ISIS moving forward

The largest part of the conversion to UW–Madison’s new student record system is complete, and campus officials overseeing the project say the transition has gone fairly smoothly.

The university on Friday, April 2, switched on the student record portion of the Integrated Student Information System, after spending most of March converting the data. This changeover has the greatest impact on campus, as it affects all students and academic departments.

Other elements of ISIS – including admissions, the university’s course database, Timetable processing and financial aid – came on line earlier this academic year.

Ron Niendorf, ISIS project manager, says the implementation means many changes for staff who had processed student records using the Integrated Student Data System, which ISIS is replacing.

“We appreciate their patience and perseverance as we move through this part of the implementation together,” Niendorf says. “Things will get better as everyone becomes more familiar with the new system and new processes.”

The old system has been in place since the 1960s and through the years became difficult to maintain. ISIS planners say the new system, when fully functional, will increase the access to and processing of information on line.

Another part of ISIS started Monday, April 5, when the new 24-hour touch-tone student registration system began operating. As of Monday, 5,120 students registered for summer session using the new system, and another 1,700 students registered for fall semester, Niendorf says. He says the system is performing as expected.

Student registration via the Internet is planned to begin this fall.