Awards

1996-7 Quality & Productivity Awards

Royal Bank of Canada, KPMG. Rider University Travel Services and CAUBO

Royal Bank of Canada, KPMG, Rider University Travel Services and Canadian Association of University Business Officers are pleased to announce the following winners of the tenth annual CAUBO Quality & Productivity Awards Program:

Fifteen individual universities and two groups of several institutions submitted thirty-two entries this year. The projects cover the whole gamut of university activity from physical plant to ancillary services, from human resources to student services, from the bookstore to the library, from the classroom to research. They range from old-tech or no-tech to hi-tech, from quite simple to enormously complex.

As has been the trend in recent years, the emphasis continues to shift from savings to quality and benefits for the end user. This is well demonstrated by this year's winning submission, the Acadia Advantage project, which will enhance the learning experience of all students at Acadia University throughout their studies.

In this anniversary year, it is appropriate to celebrate the imagination and hard work of all the individuals at the institutions that have submitted 361 projects over the last decade, resulting in savings of over $60 million and immeasurable improvements in the quality of services. Four universities have an enviable record: the University of Toronto has won 6 awards, The University of Manitoba and McGill University have received 5 awards each, and the Université du Québec à Montréal has earned 4 awards. The University of Manitoba and the Université du Québec à Montréal have the added distinction of having each merited 2 first prizes.

It is also the occasion to gratefully acknowledge the sponsors, Royal Bank of Canada, KPMG and Rider University Travel Services. They have, in addition to funding the awards, helped evaluate the submissions and select the winners. Particular mention must be made of Royal Bank, supporter of the program since its inception and provider of the facilities and technology to evaluate the entries.

M. Cohen
Executive Director, CAUBO
20 May 1997

ACADIA UNIVERSITY (First Prize)

Acadia University launched a $17 million student mobile computing program entitled "The Acadia Advantage" in March, 1996. Students and faculty use the same IBM notebook computers loaded with sophisticated software and with access to the internet. Classrooms, the library, public areas and residences rooms are wired providing equitable access to the world's sources of information at the user's preferred workplace on campus. This application of information technology across the undergraduate curriculum, the first of its kind in Canada, represents the greatest advance in university teaching this century. Less class time is spent on gathering and imparting information and more time analyzing, evaluating and processing information resulting in documented improvement in students' academic performance. Other benefits include elimination of costly upgrades of traditional computer labs, enhanced faculty development, and thousands of dollars of computer literacy training inherent in students' degrees. Experience that can be shared has been gained in network architecture and design, computer leasing programs, user support systems, and partnering with the private sector.

The Acadia Advantage program is the most important educational project ever undertaken by the university and no other initiative since its founding has had such widespread involvement and support from its constituencies.

MCGILL UNIVERSITY (SECOND PRIZE)

We have used the World-Wide-Web as both a scientific programme management system and a publication vehicle and to reduce cost, improve number of papers submitted and number of attendees, and become more efficient. Cost of software development to date is $29,850. Captured, direct savings through reduced printing costs has been $135,000, giving a payback of under six months. The indirect savings through reduced workload are approximately $15,000 per year. Total annual on-going savings resulting from this system are approximately $55,000. Conference attendance has also increased due to increased publicity provided through the web increasing not only revenue but general membership in the association. CD-ROMs to be sold at this year's conference are a new source of revenue with zero cost (a sponsor will press the CDs for no charge).

We developed the Web on Database Abstract Management System (WDAMS) for the Association canadienne-française pour l'avancement des sciences (Acfas) which is Canada's premier francophone scientific conference attracting 3,000 to 4,000 attendees each year. Instead of accepting 3,000 abstract proposals on paper, Acfas now allows professors and students from across Canada to use the World Wide Web to submit their proposals direct to a database. Confirmation of receipt is instantaneous. By requiring conference registration as a condition for submitting an abstract, conference registrations have greatly increased and cash flow is substantially improved.

The Web to Database Abstract Management System (WDAMS) supports receiving, amending, judging, scheduling, and publishing conference abstracts entirely through the World-Wide-Web. Judging is done through the Web by 130 section heads residing anywhere. Acfas publishes the programme and all abstracts including an interactive author index on the Web a full month before the conference. The system was implemented in November 1995 for the 64th Congress and development has continued in 1996/97 for the 65th Congress at l'Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières in May 1997. Acfas plans further development in 1997/98.

Acfas abstracts are now accepted only if they are submitted through the Web. This eliminates paper-handling and allows automated publication of abstracts on the Web before the conference. Abstracts are only published on the Web and are no longer printed thereby saving approximately $15 per conference delegate. The conference programme is generated from WDAMS and delivered to a graphic artist with no retyping. The programme and all abstracts are available on a CD-ROM publication for sale at the conference.

Most importantly, the quality of service provided by Acfas has increased substantially since all conference material is as accessible as the nearest PC and available in both a timely and interactive fashion.

Although the system was developed to support the Acfas conference, it has been designed to handle any conference. This system can be adopted by any institute; WDAMS runs on any Windows/NTTM based Web Server. The approach used in WDAMS is adaptable to many other applications which we are beginning to explore at McGill under the philosophy of "zero-stop-shopping" which improves the quality of service while reducing the cost of delivering that service.

The system was developed by Trevor Garland, Manager Computerized Office Solutions, and Sharon Spriggs, Senior Programmer, based on a concept by Joan Gross, Manager, McGill Conference Office.

THE UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA (THIRD PRIZE)

Over the past ten years The University of Manitoba Physical Plant Department has produced three books designed to illustrate the university's desperate needs for capital to maintain the physical structures and facilities. Using a simple format of photographs and descriptive captions, they provide a readily understandable, attention getting vehicle for presentation to busy board members and preoccupied members of provincial government.

Every aspect of the books have been produced by the efforts of Physical Plant staff, from finding photogenic situations and taking the pictures, to writing text, typesetting with PageMaker and arranging printing.

Results have been very satisfying. The projects which formed the main focus of the first two books received funding soon after the books were produced. The latest book caused somewhat of a stir: in response to the issues raised, the University Board of Governors considered resigning en-masse. This was due to concern over liability under the Manitoba Fire Code. A hastily convened meeting between the Vice President (Administration), Board Chair, and the Secretary to the Treasury Board produced a promise of a rapid funding response to the fire safety issues. We are optimistic that the effort will have paid off again.

INTERUNIVERSITY SERVICES INC. (ATLANTIC REGIONAL AWARD)

(on behalf of ISINet member institutions: Acadia University, Dalhousie University, Univ. of King's College, Mount St. Vincent Univ., N.S. Agricultural College, N.S. Coll. of Art & Design, Saint Mary's University, St. Francis Xavier Univ., Technical Univ. of N.S., Univ. College of Cape Breton)

ISINET - A NOVA SCOTIA HIGHER EDUCATION WIDE AREA NETWORK

ISINet is a Nova Scotia Higher Education Wide Area Network which provides for a single internet connection, and improves the Network Bandwidth quantity and support services available to Member Institutions.

This project's goals include cost control, service improvement, Strategic Supply Management, eliminating services duplication, fostering cooperation, and sharing resources and expertise.

The project process included negotiation and contracting for Internet Service, Telecommunications, Network Management and designing a cooperative Management and Costing Structure that is flexible to accommodate members changing requirements.

On-going operation has provided significant improvments in service levels, while controlling costs and resource requirements for members.

UNIVERSITÉ DU QUÉBEC À MONTRÉAL (QUEBEC REGIONAL AWARD)

1. DESCRIPTION
The overall objective of the professional development program for Student Information and Client Services Personnel is to promote the development of the skills and competencies (both knowledge and "know-how") required for quality student information and client services. The program targets all front-line personnel who provide services directly to the student body, as well as their supervisors, academic administrators, or upper management. It is part of a broader plan that also includes an "Information Kit" containing the tools needed to provide student clientele with precise, updated information, a "Support Network" designed to improve the transfer of information between the various front-line services, and finally, an information campaign to support the efforts of one and all.

The program is made up of an Introductory Module and various specific workshops. The Introductory Module provides a common approach to quality service and is a pre-requisite to the subsequent workshops, which explore specific themes or issues: Communication, Dealing with Difficult Clients, Diversity, "Back-to-Schoolers", and Voice Mail.

2. RESULTS
The Introductory Module alone drew almost 500 people, including managers, academic administrators, employees, and support staff, while subsequent workshops attracted over l25 participants.

As for the other program initiatives, they resulted in: l) the production of an information tool that makes it possible for front-line personnel to respond to general inquiries from students or to refer them to appropriate sources; 2) the implementation of an e-mail, fax, and voice-mail network for the distribution to all front-line personnel (almost 400 members) of any important and urgent information on circumstances that could potentially affect the student administration process; and 3) the organization of five conferences or noontime debates for the benefit of the entire university community.

The program also makes it possible for the units whose staff attend the Introductory Module in high numbers to pursue their efforts by conducting a survey of their student clientele and targeting specific areas for improvement.

Finally, the organizational problems that participants raise during the Introductory Module are recorded and forwarded to the units in question for any changes or corrective measures. The program will resume for a third year in the fall.

UNIVERSITY OF WINDSOR (ONTARIO REGIONAL AWARD)

The Student Self-Service Information System provides University of Windsor students with convenient electronic access to course scheduling, grading, financial, and other useful information via the World Wide Web. Windsor's system was the first of its kind in Ontario and possibly in Canada. Presentations made to other Ontario universities in 1996 led to more institutions developing similar systems.

By combining the best aspects of new and legacy technologies, plus appropriate security considerations, information that was previously available only through a limited number of administrative offices has been unlocked and can now be delivered directly to students virtually "anytime, anywhere".

From a productivity standpoint, the system leverages an existing mainframe database to deliver information through any of the popular internet browsers (such as Netscape). This provides the look and feel of modern system design without the need to rewrite existing legacy systems. Overall investment was modest. No additional equipment was necessary. And after some initial technical hurdles were cleared, development of a World Wide Web interface to harvest mainframe data took only a few weeks to put together.

As a result of moving these common information retrieval functions to the Web, costs associated with delivering the same information through traditional means hace decreased. Lineups at the Registrar's office have been reduced significantly as more students retrieve information electronically. Cost savings of approximately $20,000/year have resulted from reduced printing and mailing of paper forms. Additional form reductions are anticipated with the potential to increase cost savings by a further $7,000-$13,000 per year.

Feedback from students has been extremely positive and use of the system continues to grow. For instance, during the Christmas holiday period in 1996, over 55,000 "hits" were recorded as students accessed their fall semester grades and winter semester course scheduling from wherever they were vacationing. Over time, more functions have been added to the initial menu, including transcript requests and degree audit requests. More capabilities, such as course listings by department and faculty, name and address information, and returning student applications, will be available shortly. Overall the design has been so successful that it is being incorporated into the development of an entirely new Student Information System which will begin rolling out later this year.

UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA (WESTERN REGIONAL AWARD)

The University of Alberta, Canada's largest academic interlibrary lending system, fills 110,000 requests annually serving client institutions throughout North America. Working with software integrator Network Support Incorporated (NSI), it has co-developed Relais - an automated electronic document ordering, processing and delivery system using cutting edge workflow process re-engineering, imaging, and document management technologies.

Clients, who previously might wait up to six weeks, can now obtain documents in 24-28 hours. Relais, now in production prototype, has dramatically improved productivity by eliminating over 70% of the previous paper-based work process, increasing service capacity, and expanding operations to 24 hours per day. Electronic ordering and delivery cuts the entry time into the system from hours to minutes, and provides new Internet delivery options. Relais reduces operational costs, establishes automatic tracking in anticipation of future copyright and accounting requirements, trims delivery costs by over 50% and forestalls additional staff hiring to meet increasing demand.

As a partner in the development of this library-specific software, the University of Alberta is receiving for a five-year period a royalty equal to ten percent of net sales.

The vision for Relais goes beyond basic operational and service economies. The intent is to provide essential bridging technologies for the future digital library.

1) Relais bridges today's library collections, which are almost 95% print-based, to technologies for electronic ordering, digital conversion on demand, and electronic delivery.

2) Relais constitutes the key bridge technology for access to and delivery from the still chaotic environment of large digital repositories, commercial document suppliers and network-based electronic publishers.