Is There a Need for Revamping the Student Information Systems?

Research shows that the world of student information systems (SIS), the decades-long standard for collecting, tracking, and reporting student data, may again be poised for evolution.

Fremont, CA: Concerning the system of record for most colleges and universities, the SIS is a mission-critical solution that most students and staff use, impacting nearly all parts of the university. In a report, Eduventures made two key observations: many institutions are leaning on their legacy SIS to get the job done. Recently, the implementation rate of new systems has slowed to a shadow of its former self.

Data indicates that nearly 75 percent of the U.S. higher education market operates an SIS that is over ten years old. With the budgetary pressures, the resilience of on-premises solutions, and bureaucratic malaise will inhibit the rate in which institutions replace their SIS, and these two findings show that institutions will increasingly have to make critical decisions in the coming years about their SIS solutions.[vendor_logo_first]

Much of the need for change comes from the various student paths, or journeys, students take from higher education. Eduventures is likely to confluence different student journeys that institutions have to be equipped to serve, to a freeway system. Similar to the paths that students take through school, freeways are not always single, with a pre-defined starting point and terminus but, slightly, numerous routes that wind throughout the institution—often ending up in different places.

The SIS has made essential changes to support transformation—both in offering more student-centric functionality and the potential to collect, analyze, and store more data. But many institutions are preparing for an even more engaging student experience with students who take different, varied pathways through higher education, needing various technology functionality, and processes.

The SIS is not only to be a catalyst for transformation; it must provide for greater flexibility and a highly comprehensive understanding of students. Flexibility may mean that an off-ramp or on-ramp need not necessarily result in a start or endpoint, but it exists along a continuum, for instance, taking into account that a number of students arrive at college with the skills and experiences they have already acquired.

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