SIMS User Support Plan

STUDENT INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM USER SUPPORT PLAN The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) provides an enterprise-wide Student Information Management System (SIMS), designed to meet the needs of students, faculty and staff in managing their student information. The campus began implementing SCTs Banner 2000 Student Information System in July 2000. UMB has tailored Banner 2000 to meet the needs of the campus. The SIMS project provides support to SIMS users as listed below. REQUESTING HELP: The following resources are available to provide help for SIMS: CITS Assistance & Service Center Help Desk- Phone 410-706-HELP or http://www.umaryland.edu/helpdesk/ or e-mail help@umaryland.edu The SIMS Web page provides technical information, support numbers, forms, user guides, vendor links and general help for many SIMS processes. http://www.umaryland.edu/sims GETTING STARTED WITH SIMS: Staff and Faculty: In order to begin using SIMS, there are a few steps to follow: Determine your SIMS access needs by working with your School/Central Office management and SIMS Strategic Committee representative. Attend SIMS Navigation Training for your use of SIMS. Courses offered are listed on the SIMS web page Training Opportunities tab. Submit a SIMS User Request Form form to the SIMS Project Manager in the Center for Information Technology Services. The form and instructions for completing it are found on the SIMS web page Forms tab. Contact your School/Central Office Local Area Network (LAN) manager to enable SIMS on your desktop. Once a user account is established, the user is added to the SIMS production users distribution list and will receive all SIMS user communications. Students: The SIMS Student Self Service module SURFS (Student UseR Friendly System), provides on-line web access for students to view and change specific demographic information. Students can also view and register for courses, view grades, Financial Aid and Student Billing information. http://www.simsweb.umaryland.edu Beginning in March 2004 prospective Nursing students can apply for admissions via SURFS. Web admission applications will be accepted by additional schools in the near future. SIMS TRAINING SUPPORT SERVICES: SIMS basic functional training is offered through the CITS Assistance & Service Center Enterprise Training Center - http://www.umaryland.edu/helpdesk/. The classes offered are listed on the SIMS web page under the Training Opportunities tab. Each School/Central Office is responsible for follow-up training in their specific use of the SIMS modules. The SIMS web page offers user guides, tips and tricks, action alerts, and other training information for many SIMS processes.
P:\sims\web production pages\support page\sims user support plan.doc 1 11/27/12

SIMS User Support Plan

CITS provides training and documentation support to end users. The training plan has evolved to provide custom designed, topic-specific, hands-on, brief (1-3 hours) training events. Training Support is delivered in the following ways: Introductory SIMS Training Targeted, hands-on training (and lab time) on specific topics User Groups (notes sent to all users) User Surveys for needs analysis Publication of SIMS User Guide all modules Publication of timely Action Alerts and Tips and Tricks (over 35 to date) Publication of the Who's Who in SIMS brochure Quick Reference Guides (that summarize key procedures and processes) Reporting assistance SIMS Web page oversight Dedicated, Vendor supplied training (Crystal Reports Training)

Training Specifics Training and documentation have been developed for the following hands-on, topic-specific workshops: Academic History Workshop Addresses Workshop Course Catalog and Schedule Workshop Excel for SIMS Users Workshop Financial Aid Workshop Financial Aid and Student Accounting Cross-Functional Training Workshop Student Accounting Workshop Grading Workshop Graduation "Module" Workshop International Student Data Entry Workshop Recruitment Module Workshop Schedule Refresher Workshop SIMS "Mock Registration" Cross Functional Testing Tips on Training Workshop Transfer Credit Workshop Other workshops offered as modules are implemented

P:\sims\web production pages\support page\sims user support plan.doc

11/27/12

SIMS User Support Plan

REQUESTING REPORTS: SIMS canned reports: SIMS provides many reports that may be requested via the reporting module in the SIMS system. Also, each School/Central Office has a web reports folder containing many of the SIMS canned reports, developed by CITS and each of the Schools/Central Offices. Contact your local LAN Manager to have the reports folder installed on your desktop. Click List of Campus LAN Managers on http://www.umaryland.edu/sims/support.html SIMS ad-hoc reports: Most of the Schools/Central Offices have staff trained in the use of report writing software who provides support for ad-hoc reporting requests. Users are sharing report-writing techniques with one another via the SIMS Report Writers User Group. CITS provides ad-hoc reporting support by requesting it via the SIMS Task Request form. The form and instructions for completing it are found on the SIMS web page under the Forms tab. The completed form is submitted to the SIMS Project Management at lmasters@umaryland.edu or dtufares@umaryland.edu. REQUESTING ENHANCEMENTS OR NEW FUNCTIONALITY: The CITS Technical Teams, the SIMS Strategic Committee and the SIMS Implementation Team work together to respond to requests for enhancements and new SIMS functionality. Requests can be submitted to either: The SIMS Project Manager via the SIMS Task Request form. The form and instructions for completing it are found on the SIMS web page under the Forms tab. The completed form is submitted to the SIMS Project Management at lmasters@umaryland.edu or dtufares.umaryland.edu. SCT Banner supplied releases, upgrades and patches are applied by the CITS Technical Team on an ongoing basis. SECURITY MANAGEMENT: The CITS SIMS Project Manager is responsible for assigning users to security roles and managing the application security environment. The CITS Operations Supervisor maintains a hardcopy file containing all SIMS User Request forms. Monthly, the CITS Quality Assurance Manager audits the file against the active users on the system to ensure that only authorized users can gain access to SIMS. COMMUNICATIONS: The CITS SIMS Project Manager or his designee is responsible for all SIMS project technical communication to the user community. This includes response to user inquiries directed to the SIMS project team, notification of system downtime for necessary vendor upgrades, patches, etc. SIMS Action Alerts are generated by the SIMS Implementation Team in conjunction with the Enterprise Training Team. The alerts are e-mailed to all SIMS production users as events occur within the system that everyone needs to be aware of. Specific SIMS functional communications are handled by the office(s) responsible for the business process.

P:\sims\web production pages\support page\sims user support plan.doc

11/27/12

SIMS User Support Plan

OTHER SUPPORT PROVIDED: (For details, refer to the SIMS web page) SIMS General Users Group SIMS Report Writers User Group The SIMS Implementation Team conducts weekly meetings with Administrative Offices, and meetings with the Schools as needed. CITS support staff attend regional and national conferences. End users are encouraged to attend as well. CITS support staff subscribe to all appropriate vendor and user listservs.

P:\sims\web production pages\support page\sims user support plan.doc

11/27/12