No student could go through their time at RPI without using the Student Information System, and in the past, few students could go without getting angry at it for being slow or down during a time of need. However, the staff of the Integrated Administrative Computer Solutions department has spent countless hours over the past month trying to cure the ills of this system.
According to Jeffrey Miner, director of IACS, outdated hardware was a cause of many of the systems faults this semester. The failure on the Sunday of finals week last semester was caused by a blown disk drive, and the usual slow response time of the system could be blamed on the system’s inability to handle the load being placed on it. The hardware has been slated for replacement for some time now, but the Institute’s efforts to ensure it gets the best deal it can have delayed the switch, taking over a year.
This has also caused a delay in an update of the software that runs SIS. A critical update to the Banner system was delayed a few months due to the impending hardware change, as was an update to the Oracle database system. The hardware was finally changed at the beginning of this month, and the software updates were made. The upgrade to the Oracle system took 60 continuous hours of work, while the upgrade to Banner, which took place Martin Luther King weekend, took over 80 hours.
“We were doing a lot of catch-up on this one,” said Miner. The Banner system is usually updated every 18 months, but this last was the first update since May of 2000.
Normally, he said, the two updates would not be done so close together, but changes in the regulations on financial aid made it necessary to perform an update to SIS before February 1. “I’ve already promised my staff that we won’t be doing this again,” he joked.
Registrar Sharon Kunkle touted the new features of the system. For one thing, she said, the practice of having to enter your PIN a second time is gone. Instead, those using the system for the first time this year will be presented with a window asking them to enter a “Security Question.” This will enable users to retrieve their PIN should they forget it between uses.
“Student forgetting their PINs was a huge problem that we needed to fix,” she said.
After that, students will notice that there is a new look to the system. For one, a search box is in the top left of the screen, allowing students to find what they need more readily. There is also a new site map serving the same purpose.
“The response times should really be up, too,” said Kunkle.
Miner agreed. “The updates should really increase the reliability and availability of the system.”
There may be some more features in the near future, Kunkle said. They are currently examining the use of some of the faculty features, and considering including a function for making credit card payments online.
By this time next year, there may be many new features on the system. A new version of Banner will be available in May, and IACS expects to have it up and running by this time next year. Students should expect a major weekend update similar to the one we just experienced about every eight months, Miner said. His office plans to stay ahead of schedule so that there will not be a repeat of the failures of the past four months.
