The first edition of the Drew 360 newsletter, The Angle, was released at Tuesday's kickoff event in the Arts Rotunda. If you did not receive a copy please feel free to download a printable PDF version of the newsletter below. Subsequent editions will be posted online only in the Drew 360 project blog at drew.edu/360.
The Beginning of a New Adventure
On June 28, 2010, President Weisbuch sent a message to the Drew community informing them of this project. Here are a few excerpts.
This week, the university will embark on an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) project, a long overdue campus-wide initiative that will replace AIMS, our 30-year-old administrative software, with SunGard Banner, a suite of newer, more advanced programs.
The implementation effort will be overseen by an executive committee, which I have asked Alan Candiotti, assistant vice president, university technology, to chair.
I have also asked the executive committee to ensure that the conversion process includes a thorough review and updating of our business processes. We would be missing a major and multifaceted opportunity if we did not explore how they might be streamlined or improved upon to better serve students, staff and faculty.
While we have a lot of work ahead of us, I am confident in our community's ability to meet the challenge and am excited about the enormous benefits it will yield for Drew. The leadership of the project is committed to its successful completion and will do its best to keep everyone informed about progress.
Today, the University formally launches Drew 360 , and commences Phase One of the University-wide implementation of a suite of software to replace AIMS and CampusWeb. SunGard Banner has been selected to be the core software with other software products to assist in areas not served by Banner. Banner is used in over 1600 educational institutions throughout the world which will allow Drew to take advantage of a broad knowledge base with a company dedicated to higher education.
Drew 360 is scheduled to take two years for the implementation of the core products (Phase One) and will bring new functionality to all administrative offices. It will also ultimately bring a new web interface portal to all Faculty, Staff and Students. Strata Information Group (SIG) will provide Drew assistance with project management, functional area training and consulting. Additional phases will continue once the core applications are installed. These will include additional uses for document imaging, workflow, electronic vendor invoicing, on-line payments, improved event scheduling and much more.
As you can see, Drew 360 is all encompassing. There will be opportunities for the Drew community to assist the teams in their implementation. The community can follow the progress of the project online at drew.edu/360. Periodically, emails and newsletters will be sent updating you on the project’s progress. If you have any questions about a particular area, you can contact the appropriate Team Lead.