Guiding Principles
LSU will make Information about the project available to the LSU Community via the project website and through periodic stakeholder updates.
LSU invites members of the LSU Community to share their ideas and concerns about the project. The needs, suggestions, and comments of stakeholders from all institutions and constituencies will be seriously considered. There are no guarantees that the project will adopt or act upon every suggestion or comment.
LSU is committed to implementing the new system and redesigned processes as efficiently as possible with an attention to risk mitigation.
LSU empowers project team personnel to make immediate decisions during design and configuration sessions.
To minimize the amount of redesign work and configuration needed, LSU will adhere to a governance model that provides for leadership, accountability, and oversight, and considers the needs of stakeholders throughout the LSU Community. All parties will work through the governance structure to resolve issues quickly and decisively.
Initial software functionality will include features that are required to replace the existing legacy student information systems. LSU will consider added features beyond this baseline if existing project resources can implement them within the project budget and schedule.
The new student information system embodies leading industry practices. Moreover, the software vendor continues to add features specific to the needs of higher education based on input from their higher education customers.
LSU will implement business practices and procedures as delivered by the software vendor, even when it means changing current business processes, unless there are significant and compelling reasons to do otherwise. This may mean that some jobs may change, that some work may shift from one office to another, or that the method of carrying out certain actions may be different. This may also mean that some existing policies are revised.
LSU will implement these standard best-practice processes and procedures with a focus on what is best for the LSU Community as a whole. Through standardization across institutions, LSU will reduce costs, streamline operations, and support, and demonstrate good fiscal stewardship.
Recognizing that our employees are our best resource, the system and redesigned processes will be modern, maintainable, manageable, measurable, and will facilitate sustainable system and workforce practices. LSU will take full advantage of the training opportunities available as part of the Modernization effort to develop and empower our workforce.
System business process design and implementation will be based on strategic and functional fit; ease-of-use; flexibility and reliability in a complex organizational environment; compliance with regulatory and security guidance and rules; and cost.
However, LSU will also use “native” software features and functions in all cases unless there are significant and compelling reasons to do otherwise. The new enterprise system has substantial configuration capabilities that will, in most cases, allow LSU to tailor it to our needs. LSU will not customize the software and will avoid using third-party solutions whenever possible unless the third-party solution is a preferred partner of the student information system vendor.
The new student information system will be the official, authoritative data source for student information. For other systems that may also contain student information, LSU will strive to integrate these systems with the system of record to automate and manage business processes, minimize redundancy, and create and maximize efficiencies.
If there is disagreement between systems, the enterprise student information system shall take precedence. Ideally, procedures will ensure that new and updated student data are entered first into the enterprise student information system and then provided to other systems via download or other data exchange processes. Where this is not possible, owners of secondary systems will ensure that data in their systems are both properly secured and match the corresponding enterprise student information system data.