The webinar, hosted by Higher Digital and Thesis, was led by Wayne Bovier, CEO and
founder of Higher Digital, and Dr. Jennifer Beyer from Thesis Elements. The session focused on the challenges and solutions related to Student Information System (SIS)
implementations in higher education.
The speakers highlighted several challenges faced by higher education institutions during Student Information System (SIS) implementations.
1. Market Realities: Institutions face mounting pressures around technology
compliance and AI, coupled with an adversarial stance from the federal government
towards higher education. This creates a "perfect storm" of challenges that require
institutions to change faster and more consistently.
2. High Failure Rates: Statistics from Gartner and McKinsey indicate that a significant
percentage of IT projects in higher education fail to deliver ROI or meet objectives.
This includes 90% of projects failing to deliver any ROI and 75% of major technology
initiatives failing.
3. Organizational Structure: The fragmented planning and disconnected execution
within institutions make it difficult to align strategy and execution. This is
exacerbated by manual processes and siloed communication, leading to
inefficiencies and project failures.
4. Change Management: The lack of effective change management practices is a
major challenge. Institutions often struggle with adopting new systems and
processes, leading to poor adoption rates and project failures. The need for
continuous change management to keep up with regular updates and new
capabilities in SaaS solutions is critically important.
5. Cultural Readiness: Institutions often face challenges related to cultural readiness
for change. This includes resistance to change, lack of alignment among
stakeholders, and difficulties in prioritizing and managing change initiatives.
6. Resource Constraints: Limited availability of resources, both in terms of personnel
and budget, poses a significant challenge. Institutions often must balance their
current operations with the demands of implementing new systems, leading to
resource constraints and potential project delays. These challenges highlight the complexities involved in SIS implementations and the need for effective change-management and strategic alignment to ensure successful outcomes.
The speakers offered several recommendations for overcoming these challenges. These
recommendations aim to help institutions navigate the complexities of implementing a
new Student Information System (SIS) and ensure long-term success.
Implement a Change Management discipline
Using a disciplined approach to change management helps to ensure the success of a new SIS or any major digital transformation. Examples of project disciplines include the Prosci methodology and the ADKAR model (Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and
Reinforcement) as tools to improve success rates. Continuous change management is
necessary to keep up with regular updates and new capabilities in SaaS solution. Key
elements to the change management process include:
In addition to a formal change management assessment and methodology, the speakers
provided these tips:
Continuous Improvement: The need for continuous improvement and adaptation to new
capabilities and regulations is ongoing. Institutions should regularly evaluate and update
processes to ensure they are efficient and aligned with the new system.
Connect Change to the Mission: Ensure that the change is tied to the institution's overall
mission and strategy. This helps in gaining buy-in from all stakeholders and aligning the
change with the institution's goals.
Communicate Early and Often: Develop a communication strategy to keep all
stakeholders informed about the changes. This includes explaining the reasons for the
change and how it aligns with the institution's mission.
Partner with Vendors: Work closely with vendors to understand the capabilities of the new system and how it can address the institution's pain points. This collaboration can help in prioritizing processes that need to be changed.
Dr. Jennifer Beyer discussed the capabilities of modern SIS solutions, focusing on their role in running core university functions and supporting holistic student needs. The importance of interoperability and extensibility in modern SIS solutions is highlighted. Institutions need to adapt their processes to take full advantage of new SIS capabilities.
Evaluate Processes: Regularly evaluate and update processes to ensure they are
efficient and aligned with the new system. This includes identifying manual
processes that can be automated and areas where the institution can gain
efficiencies.
To learn more about partnering with Higher Digital or Thesis Elements, we encourage you to visit our websites or email info@higher.digital.