Click here to read the weekly updates about the CUNYfirst Project.
The CUNY FIRST Core Team extends its thanks to the more than two-thousand people from around the University who have provided additional guidance to the project by taking the time to participate in the CUNY FIRST (ERP) Project Community Needs Assessment Survey that was conducted in late May and early June.
The survey, administered by the renowned Baruch College Survey Research Unit under the guidance of Dr. Allan Kraut, was designed to help assess reactions to the project, to see if communication is getting around and if people are ready for the changes that will come with learning and using CUNY FIRST processes.
The results have painted a very strong picture of who we, CUNY, are and where the Project Office should focus attention. Some highlights:
- Customer Service: CUNY is customer-focused; with an overwhelming response (94%) saying you try to satisfy your customers – students, faculty, staff, vendors and the public. A major goal for CUNY FIRST is to streamline processes to improve service for all our customers and to improve student success. This is very good news. And you overwhelmingly told us that you work in teams.
- Job Skills/Training: 92% of you told us you are confident you can learn new tasks in CUNY, provided they do so in an environment that works for you. 77% told us they want in class training with an instructor. 70% want on-the-job training with a coach close by. Therefore, we will develop our training plans to create a strategy that does just that with lots of support so that the learning and support never stops.
- Leadership: You told us that you believe your campus leadership and your immediate supervisors are committed to the Project. 63% told us their Senior Campus Leadership is committed to project success. 68% believe their supervisor will commit time and energy to make the Project succeed. We are continuing to work with campus leaders who assure us they will provide the right resources for CUNY FIRST, and we have begun to meet with supervisors who will make sure time is available for and are committed to successful user training.
- Communications. When the survey was taken we had just begun, but there is a hunger across CUNY to learn more; what are the processes, how does it affect me, when is it coming to my campus. You want information via email and you want to make sure it is available, via campus communications liaisons, campus leadership and supervisors, the CUNY FIRST website (http://first.cuny.edu) and from the project office. This means that we have our direction from you to develop a strategy that will make sure we keep providing quality information (via project updates, on-line newsletters, etc.) and that the information must be clear and timely.
- Change: From your response, only 4% of you reported you don’t think the CUNY FIRST Project will have a positive impact on teams, our customers and our campuses. That also tells us that communication must continue to introduce the processes and focus on change. We are encouraging the hundreds of people – our Subject Matter Experts – who are and have attended sessions about the Project to go back to their campuses and tell their colleagues what they’re doing and what they’ve seen. We also encourage you to ask and to prompt us (erpcomments@mail.cuny.edu) by telling us what more you need to know.
Again, we thank all those who participated in this assessment for giving us good guidance by responding and encouraging us to continue to communicate how CUNY FIRST will contribute to the transformation of the University. We also thank those who have taken the time to help us build these very important systems that we all expect to serve CUNY well for a long time.
We appreciate this important feedback. We will follow this up with another Community Assessment this spring to see how we are meeting your needs and thus ensuring the success of this project.
It has taken nearly 1,200 Bright Ideas; now the CUNY ERP Project has an identity and a name - FIRST.
FIRST - Fully Integrated Resources and Services Tool is the winning entry from CUNY Law Assistant Professor Caitlin Borgmann (pictured below with CUNY FIRST Organizational Readiness Manager Dr. Linda Shatzer (L) and Law School Dean Michelle Anderson (R)).
With some help from her daughter and son, who like to play word games, her entry prevailed over 1,200 others from CUNY staff, faculty and students.
“CUNY FIRST says so much about this project,” said CUNY Chief Information Officer Brian Cohen. “This is the first project of this size and scope in Higher Education. This is the first ERP project that will unite and transform a University with so many colleges and institutions. I imagine CUNY being FIRST throughout the project. After all, we are leaders in so many ways.”
The CUNY “Bright Ideas” naming contest began in February. Through the ERP Communications Liaisons, every member of our campus communities learned about the contest through fliers, posters, emails. This was the first attempt to begin reaching our various audiences for Project - related information. There were ideas from every sector - students, faculty and staff - from every campus. Queens College participants submitted the most ideas, followed by the College of Staten Island and Lehman College.
For her winning entry, Professor Borgmann received an AppleBook laptop.
The ERP Core Team is announcing that Queens College and Queensborough Community College have been selected as Vanguard Colleges for the ERP Project. As our Vanguard Colleges, they will pilot some of the base Student Administration or Campus Solutions processes (Student Record and Student Finance).
Among the criteria for selection:
- Has sufficient size (students, faculty, staff, programs, etc.) and scope (business process, functional, technical) to provide a representative validation of the ERP software.
- Either currently has sufficient staffing capabilities and capacity or can quickly attain them.
- College’s leadership is committed to the ERP initiative’s goals.
- College has an inherent cultural tolerance for change and an ability to absorb new systems.
- Organization has not recently undergone structural change, or is anticipating significant organizational changes.
- Possess characteristics for which the new applications would clearly demonstrate tangible improvement (in terms of cost control, efficiencies, etc).
→ Back to Top |
