The outline of a long-term project that highlighted considerations and methods for a successful deployment of a student information system at the Blackbaud K-12 User Conference in Boston, MA

1. • Melanie Northcutt & Daniel Millbank
Girls Preparatory School
From Education Edge to “ON”:
Our School’s Transition

2. Girls Preparatory School Profile
• Founded: 1906
• Located in Chattanooga, TN
• Enrollment: 600
• Grades: 6 -12
• Faculty/Staff: 130
• Endowment: $30M
• All-Girls Independent Day School
• 1:1 iPad/MacBook Air program
• Blackbaud customers since 1987

3. • Reasons for change
• Best of Breed vs Integrated
• Discovery Process
• Managing change
• Implementation
• Measuring success
• Timeline
Topics

4. Reasons for change
and constituency expectations

5. BEFORE
BB Education Edge
& Admission Office
BB FAWeb/Netclassroom
BB Financial Edge
BB Raiser’s Edge
Payment Gateways
BB “On” Suite
onRecord
onBoard
onCampus
onMessage
BB Raiser’s Edge NXT
BB Financial Edge NXT
BB Payment Services
Blackboard Connect5
FACTS
Disconnected
Integrated
AFTER
Blackboard
Finalsite
Finalsite Office 365
School Messenger
Office365
HOSTED
Microsoft OneNote
G-Suite
Naviance
TurnitIn
MSOneNote

6. Old environment
• Multiple disconnected databases
• Multiple usernames and passwords per user
• Complicated interface
• Out of date information
• Repetition of similar tasks
• Triple entering of same data
• Confusion among offices/departments
• Reliant on an app – not mobile friendly
• Strain on small IT department

7. Desired environment
• One username and password per user
• User friendly interface
• Real-time synced information
• Increased efficiency
• Eliminate duplicate entry
• Improved communication between offices
• Responsive web portals
• “Integration first” approach

8. VS
Best of breed
Integrated

9. Best of Breed system
• Best toolset for each office
• Flexible future selection
• Multiple databases – redundancy
Benefits
• Inconsistent look and feel
• Higher operational costs
• Vendor management
• Higher complexity
• Possibility of multiple credentials
Drawbacks

10. Integrated system
• Reduced complexity
• Information availability
• Consistent look and feel
• Support familiar with DB
connections.
• Lower operational costs
• Less burden on school’s IT
Benefits
• Most all eggs in one basket
• Possibility of less functionality
Drawbacks

11. Discovery Process
and critical decision factors

12. • Try not to consider cost at this point
• Establish a committee of motivated
representatives from each area of your school
• Do research and prerequisite prep work
• Create an RFP (Request for Proposal)
• Have a collaborative vendor vetting/decision
process
• Plan and schedule implementation
Suggested initial steps

13. • Do you reveal your budget or not?
• Share your technical environment and
competencies
• Clearly articulate current vs desired environment
• Provide proper proposal guidelines and
expectations
• Always ask for references
Request for Proposal document

14. Managing resistance
Lessons Learned

15. • Anticipate and plan for resistance
• Use a stakeholder driven approach
• Aim for buy-in by all stakeholders
• Show that this is a data-driven and unbiased
approach
• Over-communicate the value added throughout the
entire process
• Focus on always being understood and responsive
What worked for us

16. Tie project to the mission
and the culture of the school
instead of presenting it as a
new development

17. 1. Initial
excitement
2. People
see what
they want
to see
3. Reality
kicks in
4. Strong
focus on
training and
value-add
5. Acceptance
and comfort
with change
Source: Gartner’s Hype Cycle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hype_cycle
Anticipate and Plan

18. Three Levels of Resistance
Source: Beyond the Wall of Resistance, Rick Maurer
Level
RESISTANCE NEED ACTION
1 “I don’t get it…”
Intellectual / Understanding
Information & Clarity
Communicate more.
Not enough compelling case for change.
Focus on training, inclusiveness and
transparency
2 “I don’t like it…”
Reaction / Emotional / Concern
Support & Empathy
Use social capital and positive peer pressure.
Remove as much fear as your can.
3 “I don’t like you…”
Confidence / Personal / Trust
Alternative
messengers
Focus on empathy and compassion.
History of neglect?
Rebuild relationships.

19. Implementation
Are you ready?

20. Are you ready?
• Dedicated person(s) to handle the project
• Documentation - Is everything in writing?
• Prepare for initial data import
• Implementation Timeline
• Communication to constituents of
impending changes
• Have a training plan ready

21. Measuring success
Is this working?

22. After – Life with “ON”
• Increased usage for all constituents
• Feedback about friendly interface
• More accurate data
• More data collected
• Greater office efficiencies
• More data driven culture
• One portal for constituent information
• Faculty, admin and students thinking “MyGPS”

23. Training and Support
• Included training from vendor (make sure you
are clear from vendor what this includes)
• Additional training packages
(i.e Learn Everything)
• Leverage tech integrationist for faculty
• Data Operations Manager for admin and staff
• New student and parent new portal classes
• Dedicated website for customized training

24. Advice and Lessons Learned
• Budgeting
• Documentation
• Networking
• Future Considerations
• Staffing
• Over communicate
Lessons Learned
• Name it!
• onMessage first
• Unrealistic expectations
• Work in progress
• Don’t underestimate Policies &
Procedures and Best Practices
• It never ends!
Advice

25. How long does it take?
Implementation timeline

26. RFP 2014
Dec
Interview
stakeholders
Approval &
submittal of RFP
School-wide vendor
presentations
2015
April
Contract signing
2015
May
Kick-off call with implementation team
2014
Sept
Project & budget
approved by head
of school
Initiation

27. 2015
June
Training continued
Parent and student
records imported
2015
Aug
Gradebooks & Attendance
Admission inquiry, application and
checklists created
2015
May
Scheduled and begun training sessions
Faculty records imported
Sandbox created for faculty training
2015
July
Scheduled training sessions
Course data imported
LMS online, available for teachers
2015
Sept
Historical grade data imported
Admission candidates imported
Report cards implemented
Alumnae data clean up
2015
Oct
Naviance SSO
Alumnae data
imported

28. Athletics module implementation
Alumnae imported into Core
2016
Jan
Website kick-off meeting
Online enrollment/reenrollment
VM of old Education Edge
2015
Dec
Transcripts
Parent and student
records imported
2016
Feb
Online Course Requests
Admission inquiry, application and
checklists created
2016
April
Connected alumnae DB
Schedule maker implemented
Priority on cleaning up alumnae database

29. 2016
Aug
G-suite integration
OneNote integration
2016
Oct
Target Analytics integration
2016
May
Expanded training options:
Unlimited instructor-led training
for everyone.
2016
Sept
TurnitIn integration
Norton’s Inquizitive integration
Student billing alternatives
2016
Nov
Business DB rebuild
Business and Dev. integration
Asset allocation implemented
2016
Dec
Website
implementation

30. • Make sure to use the hashtag #BBK12UC!
@magistran
@dmillbank
linkedin.com/in/melanie-northcutt
linkedin.com/in/millbank
How to contact us
mnorthcutt@gps.edu
dmillbank@gps.edu
Email