Jenzabar
We are counting down to Go-Live
In June of 2022 the Board of Education approved the College entering a contractual arrangement with Jenzabar for the Jenzabar One Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. We worked closely with Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) consultants to negotiate the best terms and conditions for RCC. Before the holiday break, RCC and Jenzabar formally entered a formal service contract.
The following January, the Steering Committee was renamed to the Jenzabar Implementation or J1 Taskforce and boasted members from several divisions and departments. This assured us that we had the right people in the right place and the right time with the right resources. By identifying key stakeholders, this team leveraged their institutional knowledge and set this project on the right trajectory by starting process mapping in November – before signing the contract! The New Year brought a whirlwind of meetings to schedule out the work by phase and also plan for critical data passes and testing and blackout dates.
By spring, the selection of Module Managers and Validation Teams were identified, and an 18-month project timeline was constructed with a Go-Live date in August of 2024. April 25, 26 & 27 was a strategic Planning Session and Kickoff meeting for the Module Managers. These meetings identified the average time commitment for each Module Manager will range between 240 and 500 hours over the implementation! Shortly after, we began the Business Process Discovery and Walkthrough phase designed to determine our needs and match them with Jenzabar’s modules. This started the process of submitting integration paperwork for essential software needed for Go-Live. Based on this work, Jenzabar was able to determine a go-dark timeline beginning July 19-28, 2024, with data validation work July 29, through 31 and module testing from August 1 through 9.
May brought considerably more collaborative work with Jenzabar and RCC Project Managers and Module Managers. A core group was able to attend the Jenzabar Annual Conference or JAM in late May and they came back energized and excited about all the demonstrations, endorsements and new modules Jenzabar launched.
Two JAM debrief sessions were offered, college-wide, on Monday, June 12 and Thursday, June 15, with the core group of conference attendees sharing about their enriching experiences, enhance collaboration, networking and expanded knowledge gained by attending this informative event. June also brought revisions to the Go Dark and Go-Live periods beginning August 1st.
In July the frequency of Module Managers meetings increased to bi-weekly between Admissions, Registration, Advising, Finance and Financial Aid to finish work on Business Processes and Configurations for an August deadline. A new feature was added to the website allowing staff, students and community members to post questions, share observations and make general comments about Jenzabar and the implementation process. Adding to the significance of the project, the Jenzabar Project Managers made their debut in contributing an E-Team Report, meticulously crafted to provide comprehensive updates for the Board of Education. These resources and more, can be found here.
The first Jenzabar Engagement Team Forum took place on August 24 with 72 colleagues in attendance. Additional meetings have been scheduled through the end of the year and we look forward to providing transparent communications college-wide. The first Jenzabar module to Go-Live is for Campus Marketplace which will accommodate non-credit, high school and agency registrations for Fall Term.
September 25 marked the grand unveiling of the Ossie ChatBot, armed with an impressive arsenal of 259 pre-programmed responses. This dynamic tool is designed to tackle a multitude of frequently asked questions that new and returning students may have. Take a moment to explore its capabilities, located conveniently in the bottom right-hand corner of RCC’s webpage, and lend us your insights to further enhance its performance. Your feedback is the key to refining this innovative resource.
The team completed the J1 configuration training in October. Configuration refers to the process of selecting programmable options within J1 that causes the software to function the way RCC (Rogue Community College) prefers. These options are limited and are not an actual customization.
November was the culmination of all previous work and training with the successful completion of J1 configuration.
The team’s focus in December and early January was to fine-tune the translation tables and data mapping. The translation tables are used to make the required conversion of data from RogueNet to Jenzabar. Data mapping is the process of matching fields between the two databases.
In late January, we successfully completed the data migration from RogueNet to Jenzabar – Lovingly known as the first data pass! The Rogue team is currently collaborating with the Jenzabar team to validate the data and address any arising issues. Initial findings suggest that the translation tables and data mapping were skillfully executed by the RCC team. Jenzabar expressed excitement over the timely completion and the quality of the translation tables and data mapping!
On February 9th, Jenzabar provided RCC Project Managers with a project update. We have successfully completed half of the implementation! Jenzabar continues to be impressed with RCC’s organization, ability to meet deadlines, quality of work, and dedication to successful implementation. All of this has led Jenzabar to give us a unique opportunity to GoLive earlier than August. After a thorough review of our progress, the initial success of the first data pass, and considering what is best for students, we have decided to move the Go-Live date. Please see the new calendar above.
The visual timeline below provides a vivid picture of our current position on the road to implementation.
