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CMS Team Settles into Work Space

Common Management Systems (the 23-campus CSU integrated software systems) project teams have moved into a new 1,000-square-foot work space in Meriam Library 441. The room serves as headquarters for the project and allows staff from various administrative units to leave their offices and concentrate on designing new systems and creating training manuals.

On Friday, Nov. 9, a ribbon-cutting/kick-off was held in the new work space. President Manuel A. Esteban addressed the group attending the opening, emphasizing the importance of the CMS project. “CMS is not just something that would be good to have; it is absolutely essential. If we do not implement it, the present system will fail,” Esteban said. The president went on to say that in addition to implementing the system quickly and efficiently, one of the team’s jobs was to help communicate the essential nature of CMS to others on campus.

Esteban is referring to the existing SIS+, FRS, and CLASS systems that are under strain due to an increased demand for services, the erosion of vendor support for the existing systems, the need to interface with the State Controller’s Office, and the need for more timely and accurate information for local- and state-level decision making.

The financial services modules should be up and running by July 2002, followed by the human resources portion in December 2002. Student administration modules, the largest portion, are still under development at the Chancellor’s Office and are projected for September 2005.

“The student piece of the system is monstrous. It includes admissions, financial aid, records, and more. We will benefit from the experience of implementing the first two,” said Bob Hannigan, vice provost, Enrollment Management. “It is a huge project, and we have to make it all work together. That’s what you see happening in this room, right now.”

Phyllis Weddington is the project director, and Linda Post is the project manager. There are three teams, each with subteams for specific modules within the software. The teams are managed by team leaders Nancy Praizler, Human Resources; Cindy Cleland, Financials; and Bruce Rowen, Student Administration. Approximately 110 people will be involved in implementing CMS, 35 in the human resources phase, 25 in the financials phase, and 50 in the student phase.

Currently, team members are working on creating tables necessary to run the software, fitting business processes to the software, and developing reports necessary for the campus to continue to do business.

Provost Scott McNall, CMS executive sponsor, also addressed the group, praising the project team’s expertise. “You know what you are doing and we depend on you,” McNall said. “We don’t have to lie awake at night worrying about this,” he added, to which a CSM team member responded, “That’s because we do!”

The CMS Web site is www.csuchico.edu/computing/cms

Kathleen McPartland