registrars migrate as little data as possible from the old system to the new one, focusing on the most recent years. While it may seem logical to migrate as much data as possible, doing so could create more work than necessary.
He also urged caution when assigning security access in the new system to ensure that faculty and staff only have the access needed to do their jobs. He noted that having access to the old system does not require having that access in the new system.
Lastly, Moore suggested leveraging a system transition to centralize processes to a single office can lead to more consistent data. While a system transition is a lot of work, taking the time to make process improvements benefits all at the institution.