rSmart Selected by University of Washington to Implement Kuali Open Source Student Information System (SIS)

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Dec. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- rSmart, provider of higher education technology solutions built on open source Kuali software, announces today that the company was selected to implement Kuali Student Curriculum Management (KSCM) with the University of Washington. KSCM is one module of Kuali Student that improves course and program development for faculty and staff.

Kuali Student is designed to meet the needs of students, faculty, and institutions throughout the academic lifecycle, ultimately improving student retention, shortening graduation times, and improving flexibility for institutions to adapt to new education models. The software provides real-time data and a next-generation user experience at a more affordable price than legacy, proprietary systems. In addition to the University of Washington, components of the SIS solution have already been implemented at several other universities, including University of Maryland, Indiana University, University of Toronto, Boston College, and North-West University. Recent buzz about the need for advanced student services shows the incredible demand.

Chris Coppola, rSmart CEO, said, "Today's universities and colleges require student systems that can improve the student and faculty experience while adapting to a variety of educational pathways like certificates, degrees, and programs. Most institutions are struggling to meet these needs with costly, decades-old legacy systems that lack the flexibility to adapt to the dynamic and changing needs of higher education."

Darcy Van Patten, director of student information systems at the University of Washington, said the overall cost of implementing and maintaining Kuali Student is significantly lower than that of a vendor solution. Reduced total cost of ownership, maintaining a high-level of control over core functions, the ability to implement incrementally, and modernization were the top motivations in implementing Kuali Student.

"Kuali Student will help bring student services into the digital age," said Van Patten. "And with Kuali Student, we can offer students rich learning opportunities, convenience, and personalized support."

Many universities are already implementing Kuali Student incrementally to make specific improvements, with the ultimate goal of replacing legacy student information systems that are decades old. Two Kuali Student modules are being implemented today. Kuali Student Curriculum Management automates and improves the course and program development and approval process for faculty and staff, while Kuali Student Academic Planning enables advisors and students to create individualized, auditable, four-year undergraduate plans. Other modules in development include Enrollment, Accounts, Program Audit, Scheduling, Financial Aid, and Admission.

Kuali Student is being designed in a collaborative effort among seven universities around the globe with an ecosystem of Kuali Commercial Affiliates, like rSmart, available to assist with deployment, cloud delivery, and support. Investing institutions include Boston College, University of Toronto, Indiana University, University of Utah, North-West University, University of Washington, and University of Maryland College Park. All have committed significant funding or resources and are playing an active role in the product development. Kuali also received funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which contributed $2.5M.

About rSmart
rSmart empowers colleges and universities to step away from traditional, proprietary enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and embrace community-driven, open source technologies. The company builds upon community-developed Kuali software adding key capabilities, cloud delivery, consulting services, and support for enterprise scale delivery. This sustainable approach enables rSmart customers to reduce cost and optimize business processes, freeing them from expensive, overly customized, and difficult to maintain legacy and proprietary software. Learn more at www.rsmart.com.

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Media Contact:
Jennifer Jewett
Ubiquity Public Relations
[email protected]
617.913.2404

SOURCE rSmart