Strategic Planning for

Course Management Systems

California State University

October 9, 2006

CSU Chico Case Study

• Chico Academic Technologies Profile

• LMS Selection Process

• The Change to Enterprise LMS

• Project Schedule, Planning & Teams

• Faculty Training

• Issues and Challenges

• Resources

Calif. State University, Chico• 90 miles north of Sacramento• 14,550 FTE / 15,600 Students• 913 Faculty• Serving 12 counties in NE California • 30-year history in distance education• 1995 Technology and Learning Program (TLP)• 1998 started with WebCT 1.3 • Chico is one of the original 14 WebCT Institutes• Instructional Designers design training• Rubric for Online Instruction

Chico’s WebCT 4.1 Status

• 96% of students access WebCT

• 32% of course sections (active/engaged)

• 68% of faculty using WebCT

• WebCT 4.1 Server: – SUN V880 - 4 processors, Solaris 8– 350GB Hardware RAID

• System & Course back-ups nightly

Estimated WebCT Usage

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

Spring2003

Spring2004

Spring2005

Faculty

Students

CourseSections

14,727 Students

1,547 Sections

760 Faculty

Spring2006

15000

WebCT Integration• Portal/LDAP

– uPortal channel links to current term courses– Link to MyWebCT to link to other courses– LDAP supports direct “back-door” access to WebCT

• Student Information System– 2003 SCT SIS+ “Connected Learning Solution”– Course shell for every course section– Adds and Drops “semi-real-time”– Moved to PeopleSoft Fall 2005

• Library– Course shell: generic link to Library resources

Next Generation LMS

• Available 24x7

• Fault Tolerant

• Integrated with other campus systems

• Expandable

• Today’s technology (no perl, relational db)

• Must do migration from WebCT 4.1

• “Modern” features

Chico IT Strategic Planning

• Target 2000 --> Beyond 2000 -->

• Aligning with the Future

• http://www.csuchico.edu/inf/

• These plans included the LMS

• We were changing ERP systems

• The LMS was going to move with them

• Latch on to change and ride the tail

LMS II Selection Process• CIO charged a campus committee• Committee Demographics• Review Chico State’s Priorities

– Teaching and Learning– Academic Program Assessment– Support and Sustainability– Enterprise Integration– Institutional Partnership

• LMS Needs Analysis and Rubrics

Pass/Fail Rubric

Best Fit Rubric

Vista Enterprise Wide (VEW) DVD

• Changing the Learning Management System

• Moving it to an Enterprise Application

Old ArchitectureOld Architecture

WebCT CE

LDAP

Network Back-upsuPortal

www

Student InformationSystem

Data

Users

Auth

ATEC“Control”

Computing NetworkingWeb ServicesDBAsApplications

Vista ArchitectureVista Architecture

Vista Development& Training

Vista Production

Change Management• Academic Technologies

– Vista hotfixes, service packs and upgrades

• Computing Services– OS upgrades and patches

• Security and Networking– Host firewall issues

• DBAs– Oracle configuration, monitoring,

management and upgrades

Enterprise Planning (Communication!)

• Kick-Off meetings (technical and campus)

– Informed IT Team• Establish ownership & collaboration

– Informed campus• Set expectations & future vision

• Project Planning Teams

• Project Planning Meetings

Project ManagementBill EvansProject ManagementBill Evans

Vista Project Teams (Rev 3/06)

California State University, Chico

User Services

DBAsApplication Development

Vista Technical Mgmt LeadD. McElrobertsVista Technical Mgmt LeadD. McElroberts

NetworkingATEC

Project ManagementProject Management

B Evans

P Weddington

L Post

D McElroberts

D Partington

K Fernandes

Implementation CommitteeImplementation Committee

F- B Evans

J Kennedy

T Somma

K Batt

S Hillaire

T – D Partington

B Groendyke

Systems Team HW/SW/AppSystems Team HW/SW/App

B Evans

L Sederberg

K Fernandes

L Sederberg

J Ringel

B Kissinger

D Kuechel

F – B Evans

C Araya

T Somma

T – D McElroberts

P Berry

Technical Integration and Testing

Technical Integration and Testing

F-L Sederberg

C Araya

J Nowotny

T- B Evans

B EvansC Franquet

Functional Testing TeamFunctional Testing Team

T – C Franquet

L Sederberg

Faculty Training & Support

Faculty Training & Support

C Franquet

T- C Araya

F - L Sederberg

B Evans

J Nowotny

Content MigrationContent Migration

Application & System Security

Application & System Security

T Somma

T-D Partington

F- B Evans

Student Training & Support

Student Training & Support

Esposto

L Sederberg

M Ferris

C Franquet

T Somma

B Banks

T – J Nowotny

S Blackstone

J Ringel

P Weddington C Araya

Application AdministrationApplication Administration

B Evans

T Somma

B Evans

L Sederberg

L Gardiner

C Guenter

R Esposto

B Banks

CommunicationsCommunications

L Sederberg

V Breeden

B OppyJ Bracey

R Esposto

J Irving

Vista Project DirectorKathy FernandesVista Project DirectorKathy Fernandes

S Hillaire

B Groendyke A MoxA Mox

D Abbott

A Graham

D Abbott

Vista Project Instructional Documentary

Vista Project Instructional Documentary

K Fernandes

D Carter

L Sederberg

B EvansC Araya

P DiFalcoC Franquet

C FranquetJ NowotnyS Kodai

S Kodai

S Kodai

J Musselman

M Owens

M Spiess

Faculty

PeopleSoft

Info Security

Project Scheduling & TrackingProject Scheduling & TrackingChico Project Vista Production Deployment Timeline Rev. 7/6/06

Vista Production Milestones 3 10 17 24 7 14 21 28 4 11 18 25 2 9 16 23 30 6 13 20 27 4 11 18 25 1 8 15 22 29

System Security Plan

Service Levels

Catastrophic Recovery Plan

Faculty Training

Summer Pilot Classes (5/22-8/16)

Course Migrations (automated) Course Migrations

Fall 2006 PeopleSoft Loads

Vista Health Check C

System Freeze C

Fall Classes Begin (8/21) Fall Classes

Upgrade to Oracle 10G?

Vista Integration and Test 3 10 17 24 7 14 21 28 4 11 18 25 2 9 16 23 30 6 13 20 27 4 11 18 25 1 8 15 22 29

PS Integration Plan/Dev/Test C FLoad Balance Plan/Dev/Test C FLoad Test (app & server-Plan/Dev/Test) C FValidate Failure & Recovery Processes C FWebCT CE SSO to Vista Prod C FuPortal Integration (SSO - validation) V FCAS? (SSO-validation) V? FFunctional Test Plan/Dev/Test C F

SymbolsLS, LF = Load Summer, Fall data from PeopleSoftC = Completion V = ValidationP1, P2, P3 = Phase 1-3

Aug-06 Sep-06Jul-06

Aug-06 Sep-06Jul-06 Dec-06

Jul-06 Aug-06 Sep-06 Oct-06

Dec-06

Oct-06

Oct-06

Jan-07

Jan-07

Jan-07

Nov-06

Nov-06

Nov-06

Dec-06

Targets and Milestones• 2005

– Fall – Installation & Train the Trainers– Fall/Winter – Develop Training for Faculty

• 2006– Winter – Train Fac. & Develop Pilot Courses– Spring – Run Pilot Courses; Integration

– Full Training Series; Train Faculty – Summer – Migrate courses; Test integration– Fall – Half courses running in Vista

• 2007– Spring – All courses in Vista– Summer – Clean-up & wrap up

LMS Transition by Department

• More fun to learn with people you know

• Less confusion for students

• Easier management of change

• Vista is a better department tool– Group decisions/communication

– Sharing resources

– Program assessment goals

Training Options

• “Transition to Vista” migration module– 2-1/2 hours, experience with WebCT CE

required

• Foundation series– Vista 101 through 105 (beginners welcome)

• Intermediate modules – List of electives by topic

Faculty: Why Training?

• Faculty decisions to be made– Migration methods to choose from

– Migrate one course or more?

– Consultations

Faculty Training Aids

• Coffee and cookies

• Graphics for Vista tools

• Posters

• Hats for Build, Teach & Student tabs

• T-Shirts

Training with PropsTraining with Props

Chico trainers teach Vista tabs with hats:

Build = Construction hat

Teach = Mortar board

Student View = Chico ball cap

Issues & Challenges

• Getting Buy-in/Ownership– Started with selection process– System maintenance

• Cost factors: Buy or build? – Training? Services?

• Getting others plans – Strategic Plans– Project Plans

Resource Links

• Chico’s IT Strategic Planswww.csuchico.edu/inf/

• Chico’s VEW Web sitewww.csuchico.edu/tlp/vew/

• Rubric for Online Instruction

www.csuchico.edu/celt/roi/

Questions?