Datatel Update to Board

In 1997, Austin Community College budgeted $2.5 million over five years to fund the purchase and implementation of a new management information system. The funds were used to implement the Datatel system, IBM hardware, maintenance and both on-site/off-site Datatel training and consulting.

The College purchased the Datatel system for the following reasons:

  • Datatel system is an integrated system that provides one platform for all administrative information to be stored, maintained and backed up. This eliminated the need for departmental "shadow systems" that stored redundant information.
  • Datatel supports and maintains the Texas State and Federal reporting requirements.
  • Datatel’s partnerships support ACC’s strategies in distance education, eCommerce, eBusiness, reporting and electronic data interchange (EDI).
  • Datatel system increases the efficiency of ACC’s support staff while improving the accuracy and timeliness of information.
  • Datatel’s integrated security system allows the College with easily maintain users accounts and screen access.
  • Datatel system pushes the responsibility for data entry and maintenance to the appropriate departments in the college while maintaining data integrity and confidentiality.
As an overview, the Datatel system consists of six integrated systems. Each system is summarized below:
System
No. of Modules
Implemented
Scheduled
 Module Scheduled
CORE
8
7
0
Business Services
11
6
1
  • Project Accounting 
Human Services
6
4
0
Student Services
10
7
2
  • Resource/Schedule 25 
  • Campus Organizations
Student System Reporting
2
2
0
Information Technology Systems
8
7
1
  • Web Advisor
Total
38
34
4

As can be interpreted from data above, the Datatel system is 89.7% implemented with the remainder of the modules scheduled for implementation.

Accomplishments with Datatel

Item Description
TX State Reporting Meeting  TX Datatel clients have been meeting with Datatel for 2 days each month to improve the State Reporting module. Meetings are scheduled through December.
Datatel CEO-CIO Summit CEOs and CIOs from Dallas, North Harris, Austin and Tarrant met with Russ Griffith, CEO of Datatel, and his staff to discuss common needs and future product developments. The meeting took place in Dallas in July and has resulted in better communication. 
Automated DREG Austin has developed a process that automates the de-registration process for Business Services. This has cut the amount of processing time by two thirds. 
Budget Development System IT has implemented a web based Budget Development system that rolls into the Datatel system. The system will be modified to include Position Budgeting this year.
Faculty Agreements IT, HR and the Deans have developed a Faculty Agreements system that:
  1. Tracks Dean approval of agreements on line
  2. Prints agreements
  3. Creates payroll entry based on agreement amount
  4. Incorporates information required for TX State Reports
eTime System IT and HR have developed and are piloting an electronic time keeping system. Business Services, Human Resources and IT are using the system. The system collects the information on the web and then automatically rolls into the Datatel system.
Personnel Authorization System IT has rewritten the PA system. The new system is faster and simplifies the process.
TASP Tracking System Student Services and IT have refined the TASP tracking system. The system is being considered by Datatel as a model for the TASP State Reporting processing.
CE Telephone Registration Continuing Education is registering student through telephone registration. CE went LIVE in Jan of 2001 with no problems.
Electronic Student Applications IT has developed an electronic student application. The application provides students with a web page for information entry. The information is rolled into Datatel twice a day. 
eStaffing System Recommendations from the eStaffing team were incorporated into the system for the Spring 2002 assignments. The recommendations have resulted in better communication, faster processing and less paper.