June 6, 2001 UNT Inhouse publications: Why the UNT System needs a new information system

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Why the UNT System needs a new information system Coy Hoggard guest writer

In some ways, UNT's administrative information systems are like aging, but still quite dependable, plow horses. They are reliable, stable and still do the job they've done for many years. But, their age is showing and they certainly do not display the technological characteristics of more modern systems. An additional challenge is the lack of available parts for equipment that breaks down.

Some of the systems at the UNT Health Science Center at Fort Worth are a bit newer because the center purchased and implemented the SCT BANNER student system and alumni/development systems a few years back. But since the Health Science Center uses UNT's financial and human resources (payroll/personnel) systems, its BANNER systems operate independently and are not well integrated with the administrative systems provided by UNT.

Our core administrative information systems include a mixture of in-house-developed and purchased systems. The student system, which includes the admissions management system, the student records system, billing and receivables (student accounting) and financial aid modules, was purchased more than 15 years ago and had already been available for approximately five years, so the true age of the product is really more than 20 years.

The other core systems — such as the human resources management information system, the capital equipment account tracking system and the alumni/advancement information management system — were developed in-house and vary in age from about 10 years to almost 30 years. These systems have had major upgrades and functional additions over time, including adding the capability for access via online terminals and interactive voice response. Some functions have even been web enabled to allow widespread access via the Internet. But changes in the structure and organization of the institution as well as society's changing expectations of higher educational institutions are resulting in the need for information systems that are outside the scope of the basic design of UNT's existing systems.

Some of the problems with the existing systems are:

Most online access to the systems is via computer screens that emulate the IBM 3270 "green screens" that were widely used in the 1970s. User expectations, especially student expectations, presuppose the data presentation model used in modern web-enabled applications.
The basis of our administrative systems is an IBM mainframe and OS390 operating system, with ADABAS as the database management system on which the applications run. That environment is difficult and costly to expose to the web, with few tools available for programming applications for this type of delivery.
Our systems have accrued a large collection of modifications and patches grafted onto the original programs as needs grew and requirements changed. This is typical for information systems that are 15 to 25 years old. Continuing to modify those programs for a radically different user interface and, in the case of the student system, a basic architecture change due to the need for variable-length course schedules is not cost-effective and is at high risk for being unsuccessful.
Having their roots in traditional batch-processing, many of our systems need to be taken offline for several hours each night in order to make database backups and do general "housekeeping" tasks. As our user base is increasingly more widely dispersed, in part due to the increase in technology-based instructional delivery, the changing time zones will make having systems unavailable for extended periods of time unacceptable.
Because most of our administrative information systems were designed and programmed when UNT consisted of a single institution, additions of more organizations to the UNT System presents a challenge. The Health Science Center was accommodated, and other institutions can be as well, but not without considerable programming time and expense.
It is increasingly difficult for the Computing Center to recruit and retain programmers who have the experience (and desire) to develop and maintain applications for our mainframe environment. COBOL, ADABAS, MVS/OS-390, etc., are no longer considered to be the mainstream of computer programming tools, and very few if any schools teach those skills. Instead, programmers expect to work with modern toolsets such as Java, Oracle, Unix and XML. Long-term prospects for the university's ability to fill its programming positions are dim at best. And many of the more experienced, talented and dedicated of the existing staff are only a few years away from retirement.

These realities have caused the UNT System to embark on a course that will lead to a new enterprise-wide information system. The system will eventually include new versions of all the current mainframe-based applications (the student records, human resources, financial, purchasing and alumni/development systems) as well as new services such as customer relationship management and grants management.

Our intent is to buy as complete a suite of applications as is feasible. Still, it is almost certain that some software will have to be developed in-house to meet the UNT System's unique needs. Equipment will be purchased separately from applications software since it will come from a different vendor. The systems will be not only web-enabled, but actually designed with the web in mind. They will be based on an industry-standard relational database and will include electronic workflow with intelligent rule processing. They will be much better integrated than our existing systems and will be, if not "paperless," at least oriented toward "less paper." The basic goal of the system is to deliver state-of-the-art electronic services to the UNT System constituencies.