A Look at Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise Campus Solutions 9.0

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Software Review

A Look at Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise Campus Solutions 9.0

4/30/2007

By Steve Grantham

Boise State University is the largest university in Idaho with more than 18,000 students. Though perhaps best known for our football team's blue turf and dramatic win over Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, the university is also recognized for its strengths in geophysics, raptor biology, engineering, set theory, nanotechnology, biomolecular research, forensics, international relations, and other areas, and is well on its way toward becoming a metropolitan research university of distinction.

As at any university, technology plays an important role in supporting all aspects of Boise State's mission. The university's 1995 Strategic Plan established as a strategic priority the replacement of disparate, legacy administrative computing systems with an integrated ERP system to handle critical business needs. Since the late 1990s, Boise State University has worked with Oracle/PeopleSoft to implement applications that help us better serve our constituents while improving administrative efficiency.

Boise State’s Implementation History

After a false start with the soon-defunct TRG system in 1996, the University selected PeopleSoft in 1997. We went live on PeopleSoft Enterprise Financial Management and PeopleSoft Enterprise Human Capital Management in July 1998, followed by a phased implementation of the Student Administration system (now Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise Campus Solutions) between September 1998 and March 1999. The student system was a brand new product at that time, so we were among the earliest pioneers in adopting it--and then in upgrading almost immediately to version 7.6, in February 2000.

The first highly visible benefits of the PeopleSoft implementation appeared in October 2000 with the implementation of BroncoWeb, our Web-based, self service student registration system. As we had never before had any form of self service registration, this was a huge step forward. Over the next several years, we expanded the system’s functionality to include financial aid, billing and payment, degree audit, employee and faculty self service, and other features. The success of this effort was reflected in the fact that in a survey of our graduating seniors, BroncoWeb received the highest satisfaction ratings among all University services.

Working with the Higher Education User Group

Boise State has always been characterized by an entrepreneurial but collegial spirit, and its Oracle/PeopleSoft experience has reflected that. Though preferring to avoid modifications and customizations where possible, we found that there were many places where they were needed in order to realize the full potential of the system and to give users the features and clarity they deserved. So we made those modifications--and shared many of them freely with other Oracle/PeopleSoft institutions through the Higher Education User Group (HEUG).

The HEUG is a remarkably effective, independent, non-profit organization that represents the interests of all institutions of higher education that use Oracle/PeopleSoft applications.