4/13/2010

Tim Coley, Ph.D, and Julie Holliday of SunGard Higher Education led a presentation on Developing a Student Retention Strategy. Although there has been considerable media coverage and increased calls for accountability, retention and graduation rates have remained largely stagnant. According to ACT What Works in Student Retention Survey,

• Only 51.7% of campuses have identified an individual responsible for coordinating
  retention strategies.
• Only 47.2% of campuses have established an improvement goal for retention of
  students from the first to second year.
• Only 33.1% of campuses have established a goal for improved degree completion.

The presentation listed several key reasons why retention rates are not improving. The reasons included:

• The most at-risk students don’t take advantage of available support services even when they are aware of them.
• The institution doesn’t have enough staff to provide interventions to all at-risk students.
• The institution does not have a systematic way to evaluate the effectiveness of different types of interventions for students who are at-risk of not completing their degree program.
• The institution doesn’t have a systematic way to identify at-risk students early enough in the semester to impact their performance in that course. 
• Students aren’t aware of the range of support services available to them through the institution.
• Support services aren’t available during the hours that students need them, such as evenings or weekend.
• The institution doesn’t have a data-driven way to systematically identify at-risk students in order to focus intervention on students with the greatest need.
• The institution lacks an institution-wide strategic plan to address retention and student success issues.

The key to addressing the issues and “moving the needle” on student retention, according to Coley is, “Student success, satisfaction, and learning…through engagement, involvement, integration, and mattering…lead to persistence and graduation.” SunGard Higher Education can help institutions with its Student Success and Retention services.

4/13/2010

Enterprise applications, as critical as they are to institutional excellence, represent a significant investment for most colleges and universities. And not just in dollars, but in time and talent. Today, as campus leaders struggle to redirect scarce resources to their core teaching and learning missions, finding more flexible and cost-effective ways to support information technology is no longer a luxury, but a necessity. This thinking is key to our Open Digital Campus strategy, which combines alternative delivery models, modular assets and modern technologies.

Increasingly our customers are asking us to think differently about how we deliver solutions to them. They want to be more selective about the software they adopt—using only those systems or features or functions that help them pursue their institutional mission more effectively. They want that functionality when they need it—not six months or a year later. They want us to think harder about how we can make our systems more open, flexible, and standards-based. They want delivery options that don’t require an across-the-board purchase of systems that don’t meet immediate institutional needs. In short, they want more choice. And that means radically rethinking how enterprise class systems are designed, developed, and deployed.

New IT delivery methods such as software-as-a service, on-demand applications, and hosting have broadened the options institutions have for meeting their IT needs. For many institutions, the burden of implementing and maintaining enterprise administrative systems is simply too great. Administrative systems require secure data centers to function properly, a ready pool of specialized talent and 24/7 support. Finding more flexible and cost-effective ways to support information technology isn’t just about the software. It’s about the way that software gets delivered to you.

SaaS-based models mean that many of today’s software applications can be quickly deployed, easily configured, and automatically updated and enhanced. That means we can design solutions for colleges and universities that answer very specific needs. And because those applications can exist “in the cloud” you can navigate to our dedicated registry, explore the options available to you, and procure that application with just a few clicks of the mouse.

PowerCAMPUS Hosting from SunGard Higher Education provides yet another option. Power CAMPUS Hosting provides and immediate solution for institutions seeking a better way to secure all the benefits of a high-performing ERP system while eliminating the need for cumbersome upgrades.

With alternative delivery models you get all the benefits, but leave the maintenance and upgrade of those systems to a vendor expert.

Join the discussion about alternative delivery methods at Summit 2010 in the IT Lounge Room 300(S) and, if you missed it live, check out the session handout from Tuesday’s PowerCAMPUS Application Hosting breakout session. 
 

4/11/2010

Following his speech at the opening of SunGard Summit 2010, Christopher Gardner shared another personal milestone in his life. In 2008, his daughter became the first person in his family in 400 years to graduate from college, breaking yet another critical cycle. “In 400 years, no one from my family graduated from college, not since we were brought here on slave ships 400 years ago. I broke down and cried at her commencement.”
Gardner commended higher education institutions for their efforts in helping students – particularly first-generation college students – achieve their dreams.

Gardner said his advice to young people is that, “you can’t have too much education. You can’t be too smart. Young people are competing with more people today; the world is flat. They can’t count on having the opportunities I had, or meeting the people I met who helped me.  Education is everything.”

4/11/2010

Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) was awarded the fourth-annual SunGard Higher Education Award for Institutional Performance during the opening session of SunGard Summit 2010 today.  In addition to the award, SCAD will receive $10,000 for student aid and scholarship.  Harley Lingerfelt, vice president for Information Management and Technology, accepted the award on behalf of the college from Michelle Reed, senior vice president of marketing at SunGard Higher Education.

SCAD received the award for its redesign of approximately 15 key student academic processes, resulting in increased student satisfaction, the elimination of redundant and many manual processes, and increased efficiencies and speedier resolutions.  In addition, there is more consistent application of rules, eligibility requirements, and policies to student requests.  SunGard’s annual customer-focused Institutional Performance award recognizes one institution of higher education for its measurable performance in areas such as community impact, accountability and accessibility.  A panel of experts from education organizations and associations determined the winner. 

Immediately after receiving the award, Mr. Lingerfelt commented that he is most proud of the impact this project has delivered in giving better service to students.

Prior to the redesign, the processes were paper based, manually executed, cumbersome, and time-consuming. Today, students can submit requests for various academic transactions from on or off campus using any Web browser, and are no longer confined to submitting requests during college business hours.  Workflow technology eliminates the need for students to travel to multiple buildings to obtain manual signatures from multiple approvers. Since the first process went live in March, 2009, 8,296 student requests for academic transactions have been submitted. 

Students are freed to concentrate on learning, commented Mr. Lingerfelt.

SCAD leveraged several SunGard Higher Education solutions to achieve its gains in institutional performance.  The solutions include the SunGard Luminis portal solution; the SunGard Banner administrative system, and the SunGard Workflow engine, which was central to achieving the automation and efficiency related goals of the project.

The success of the project has led to the creation of administrative redesign teams that are examining other business processes at the college, and exploring more ways to improve efficiency and better serve its students.

The success of the project has led to the creation of administrative redesign teams that are examining other business processes at the college, and exploring more ways to improve efficiency and better serve its students.

Mr. Lingerfelt’s advice for other institutions considering a similar project, he stated that you can do this. Take the chance to implement a great idea. You’ll learn a lot, you’ll have the opportunity to collaborate with peers and colleagues, and the bottomline, you’ll be able to server your students better.

In addition to SCAD, SunGard Higher Education recognized the following eight finalists for the SunGard Higher Education Award for Institutional Performance:

1. Community College of Philadelphia
2. College of William & Mary
3. Georgia Southern University
4. Michigan Technological University
5. SAIT Polytechnic
6. Savannah College of Art & Design
7. University of North Carolina Wilmington
8. Vermont College of Fine Arts
   

4/11/2010

Six thousand people rose to their feet at SunGard Summit 2010 before Christopher Gardner had even spoken a word. Gardner is known for his amazing journey from homelessness to success that was chronicled in his autobiography, The Pursuit of Happyness.

Gardner told the audience how he spent nights sleeping outside with his son in nearby Union Square. He recounted the events that led to him being homeless for a year. “There was no drop of alcohol or drugs involved, but something just as lethal – life – happened to me,” he told the audience. Yet through all the struggles, he kept his small family intact, safe and strong. “Having a child was the most important, precious and loving thing in my life.”
As a child, Gardner did not know his father, and his stepfather repeatedly reminded the young child of his absence. As a result, Gardner was determined and committed to break the cycle of a son growing up without his father. At the same time, he needed to pursue his dream of being a world-class stock broker. Gardner reflected on how he had to balance “today’s priorities with tomorrow’s possibilities” – the theme of SunGard Summit 2010. 

Gardner’s life is replete with many instances of outright unfairness, such as when he was thrown into jail along with a murderer, rapist and arsonist for his meager “crime” of not paying parking tickets. Or when he and his young son were evicted from or denied housing because children were not allowed. Yet in spite of tremendous obstacles, he remained steadfast in the pursuit of his career while keeping his son safe, happy and within his father’s love and care. “The most important thing I did was I broke the cycle of men not being there for their children,” he said. And so a second time, the crowd rose in acknowledgement of a man who managed today’s priorities without ever losing sight of tomorrow’s possibilities.

4/11/2010

Ron Lang, CEO of SunGard Higher Education, officially welcomed more than 6,000 attendees to SunGard Summit 2010 Sunday. During his address, he reflected on higher education’s unique and extraordinary community. “What I’ve learned in the past year is that this is an open community - always ready to welcome new ideas, new people, new experiences. It’s a collaborative community - generous with its knowledge and with its resources. And it’s an innovative community,” he said.

Lang emphasized that SunGard has been transforming to become a true and valued member of the higher education community. “We at SunGard are leaving our vendor culture behind and are becoming a member of your community,” he told the audience.  He gave several examples of how the company is executing upon its Open Digital Campus strategy to be more open, collaborative and innovative. Two key initiatives are the SunGard Higher Education Commons, an online global community and collaboration site, and the Community Source Initiative — the first and only vendor-supported community source forum dedicated to higher education ERP systems.

“Only a true member would create a community source initiative run by its member, not by us,” said Lang. “We are doing it because it’s the right thing to do. It’s the way a member of a community should act.”

4/11/2010

Jack Kramer, senior vice president of customer satisfaction for SunGard Higher Education, told attendees at Executive Summit that “SunGard is intent on making the transition from being a vendor to being a member of your community.”

Kramer then outlined important traits that SunGard must share with its higher education customers in order to become a true member of their community:

• shared goals,
• mutual trust and respect, and
• collaboration, with each party living up to their end of the bargain.

“We need to put some skin in the game so that our success is tied to your success,” said Kramer, adding that SunGard “is turning the ship and acting more like a member of the community, rather than a vendor.”

4/11/2010

Welcome to SunGard Summit 2010 and my hometown of San Francisco! I am delighted to welcome each of you to this incredible gathering of higher education professionals. This year, you represent 1,400 institutions from 32 countries, with a total of almost 5,400 attendees.

During the next four days, SunGard Higher Education customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders from across the globe will try to answer one very important question: How can higher education fulfill the many priorities it has today while creating a foundation for growth and innovation? We believe the best way we can help you tackle today’s priorities and prepare for tomorrow’s possibilities is by pursuing our core values: our commitment to exceptional service, to accelerated solution delivery, and to being a partner in your success.

Earlier this year we announced our new technology vision and strategy, the Open Digital Campus, a development and delivery approach that embodies those values. With more flexibility, more choice, and a faster time to value, our customers can create the scalable, efficient, and cost-effective digital campuses they need to address today’s challenges and create a sustainable path to the future.

I hope you find value, support and friendships during the next four days. If you have any questions or need help while you are here,  just look for the SunGard Ambassadors in the blue vests or go to one of the information desks located in the South building lobby and West building, second floor. We are looking forward to working with you to tackle today’s priorities and prepare for tomorrow’s possibilities.

– Ron Lang

4/9/2010

At SunGard Summit, we expect to hear a lot of conversation around three strong trends:

• Appreciating the value of collaboration and community; 
• Improving and extending existing technology investments; and 
• A growing interest in alternative delivery methods.

SunGard Higher Education’s Open Digital Campus strategy supports these trends. Following are some new offerings and initiatives that you may want to learn more about at SunGard Summit. Information and discussion can be found in sessions, in the SunGard Higher Education booth in the exhibit hall, in lounges, and in the new Commons online community.

EMBRACING COMMUNITY:

• SunGard Higher Education Commons - a new online forum for information, dialogue, collaboration and networking across SunGard Higher Education’s global customer community. 
• Community Source Initiative - a forum for customers to share and submit enhancements and add-on modules for possible inclusion in SunGard baseline solutions. Using an open-source methodology, structured control boards composed of both customer and SunGard representatives review submissions to help ensure wide community and technical applicability.

EXTENDING THE DIGITAL CAMPUS:

• Aurora - a common platform to support consistent navigation across products, regardless of technology. The first component in the Banner Self-Service user interface modernization, it is delivered as a light, modular and fast upgrade to Banner 8 rather than as a major release. 
• Infinity Process Platform (IPP) - a combination of integrated application components that help institutions tailor functionality to solve specific business problems or increase operational efficiency. 
• Course Signals - a new solution focused specifically on the pain point of student retention, and adapted from an application built by Purdue University that has been remarkably popular with faculty members and students.

ALTERNATIVE DELIVERY MODELS:

• PowerCAMPUS Hosting - an alternative to traditional on-premise implementations where a hosted approach is a better fit for the customer’s needs and priorities. 
• Federal Methodology Need Analysis Calculation - a cloud-based service that replaces multiple mandatory annual upgrades to SunGard Higher Education financial aid modules.

4/5/2010

Join your colleagues in the Academic Lounge during SunGard Summit to network and hear from industry experts on teaching and learning.  On Monday, April 12, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.,  Felice Nudelman, executive director of education for The New York Times, will highlight research on the changing education landscape and the most effective way to engage students in today’s academic enterprise. There will also be a demo of Epsilen, a product with a comprehensive set of learner-centric, Web 2.0 tools that integrates with an institution’s LMS to enhance teaching, learning, research, and collaboration.  Click here for a complete schedule of discussions scheduled for the Academic Lounge.  The academic lounge will be located in the Moscone Center North, Room 110.

Questions?  Contact summit@sungardhe.com.

3/29/2010

One of the most important items that you receive at the conference is your name badge. It is your key to all conference activities and important for networking opportunities.

Again this year, we will be color coding some items on your name badge based on the information you provided when you registered for the conference. To make sure we have everything correct, we ask that you preview your name badge and edit anything you would like to change.

Please login to your registration account. On the menu that displays, select "Review/Edit Name Badge."

Please complete the review and edit (if needed) as soon as possible but, by no later than Thursday, April 1. This will ensure that any changes you do make will be included in the printing of your name badge which is done in advance of the conference.

3/17/2010

In recent years, higher education has gone global in a variety of ways — some more successful than others. International trends and developments will continue to influence higher education policy and institutional operations. To truly prepare students for a globalized world, institutions know that they need to do more than launch traditional study abroad programs. From internationalizing curriculum, to strengthening research capacity, to establishing international partnerships, institutions today are grappling with how to respond to a dynamic and evolving international landscape. Join Eva Egron-Polak, Secretary General, International Association of Universities (IAU), who will report on the main findings of the third IAU global survey on internationalization in higher education. Based on responses gathered from 115 countries around the world, this survey is a comprehensive look at how institutions are thinking through what it means to teach, learn, manage, and connect in a global community.

You don’t want to miss this SunGard Summit plenary session, Tuesday, April 13, 8:00 – 9:00 am. Be sure to add this session to your Summit 2010 Schedule.  

3/2/2010

Every day the people on your campus make extraordinary things possible. We want to celebrate those moments. Upload a minute-long video to the SunGard Higher Education Facebook Wall about the things your institution has made possible. Tell us a little something about what you did and why. At Summit, your video could become a part of our opening ceremonies!

Here are some video tips:

1. Find a great subject. Talk to people on your campus. Ask them to share their stories with you. You might be surprised at what you discover.
2. Get creative with visuals. There's a lot you can do with photos, with words, with images. Experiment.
3. Find the drama. Everyone loves a good story. Above all, make us care as much as you do!

Here's an idea to get you started.  Higher Education Creates Possibilities [HQ] 

2/26/2010

The SunGard Summit 2010 ActionLine Center Appointment Scheduler is now open. ActionLine support analysts for the Banner, Luminis, DegreeWorks, Advance products will be available during the conference to assist you with questions and issues. If you wish to meet with one of our analysts, we highly recommend that you schedule an appointment prior to the conference. You will have the ability to schedule an appointment during the conference; however, timeslots fill up quickly, so we encourage you to reserve time now.

Access the Appointment Scheduler by going to the conference website and selecting: About Summit 2010, Learning Lab & ActionLine Center, ActionLine Center Appointment Scheduler. You will need your password to login to your account in order to set up an appointment.

2/24/2010

During the Summit Opening General Session, Sunday, April 11, SunGard Higher Education’s chief executive officer Ron Lang will challenge us to think more creatively about what technology makes possible right now to address today’s critical challenges and build a sustainable path toward tomorrow. Then, Christopher Gardner, whose autobiography, The Pursuit of Happyness, caught our attention in 2006, joins us to speak about his incredible journey from homelessness to success. You can learn more about Christopher here.

You don’t want to miss the SunGard Summit Opening Kickoff!   Be sure to include the Opening Session when building your Summit schedule. 

2/17/2010

We are pleased to announce that Steve Silver’s Beach Blanket Babylon musical revue will be the Tuesday night entertainment during SunGard Summit.  Beach Blanket Babylon, the longest running musical revue in theatre history, is a zany musical spoof of pop culture with extravagant costumes and outrageously huge hats. With sold-out performances since 1974, Beach Blanket Babylon is an internationally acclaimed San Francisco institution. With more than 12,000 performances in San Francisco, the show has performed for standing room only during its London and Las Vegas engagements. Beach Blanket Babylon continually evolves in its hilarious parodies of current events and popular icons as todays headlines unfold. Click here to learn all the details about our Tuesday night dinner event.

2/4/2010

As you may know, at SunGard Higher Education, we’re working to open the lines of communication in our Finance and Human Resources segment, becoming more accountable, transparent, and helpful!  There are several ways we are doing this, including the Community Source Initiative, the Customer Commons, Customer Advisory Boards, SunGard Higher Education’s new development and product management approach, and much more.  Consider joining us for the Banner Finance and Human Resources Community Day on Saturday, April 10, 2010.  This pre-conference session will provide you with an opportunity to really understand how these initiatives work, how you can become involved, and how you can provide feedback, collaborate, and help shape the future direction of the technology solutions used on your campus. 

In this pre-conference session, we will bring the Banner Finance and Human Resources community together for a full day of discussions on how you, our customers, play a central role in shaping the future of our products.  In addition to customer representatives participating on the boards and representatives from SunGard Higher Education driving these new initiatives, there will also be representatives from SunGard Higher Education’s Development, Product Management, and Executive Teams for you to answer any questions and facilitate discussions.

If you would like more information on this session or are interested in registering, click here to register for this session.

7/13/2009

We’re very pleased to announce that Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea, has accepted our invitation to speak at SunGard Summit’s closing session. Three Cups of Tea, Greg’s story of his remarkable humanitarian campaign to establish schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, has been a New York Times bestseller for more than 120 weeks, received the prestigious Kiriyama Peace Book Award, and was Time magazine’s 2006 “Asia Book of The Year.”  Click here to read full story. 

6/23/2009

Join more than 6,000 of your peers from around the world in San Francisco, April 11-14, for SunGard Summit 2010:  Today’s Priorities.  Tomorrow’s Possibilities.

Speaker Update
John Della Volpe, SocialSphere CEO and Harvard University Institute of Politics Director of Polling, will be speaking about the new millennials at SunGard Summit 2010.  You can learn more about John’s work with millennials by reading his latest blog posting:  Most Colleges Missing Opportunity to Connect with Parents of Millennials.

We look forward to seeing you in San Francisco!

5/19/2009

 John Della Volpe wants you know five facts about millennials:

They are the biggest generation in the history of the world.
They are spiritual, religious and see themselves as a small part of a much larger global community.
They care deeply about their community.
They crave opportunities to make an impact -- They will help if asked.
They elected a President (and you know it).
We want you to know John Della Volpe.

John Della Volpe will be speaking about the new millennials at SunGard Summit 2010, April 11-14, in San Francisco. You can learn more about John’s work with millennials, presidential campaigns, and web polling practices on our speaker page.

Start your planning now and join us for SunGard Summit 2010!