Software Business Case - CWU



Software Business CaseWildcat Career Network (WCN) powered by: Symplicity NACElink CSM Table of Contents TOC \h \z \u \t "Heading 2,1" Executive Summary PAGEREF _Toc347312853 \h 21.Problem Definition PAGEREF _Toc347312854 \h 32.Addressing Problem with CWU existing tools and products (i.e. PeopleSoft) PAGEREF _Toc347312855 \h anizational Impact PAGEREF _Toc347312856 \h 34.Benefits PAGEREF _Toc347312857 \h 65.Strategic Alignment PAGEREF _Toc347312858 \h 76.Cost PAGEREF _Toc347312859 \h 87.Alternatives (add lines as necessary) PAGEREF _Toc347312860 \h 88.Timing / Schedule (add lines as necessary) PAGEREF _Toc347312861 \h 99.Technology Migration/Resource Identification PAGEREF _Toc347312862 \h 1010.Product Life/Application Sunsetting or Decommissioning PAGEREF _Toc347312863 \h 1111.References PAGEREF _Toc347312864 \h 1112.Recommendation PAGEREF _Toc347312865 \h 1113.Approvals PAGEREF _Toc347312866 \h 12Executive SummaryCareer Services provides many services to CWU for students and faculty. Specialty software is used for a variety of functions, such as job postings for post-graduation or internships, and hosting career fairs. The current product used in Career Services, Erecruiting/Experience, is at end of life and will be shut down in three months. The Career Services Manager provided by Symplicity will allow Career Services to easily migrate existing data and business processes to the new system. Sponsoring Department(s): CWU Career ServicesDate of Business Case Preparation: February 23, 2015Contact Person Name/Phone: Vicki Sannuto/ext. 2420 FORMCHECKBOX New Product/Service *See Attached Symplicity Software License Agreement FORMCHECKBOX Renewal of Existing Product/Service – if checked, include background information.If there is a site license agreement, existing contract or new contract draft, please provide a copy.Problem Definition: In June 2014 Symplicity acquired Erecruiting/Experience business software (our job/internship search database called the Wildcat Career Network, WCN) and announced honoring existing agreements through June 2015. ?Erecruiting/Experience is currently used to enter job and internship postings, placement file information for educators, and runs our career fair registration and payment system. It also hosts student accounts which include resumes, cover letters, and additional documents used in job searching. It also contains career information for students. We are now three months from the time that eRecruiting /Experience services will be shut down permanently.?We need a product that will allow us to easily migrate our existing data and house future data pertaining to resume books, placement files, learning agreements, employer information, career fair registrations, etc. Addressing Problem with CWU existing tools and products (i.e. PeopleSoft).We purchased the eRecruiting /Experience software program in 2005 because Peoplesoft could not meet our software and data needs such as allowing our staff and employers to post jobs and internships that were accessible through our web site, host our education placement file data, and run career fairs. Since 2005 we have expanded our career fair module, portfolio functions and the use of the system to house data pertaining to placement files, learning agreements, student/employer affiliation information etc. and there are no existing university programs that can support these functions fully. We conducted extensive research and demonstrations on both Career Services Management and another product called CSO Professional. Through this extensive research we found that CSM will provide more functionality, customization capability and an easier migration process and is more cost effective in the long run. Symplicity has also agreed to waive the $2600 implementation fee to migrate over to CSM. Organizational ImpactStudents/AlumniCareer Services current database system for posting jobs, internships, setting up career fairs, and tracking education placement files is used by students, alumni, employers, and faculty. Students and alumni benefit from a centralized database that contains information on jobs and internships that are not student employment. Human Resources has their own system for on and off campus jobs. Students are interested in engaging with alumni as mentors and the new software is set up to make this easy for them. Education students depend on being able to access their reference or “placement file” information and this information is stored in our database and in paper files which we keep for 30 years. The electronic storage of data is essential in keeping up with this system as we have hundreds of teacher graduates each year. Students and alumni have asked that the new product be easier to use, for example, have a single sign on with their CWU account and a shorter questionnaire when opening their account. CSM Mobile which is included in the Full Edition allows students to access job postings, view and RSVP to events, sign up for interviews, view employer profiles and more across all smartphone platformsStudents in the proposed CSM system can access Career Explorer with O*NET, a federally managed industry database, which will enable them to make better decisions about majors and careers. It is embedded in the CSM package. The CSM system integrates with Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn allowing users to stay up to date on current career information and research and assist with the job/internship search processFacultyOur partners for events (College of Business, ETSC department, Health and Nutrition) all depend on our ability to use the career fair module for employer registration and payment. Faculty direct students to the database for help in finding jobs and internships and engaging in on campus interviewing with employers.Faculty have limited access to the database as “outside” users, however, we are working on figuring out how they could have administrative accounts that would enable them to use the system to help students prepare for jobs and internships.EmployersEmployers interested in hiring CWU students and alumni depend on a system such as ours to find job and internship seekers through job/internship postings and the interviewing module. Employers have asked for clearly labeled and quicker process for creating their accounts as well. Attracting employers to CWU is essential for helping faculty keep up to date on industry issues, hiring our students, and contributing financially to university projects. Career Services/UniversityUsing CSM, users can administer unlimited custom surveys to students and employers?and use this information for creating better experiences and services for end usersThe CSM system has the functionality of collecting student graduation placement data, e.g. where they got a permanent job or went to graduate school. This information can assist the university in advertising to prospective students the success rates of our students in various majors. It is also connected to a national network of other universities so that comparison data between universities can be obtained. It helps fulfill the federal requirement that all universities report their “placement” rate. Work flow in the Career Services Department should be enhanced as the system has more functionality than we currently use, e.g. better employer access so they can handle more of their own account including interview set up Training for Career Services StaffTraining in the CSM system will be required for all Career Services’ staff, however, only three or four staff will require more extensive training to ensure that the system is working properly. All Career Services’ staff are familiar with systems like this one as we have used a database of some sort for over 15 years. Career Services’ database program coordinator will be the primary user and support for the Career Services’ staff. Career Services has contacted and met with various departments on campus to see if this product could be used by them. This includes Organizational Effectiveness (graduation placement information), Alumni Affairs (alumni mentoring), University Advancement (employer contacts), and Academic Advising (counselor appointment through Outlook/notes component). All are interested in the product and would require more experience with it to see how they can use it effectively. All StakeholdersCareer Services, students, alumni, employers, facultyPotential Partners/Primary UsersCareer Services, students, alumni, employers, facultyAlumni Affairs, University Advancement, Organizational Effectiveness, Academic Advising RFP Requirements Contributors (add lines as necessary) – This section may or may not be requiredDepartmentNameNo RFP Required under $10,000 Benefits The NACElink CSM Full Edition offerings align with our current preferences and offer the ability to expand on our current functions. The system provides a full suite of comprehensive tools that will allow students/alumni/staff/faculty and employers to access and benefit from. The Full Edition will meet all our needs and we do not expect to purchase any other plug-ins at this time. The Full Edition package includes the following benefits, some of which will be used immediately and some will not:Immediate1st Destination Placement and Career Outcomes is an employment function that tracks job/internship placement data.Students/Alumni can continue to conduct job/internship searches, upload their resume and cover letter and apply directly to job postings. Portfolio function allows student/alumni to create a portfolio to supplement their resume and highlight specifics that assist with their job search. Shibboleth Authentication allows students to use their MyCWU sign-on to access the Wildcat Career Network. Professional Network Feature that supports online Mentor registration and rich search tools.On-Campus Recruiting allows for automatic interview schedule generation.Currently, approximately 1,000 students do internships for credit per year. This number keeps growing. The proposed CSM would enable us to move from a paper to electronic process to make the handling of learning agreements and contracts easier for students, employers, faculty, and Career Services staff. It would also enable us to keep better statistics as they could be generated by the system instead of being done by hand. Statistics are currently used by all departments at the university to gauge quality of the internship experience and post-internship permanent placement data. Expanded Career Fair Manager features online employer registration, employer profiles, booth management, credit card processing, integrated job postings, auto-published print directory and event resume books. Credit card payment will be PCI compliant. NACELink/CSM bought our current software so changing over to the proposed CSM should be faster and easier than using another vendor where data migration could cause an issueFutureCounseling Appointment System that if turned on will integrate with the Outlook calendar and provides online appointment booking, follow-up actions and notes.Experiential Learning function that provides end-to-end management of cooperative education/internship programs. This includes the ability to manage the workflow process including evaluations and provide for electronic signatures. This would replace our current paper situation. We understand that the electronic signature page may be an issue. We would also need to create some procedures around implementation of this function. Faculty Engagement Function allows faculty to access the system to review resources, recommend jobs/internships to students, register to be a Mentor, complete recommendation requests and sign cooperative education learning agreement forms and complete evaluations. Turning on this function would have to be more thoroughly planned out prior to implementation. The proposed CSM can be integrated with Peoplesoft at an additional cost but we will have to research that more thoroughly and don’t anticipate buying it for quite awhile. Strategic AlignmentCareer Services is dedicated to educating and empowering undergraduates, graduates and alumni in the career development process by:Facilitating self-assessment and career exploration to develop a clear career objectivePromoting avenues for experiential learningProviding assistance in job search and transition to professional lifeCultivating and maintaining partnerships with employersServing as a resource to staff, faculty and communityAdvising students preparing for post graduate studyOur mission falls within the following CWU strategic goals:Objective 1.1: Enhance student success by continually improving the curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular programs. Outcome 1.1.1: Students will achieve programmatic learning outcomes. Indicator 1.1.1.1: Student performance data and outcomes achievement as described in annual program assessment reports.Indicator 1.1.1.2: Post-graduation job and graduate school placement rates.Indicator 1.1.3.4: Student participation in internships, teaching assistantships, and research assistantships. Outcome 1.1.4: Students will be increasingly engaged in high quality co-curricular and extracurricular offerings. Objective 1.2: Enhance the effectiveness of student support services. Outcome 1.2.1: Increase student use and impact of relevant and effective support services. Indicator 1.2.1.1: Participant usage, impact, and satisfaction survey results (local data). Objective 4.1: Enhance the commitment and the level of collaboration between the university and external communities. Outcome 4.1.2: Increase the number of collaborations and partnerships with external community entities and organizationsOutcome 5.4.3: Provide the technology infrastructure, systems, and campus services necessary for all departments to achieve their objectives and the objectives of the universityCostSource of Funding will be Career Services Foundation Account. Project ID: 010405001Cost Breakdown (*Copy of Symplicity Software License Agreement Attached)Initial Implementation:$ 9,350.00Career Services Manager, Full Edition$ 8,800.00Career Services Manager Set up Fee ($2,600)WaivedShibboleth set up fee ($550.00)WaivedShibboleth annual fee$ 550.005 Year Cost Projection: Potential 4% Increase per yearAlternatives AlternativeReasons For Not Selecting AlternativeCSO ProfessionalDid not provide the same baseline functions that we currently need and anticipate needing in the future. *See Attached CSM vs. CSO Comparison Timing / Schedule Task Target WeekPre-transition work by Career ServicesKickOff and IT Setup3/30/2015Manager Overview I4/6/2015Manager Overview II4/13/2015Non OCR Jobs Training4/20/2015Tools I Training4/27/2015Tools II Training5/4/2015Additional Module Setup5/11/2015Import Data5/18/2015One Stop Setup5/25/2015Student Launch6/08/2015Employer Launch6/15/2015Project Wrap Up6/22/2015See attached transition email and CSM Deployment TimelineTechnology Migration/Resource Identification A Transition Team from Symplicity will be assigned to assist with and complete the migration process remotely. This is included in the implementation fee that Symplicity has waived. They will be working closely with Sandra Lindelof, CWU Career Services Database Program Coordinator and Vicki Sannuto, Director CWU Career Services.See Attached Systems Integration OverviewResourceRequirements TimeframePersonnel Sandra Lindelof, CWU Career Services Database Program CoordinatorVicki Sannuto, Director CWU Career Services3/1/2015-7/31/2015Equipment No additional EquipmentFacilitiesResourceMarAprMayJuneJulyAugSeptOctNovDecCareer Services Staff100120120120100Enterprise Student Systems1111CWU Portal Manager1222Network Infrustructure Services3Enterprise System Services3222Security Admin4222Total HoursProduct Life/Application Sunsetting or DecommissioningCWU is sole and exclusive owner of all data that is collected and received by Symplicity through the Career Services Manager Program.See Attached CSM Privacy Policy and Security StandardsReferencesVirginia Hinch, Director of Career ServicesEastern Washington University“The more you use the system the more you will like it. I think all these types of enterprise systems have huge pluses and minuses. We are most successful with Symplicity when we have staff that can focus on implementing features and keeping up with the updates.I would also highly encourage you to develop a strong relationship with your Symplicity representative. We have standing monthly phone meetings with ours and that has been extremely helpful. We have found out that some of the issues we were having were on our end and some of them were on Symplicity’s end. It took regular meetings to figure it out.Having looked for jobs using Experience with our son, Jered, I think you will really like Symplicity.”Research into the product through a Linked In Career Services Professional group shows that about half of the responders use NACELink/CSM. That seems to be a national trend. Most of the universities in Washington state use NACELInk/CSM except for Evergreen and Pacific Lutheran who have home built systems and St. Martin’s who uses CSO.RecommendationBuying NACELink/CSM will enable Career Services to continue to provide the services it currently does to students, alumni, employers, faculty and departments without downtime or a large learning curve by users. It will also enable the department to increase services to students by implementing an online internship component, an alumni mentoring program, and single sign on feature. Staff will benefit from a system that can do multiple functions and generate accurate statistics including graduation placement information that the university needs.ApprovalsThe following actions have been taken by the appropriate Sub-Council (ATAC or Non-Academic Sub-Council) and Enterprise Information System Committee (EISC):DateAction By3/16/2015ApprovedEISCUpon secured funding and approval by the Enterprise Information System Committee (EISC), Enterprise Facilities Committee, or one of the two Sub-Councils (Academic or Non-Academic), CWU procurement policies and procedures should be used to initiate a purchase.? Please contact the Purchasing office at x1001 with any questions regarding the procurement process.If you have any questions, please contact Ginger McIntosh 963-1466, Sue Noce 963-2927 or Tina Short 963-2910. ................
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