March 15 will mark 100 days until Saint Mary’s enters the “Go Dark” time of switching from our current Student Information System (SIS) to Jenzabar J1. During this time, transactions in the software will be limited to minimize dual entry of data into both systems. More information about this will be shared as the time gets closer.
In celebration of this major milestone and to bring awareness, the IT staff will be handing out dark chocolate. Watch Saint Mary’s Today for more information!
As part of a project in Dean Beckman’s Campaign course, one of his students, Anna Kelly, is assisting with a campaign to “name” our student and faculty portal. Students and employees will have a chance to enter their suggestions and the top three will be chosen by Marketing and Communication. The Saint Mary’s community will then vote on the final name.
What is Jenzebar?
In February of 2022, the university selected Jenzabar J1 as our new Student Information System after going through an extensive review with multiple vendors. Exclusively serving higher education, Jenzabar will help us manage our current and potential students throughout their time at Saint Mary’s. It will be replacing our current student and faculty portals and our CAMS administrative system. Please click here for a short summary video.
Why did we switch?
Concerned with the long-term financial stability of our current software company and our evolving needs as a growing university, it was time for us to explore other software options. Strategic Initiative 6B – Optimizing Academic Operations was based on consolidating to a single university calendar and creating pathways for students from the College to the Schools of Graduate and Professional Programs, and a new system would help support our university efforts to support our students through their educational lifetime.
What’s the timeline and process for implementation?
Starting June 23, 2023, we will implement some temporary workarounds as we will enter our “go dark” period for approximately three weeks. During this time, we will limit processes to minimize the amount of data entered into our current system and focus on bringing Jenzabar up. Jenzabar will be live on July 17, 2023.
The next four months will be full of continued system configuration and training for our administrative offices.
What improvements are expected?
- More modern, easy-to-use portals for students and employees
- Improved degree audits
- Easier course registration
- More automated workflows
- A more stable and secure system
Who is involved with the project?
Our module managers have spent countless hours over the past 12 months learning how Jenzabar functions and mapping our current data into the Jenzabar system. In the next few months, we are excited to share more as we learn how the system will look and feel for students and employees. If you see any of our module managers, please thank them for their continued hard work.
Alison Block – Director of Academic Records and Systems
Amanda Schock – Director of Enterprise Applications
Chris Verch – Registrar
Colin Malay – Director of User Services
Kara Wener – Director of Institutional Research
Kelly Boice – Controller
Michelle Dougherty – Associate Director of University Enrollment Operations
Niki Peterson – Dean of Students
Paul Terrio – Director of Financial Aid
Tianna Johnson – AVP of IT
Tricia Dobrient – Senior Director of Student Success
How can I get involved?
Continue to watch Saint Mary’s Today for more information about go-live information and training.