Suns conference presentation 2015

Editor's Notes

1. “Hello, and welcome, to a presentation about my first year as a Sunapsis Coordinator at the University of Arkansas.” Started as a temporary employee and our office made the position permanent after a few months. Changed careers from journalism to IT support. I also received some DSO and F-1 advising training.
2. Where we’ve been, and where we’re going Priorities Development methodologies: Waterfall and Agile/SCRUM Possible Roadblocks Helpful Tools for Maintenance Keeping Users a Priority Flowcharts and Planning Documentation and Training Open discussion, Questions and Answers
3. It’s been difficult with SEVIS changes.
4. University of Arkansas tried to support Sunapsis initially with advisors maintaining it, but needed to hire a coordinator to keep this effort focused. The University of Arkansas’ Sunapsis coordinator position is divided into also being a DSO and a co-front desk person for advising (with a gatekeeper before me acting as the main front desk person). We may have to remove the DSO and co-front desk responsibilities, for development and support is difficult with interruption.
5. The Sunapsis coordinator will have to either be divided into multiple positions, or the coordinator wear multiple hats of developer, tech support specialist, project manager and maybe DSO and other compliance responsibilities. Our priorities should have been to develop easier e-forms and checklists first over e-form groups, yet, we started with H1-B and J-1 e-form groups. Having the data feed error free and valid should also be a priority, but some of this may fall on a Database Administrator, if possible. Travel signature requests, I-20 program extensions, and e-forms that are single page forms should have been a greater priority.
6. We have completed many single page forms, and a few multiple e-form groups. This presentation can be emailed to you, or made available (if this list is needed by anyone). The e-form groups take longer to work with: Takes time to work out how each form works with others in the group. Business processes should be revised along with these e-form groups.
7. These are the e-form groups we’ve completed. We are still revising e-forms and groups. We’re working on the Pre-arrival and Orientation Checklists and are trying to divide it between four student groups: Undergraduate Graduate Visiting Students Transfer Students
8. We are starting to develop custom solutions such as custom alerts, reports, checklist task extensions, and custom e-form extensions. The list gets more difficult on down. Custom reports are easier than alerts, with custom e-form extensions being the most difficult. Programming in ColdFusion is required to make an e-form extension, while a report and a checklist task extension is more SQL based authoring. Custom components are not supported by Sunapsis.
9. H-1B, J-1 Student Intern Optional Practical Training Admissions checklist for an affiliated language center Constant refinements, improvements, and technical support On-the-job self-teaching of ColdFusion, SQL, and other technical elements that interface with Sunapsis More custom extensions using these technical elements.
10. Develop single e-forms over more complex e-form groups A Sunapsis Coordinator that is both DSO and Technical Specialist bridges the gap between compliance and technical development. We’re not done yet…Any questions or comments on this section?
11. I mentioned I would prioritize what I have been working on differently if given the chance. So, what are these priorities?
12. Having a valid and refined datafeed. Test with as many modules and functions in Sunapsis as possible. Wrong admission data, for example, could produce incorrect alerts and reports, as well as add incorrect students to checklists. After the datafeed is refined, work on alerts with their categories and automatic emails. Solidify a document storage system and methods.
13. Develop procedures to address SEVIS Batch Management. Who approves, who addresses errors, who resubmits batches, etc. Basically do as much with Sunapsis as possible before developing new elements that will need testing. During this time priorities may shift, and some e-forms and checklists may become more important than initially thought of. Develop individual e-forms over e-form groups and checklists.
14. Data Feed: The cornerstone of operations. Having a good, clean, and valid data feed will make all other Sunapsis operations easier. Emphasize to compliance and general staff that this is a good time to examine processes to streamline, and then translate them from paper to paperless. Determine why you are doing something, and then translate it into a how.
15. With so many elements to work on, what is a good test to determine what should be priority? Whatever best servers your students. This may be saving your advisors time by using automated emails, so they can have more face time with students. However, surveys of students/scholars and to make sure their needs are being met should be a higher priority.
16. Just an overview of this section, about Priorities… Having a valid and refined Datafeed. Work on individual e-forms first, then more complex e-form groups, and then the checklists that supports these groups. Any questions or comments about prioritizing what a Sunapsis Coordinator may perform?
17. Just an image from a television comedy, from HBO, entitled “Silicon Valley” involving software development. They have a SCRUM board in the back…keeping track of a project’s progress with categories and sticky notes. …more about Project Management later.
18. This section is about Software Development Methodologies Applied to Developing Sunapsis Elements Not just for software programming. Associated with Just-in-Time methodologies, such as JIT manufacturing, used by Toyota, aimed at reducing development in production and responses to suppliers and customers. We will go over two concepts: Agile/SCRUM, and Waterfall
19. Waterfall: Still good for quick development where feedback is mostly needed just at the beginning (for projects where needs are known and will not (likely) change). Ask the user requesting the development “What will you need to do your job after this project is finished?” Tell the story of the Sponsored Student Program’s request of an alert for Expiring Financial Guarantee. They wanted an alert to trigger 30 and 15 days before a date in a custom table and field. The alert was developed, but they now want certain students excluded. So, we will have to redevelop the item. What was delivered was what they wanted, but after receiving what they asked, they then wanted improvements. Still probably good to have used Waterfall. The delivered products works, but just needs refinement. The case is closed, so to speak. So, may be best to start a new process of development to meet new requirements and needs to then develop and deliver a new product.
20. I don’t know for sure, but it seems Sunapsis is development in an Agile fashion. They seem to react to our input, SEVIS changes, and are not so concerned with developing a polished end product as opposed to delievering a constantly evolving product that addresses our input and changes in International Education and Compliance. Collect feedback from users, and then act on it: Address user needs with development.
21. The following are tenets of the Agile method, but basically it is to put the software users as a priority. Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Working software over comprehensive documentation Customer collaboration over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a plan The desired results? Software that constantly readdresses what meets the needs and requirements of its users.
22. Satisfy clients (students and scholars) and continuously develop software. Plans change and short development cycles (one-four weeks) developed just-in-time means delivering a product that can be tested and then re-developed more quickly than using a “waterfall” approach. Refer to changing requirements (good with changing compliance). Deliver working software frequently. This can apply to e-forms and their groups, checklists, etc. Deliver elements you can then gather feedback for, and then work to improve. Developers and software users work together. Users give feedback to developers that then work this feedback into improvements. Teams are self-organized: Give an e-form group to a team and have them become owners that are responsible for driving changes to their product. As a team: Routinely reflect on how to improve and adjust.
23. This is a graphic comparing Waterfall verses Agile. Waterfall can have a greater risk, for the users will only get to know the product once it has been developed. For a developer however, this could be desired if there is limited time to interact with the users needing an element developed. “You asked for this product, and here is what you asked for.” Agile has less risk as the product is being constantly delivered to where the user then can test and see if this product meets their needs. Other needs and features may be thought of once the product is tested, and what the final product will include. More interaction is needed for Agile/SCRUM, and this interaction can’t always be had.
24. Waterfall and Agile/SCRUM are two good process management methods to research further. Agile/SCRUM is more suited toward reacting to changes and user feedback. It is more adaptive. Waterfall can still be good for straightforward projects. Both are different and opposing methods, but each can be useful depending on the situation and element being developed.
25. I’ve encountered many roadblocks throughout the year I have been with the University of Arkansas.
26. Development over time must give into more tech support, testing, and refinement. Sunapsis end-user developers may have to be both software developer and tech support. Maintain support ticket system: there must be a solid and dependable way of capturing issues, tracking them, and making sure they are resolved.
27. I just started keeping track of requests, and we’re finding that currently I am not quite able to keep up with the amount of requests compared to what’s getting done. We’re looking into having a front desk person take some of the responsibilities away from the Sunapsis coordinator. When you’re receiving more requests than can be completed: that’s an issue. This is also another reason a Support Ticket System should be implemented and maintained.
28. The more you develop: the more you should support. Track your progress. Try and keep yourself from being overwhelmed.
29. So, what are some tools that could help with all of these responsibilities?
30. What are some tools and processes that will help with development and maintenance of Sunapsis? We’ll look into how Daily Maintenance is important. Then give some various tips for development and maintenance.
31. A support ticket/help desk management system. Could use your university IT ticket system, off-the-shelf such as JIRA, Salesforce, Zendesk, etc. or even Sunapsis. Some way of collecting issues so they can be addressed. We use our University ticket system and email to collect issues. OneNote or the above system to document issues encountered and solved. Start developing procedures to handle datafeed failures and other emergent situations. Visio or other system for flowcharting
32. Notepad++ with XML Tools installed SQL tools such as MS SQL Server Management Studio Learn some SQL and gain access to (at least) read permissions to the production and test Sunapsis databases. I found it best to have read/write access on test and read access on production. I have to use our IT services to perform upgrades and advanced modifications to the Sunapsis database. Some ColdFusion programming is needed for custom extensions, but this should be last priority. XML Tools with Notepad++ and/or XML Notepad for XML Validation. Make sure your datafeed remains valid!
33. Help advisors go through SEVIS Batch Management, and/or follow procedures of what to do for which errors and conditions. E.g., if error code is S1146, then resubmit batch. Check table “sevisCreateBatch” for batches unable to process. Go through each item and find the reasons items are not processed and fix their issues so that batching continues to function correctly. Check Alerts. Check Checklist progressions. Check Authorization to Access Departmental E-Forms. Check that Sunapsis is importing notes from an email account. Determine how front desk check-ins and support staff (such as G.A.s and Student Workers) are going to work with Sunapsis.
34. Keep E-Form groups consistent between Production and Test servers. Perhaps copy the production database over the test database after backing up any development, on occasion. Subscribe to the Sunapsis ListServ. Keep documentation on local changes and issues, project progress, and how many to-dos are being requested compared to the ones completed.
35. We try and always start with flowcharts at the beginning of a project to determine its production needs. Our office had trouble seeing the importance of flowcharts until we learned they could save time. Especially for Waterfall projects: They are good to document what a user would like to receive from new development
36. Flowcharts and planning ahead are very important. Have compliance staff solidify and revise existing processes while translating them from paper based to paperless processes.
37. Collect notes and flowcharts in a centralized area such as OneNote, and then develop outside documentation for all types of users (students, scholars, departmental users, etc.). Inform and educate staff, students and scholars about your Sunapsis system. How to fill out e-forms and work through checklists, etc.
38. Have a support ticket system in place. Collect all developed documentation in a centralized location. Learn some SQL and ColdFusion to help with relating issues to your IT teams and Sunapsis Support. Develop and perform daily maintenance to keep Sunapsis running smoothly. Use flowcharts to capture and relate user needs for development purposes. Document processes and train your Sunapsis users when possible.
39. Always have students and scholars served by Sunapsis, as opposed to only creating elements that save foreign student advising time and address their needs.
40. My email: Sevic@uark.edu