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An Open Source Student System:It is coming

Richard SpencerActing CIO & AVP, University of BC

AACRAOMarch 25, 2008

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Agenda

• Why now?• The vision • Functional design and scope • Technical architecture• Development approach• Where we are and where we’re going• Community source • Opportunities to contribute to Kuali Student

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Why Now?

• Many student systems don’t meet current needs• Vendor solutions may not be the answer• Development of in-house systems is challenging

– Increasingly complex technology requires specialist resources– Competing for scarce IT resources in a constrained market– User requirements and expectations increasing rapidly– Budgets and funding are constrained

• We can build systems that do more for users• Collaboration and open source systems development

works

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Student system history

• BC– paper based processes– information silos in separate departments– the customer had to help us run the institution

• SRS– on-line records, flat files, reports

• SIS– support for core processes in core departments– often more work & time for other users– we began to help the customer

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Vision: Functional Objectives• Support end users by anticipating their needs and

simplifying (or eliminating) administrative tasks.• Support a wide range of learners and learning

activities.• Support a wide range of business processes, including

those that cross department and system boundaries. • Make it easier to change business processes to meet

institution needs and allow process improvement, using rules and workflow, configurable systems, and flexible data models.

• Reduce time staff spend on routine tasks, so they can do more to directly support students and faculty.

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Vision: Sustainability• Ensure Founding Institutions implement the core

services of Kuali Student.• Promote adoption and implementation by other

institutions – in North America and internationally.• Build a community of interest that will sustain future

maintenance, enhancement and development.• Define product development and support processes

that will help implementation and operational support.• Facilitate participation by vendors and service

providers• Evolve the technology and architecture of Kuali

Student to keep up with new standards, tools, and trends.

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Vision: Technical Objectives

• Develop a next generation architecture based on Service-orientation, implemented using Web Services.

• Publish service contract specifications. This will allow a large community to work on the system.

• Produce a software product based on a set of services. • Define and publish standards for development that

can be used by others to develop services that are outside the scope of the core product.

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Functional design: Elements

• High level entities– person; time; learning units

• Concierge– use what we know to help people achieve their goals

• Rules engines, work flow– rules and logic are not in the code

• Modular, configurable system– your processes, not someone else’s “best practices”

• Managed access to information– people can see what they should be able to see

• Internationalization– language, characters, currencies, systems

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Entity: Person

Kuali Student’s use of identity management:• People are entities• anyone can create an online identity• authorization will vary as roles change• roles can be created by people and applications• authority is easily delegated when appropriate• tools are available for role and group management• information about people is in multiple systems• Identity management enables relationship management

and communication

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Entity: Learning units

• A learning unit can represent:– a course; a single lecture in a course; a 15 minute student

presentation in a course– participation in community service– a year of study– a degree program– any non-credit, continuing studies, or other activity

• A “learning unit number” is like a SKU...• We can also have:

– learning results– learning plans– learning resources

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Functional Design: Concierge

InstitutionalInformation

Requirements

PersonalInformation

Goals

Information aboutthe experiences

of others

Possibilities

We should use:

to support users

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Concierge sits lookingand listening for changes ina person’s state, institution

rules, peoples experiences, etc.

Concierge “sees”student complete

registration

Conciergerequirement to pay feestriggered by completingregistration

Concierge checksstudent info, rules &

financial aid opportunities and guides student

through process

process ends when fees are paid

Rules engine

Workflow

Uses

Information

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Functional Scope

Tier 1 Functionality– Curriculum Development– Customer contact– Configuration application– Enrolment– Degree Audit and

Academic Evaluation– Student Financials– Concierge – limited– Application connectors

Tier 2 Functionality– Admissions– Scheduling– Awards and Financial

Aid– Concierge

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Out of Scope Functionality

Tier 3 – Out of scope for Founders– Recruitment– Event Management– Housing– Athletics– Alumni– Family Financial

Planning– Elections– Student Life

Out of Scope

– Learning Management System

– Student Portfolio – Financial (FMIS)

system– Campus Calendar– Facilities Management– Library– Parking

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Functional Scope and Timeline

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Technical architecture:Guiding principles

Service Oriented Architecture– SOA methodology– Web services– Standards based (WS and industry standards)– Separate governance process for service contracts

Component Abstraction– Abstraction of business processes and business rules– Abstraction of presentation layer via a portal– Abstraction of the data layer

Leverage Open Source Technology– Use an open source software stack– Infrastructure built from open source products– Java as the language of choice

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Con

cier

ge

Architecture

Concierge

Contact Admission Registration

Identityservice

Evaluationservice

Enrolmentservice

Learningplan

Programrequirements

Programavailability

Portalservice

Workflowservice

Rulesservice

Applications

BusinessServices

InfrastructureServices

User

Information

Portal

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Architecture

Selection completedAug-Dec 2007

Implementation in Progress: KIM

Design in Progress

ExistingApplications

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Development Approach• Development project structure

– 5 year project starting July 2007 – Well defined phases of approximately 4-6 months each– Clear definition of deliverables at each stage– Each phase delivers a tangible asset – QA reviews and checkpoints at the end of each phase– Sign off of phase deliverables as complete– Review plans for the next phase at the end of each phase

• Separate implementation projects at each institution – Kuali Student does NOT include implementation – Product is “configured” for institution by a separate team

dictionary; search; rules; BPEL; authorization

• Agility, phases, time boxing, reusability and iterations

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Technical StreamFunctional Stream

Jul 2007

Sep 2008

Oct 2008

Apr 2009Jun 2009July 2009

Application Architecture- Process models- ER models- High Level Service Models- Domain Definitions

Technical Architecture-Technology proofs-SOA standards

Service Modeling R1(Infrastructure & CurriculumDevelopment)

Development Infrastructure- Developers workbench - Procedures- Standards

Contract Design R1(Infrastructure & Curriculum

Development)

Service Modeling R2(Domain 2) Software Design &

Development R1(Infrastructure & Domain 1)

Adjust plans and repeat forReleases 2/3/4

Pro

gram

Man

agem

ent &

Com

mun

icat

ions

Contract Design R2(Domain 2) Release 1 & Implement Test

Re-plan / Re-Architect / Implement & Transition to Support

Develop Configuration Application- Configuration Infrastructure-Proof of concept Pilot

Phased Modular Approach

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Where are we today?

• Legal agreements between Founders• Partnership with Kuali Foundation• Project charter approved• $2.5 M Mellon grant awarded• Project launch workshop July 30, 2007• Technology architecture - recommendations completed• Technology stack – proof of concept completed• Application architecture - recommendations completed• Service modelling & contract design - began Feb 2008• Contributors program - being finalized

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Founder & Partners

Partners• Massachusetts Institute of Technology• Cambridge University

Founders • University of British Columbia• University of California, Berkeley• University of Maryland, College Park• Florida State University• San Joaquin Delta College

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Other Partners

Supported by:

• AACRAO

• NITLE Advancing liberal education in the digital age

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

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Why Community Source?General Benefits

• Shared resources means more efficient development• Institutions share ideas and create innovative solutions,

leveraging their user experiences• Institutions have direct input into functions and features• Sustainability – a community that contributes to enhancements

can ensure sustained development• Support – commercial partners are encouraged

Kuali Student will• Build a community of interest• Establish procedures and standards for development• Encourage commercial affiliates• Share implementation experiences

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• Technology • Business Analysis (SOA) • Lack of Appropriate Skills• Failure of the Partnership• Size, Scope, and Complexity• SOA Approach• Standards Compliance• SME Staff Availability• Budget / Cost Estimates• Funding• Departure of Key Members (Board, Steering, other)• Working with a distributed team• Change management challenges

Risks

Change management challenges

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Why join the Community?• Provide specific input on product direction• Access project documentation and artifacts as they are

developed• Have early access to software for testing and

implementation• Contribute enhancements to ensure the quality and

suitability of the end product• Help develop support processes and product release

strategies.• Contribute knowledge and experience to the community• Implement some or all of Kuali Student sooner

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Contribution Opportunities

• Founders– substantial commitment in money and people

• Partners– significant commitment to core product

• Contributors– input into product, develop modules

• Adopters– commitment to adopt some modules

• Supporters– display the bumper sticker

More information: Kuali Days VI, Chicago, May 13-14

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Information

www.kuali.org/communities/ks/

or Google: “Kuali Student”

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Kuali Student will...

• Support end users

• Support a wide range of learners and learning activities

• Support a wide range of business processes

• Make it easier to change processes

• Deliver a product based on services

• Be sustainable through community sourcedevelopment and adoption.

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Contact information

Richard SpencerActing CIO and AVP Information Technology

University of British ColumbiaVancouver, BC, Canada

richard.spencer@ubc.ca