Administrative Information Systems (AIS) is an area within Information
Technology Services (ITS) which has primary responsibility for implementing and
maintaining university-wide software applications that support broad impact
administrative functions.
AIS
Services Overview
Administrative Information Systems develops and maintains central
information systems which aid UNCA in information
processing of an institutional nature. Central system services include support
for:
- Human Resources, Student Information, Finance, Alumni and Development
and Financial Aid
- Web interfaces to central databases such as registration and advising
- Portal services such as OnePort
- Reporting services and
report repositories
- Ancillary systems including OneCard
- Development of ancillary systems
- Archiving historical institutional data
These central server systems provide a computing environment to support
the university business practices and academic accounting.
The administrative offices are regarded as the "owners" of the
systems and are responsible for their data integrity. Administrative
Information Systems oversees system design in conjunction with user
departments, maintains and updates system software, and implements
user-determined production schedules.
The support provided by
Administrative Information Systems
increasingly crosses the traditional boundary between "administrative
computing" and "academic computing." More and more frequently,
academic departments and individual faculty need to access central
administrative systems (student information, departmental budget data)
to do their jobs and Administrative Information Systems helps them in
that effort.
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Use Management, Administrative Systems
Administrative
Information Systems creates and manages accounts on
the central system servers. Members of the university community who have
been authorized access to these systems by management are trained and
granted access to appropriate services.
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Software System Support
Purchased Systems - The core of the administrative
information systems effort at UNCA is Banner.
Staff in Administrative Information Systems install upgrades to Banner,
implement a small number of customized changes for UNCA, provide technical
support for the offices as they develop customized data dictionaries, and encourage system
clients to maximize the usefulness of the systems. In particular, they
work with users on the generation of reports from their systems, using the
4GL product, WebFOCUS.
Banner Finance handles all processing of university financial data, including
budgeting and the generation of financial statements. It has significant
modules for Purchasing and Accounts Payable and interfaces with both
Banner Student and Banner Advancement.
Banner Student maintains student academic records, supports web-based class
registration, and has significant modules for admissions, financial aid
processing, student billing, computer-assisted advising, classroom
scheduling, a student, faculty and advising web interface.
Banner Advancement maintains alumni record-keeping and supports fund-raising efforts
both among the alumni and in the external community.
Banner Human Resources maintains employee records for all faculty and staff. The records
maintained in this system provide valid employee authentication for
numerous web based information services.
In-House Systems - Administrative Information Systems has designed
and implemented several custom, information systems for UNCA.
These systems are on-line and are developed in using tools
appropriate for the intent. Most systems are web-enabled.
In-house systems support SGA elections, the
Scholarship management, University Fellows and Scholars program,
orientation, grants and contracts, UNCA's Super Saturday program, the
campus telephone/electronic mail, the master calendar of events,
and various organization surveys.
PC Systems - Administrative Information Systems staff support offices that use personal computer systems to process university data.
(Support for personal productivity applications in administrative offices
is provided by the User Services division.)
Staff work with campus offices to assess whether a personal computer
system ... as opposed to central system ... is an appropriate
solution for an information processing problem. If a PC system is
appropriate, staff help implement the system and provide ongoing
support for it.
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Database Web Application Administration
Administrative
Information Systems provides support to academic and
administrative departments for the development of departmental web pages which
involve display of data from central databases.
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User Training
Administrative Information Systems (AIS) recommends appropriate training for
administrative central system users. Training interactions for
AIS staff are frequently informal, often
done on an appointment basis in an individual user's office and this
includes supplemental training to Banner
knowledge workers.
(The formal BANNER Finance and Banner Student training efforts are the responsibilities
of Financial Affairs and the Registrar's Office, respectively. Campus
users seeking access to Banner Finance or Student should contact those offices first.)
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Consulting
Administrative Information Systems provides consulting to faculty, staff,
and administrators on accessing and using computerized institutional
information. Staff inform clients about what information is available
and help them select and access the information that meets their needs.
Staff also help offices decide what information should be considered
institutional. UNCA policy is to store and process institutional
information in information systems running on the central computer, as
opposed to personal computer systems.
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Maintenance of Historical Data
Administrative Information Systems staff, in conjunction with
Systems and Networks, archive historical data and make it
conveniently available to the Office of Institutional Research, which is
responsible for university reporting.
Administrative Computing and Institutional Research work closely in this
effort, developing strategies for data access and techniques for data
archiving. Institutional Research uses SAS on the academic VMS system to
access historical data.
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