Anthology Student vs. PeopleSoft Campus Solutions

I think that CampusNexus Student does what it is created to do. If you are looking for a customizable system to track student data, I have no complaints. If you are looking for the newest, shiniest software, this might not be for you. While it can be glitchy sometimes, and feels outdated, it does its job and I have never felt like I couldn't do what I need to do because of any of those things.

Incentivized

PeopleSoft Campus Solutions is a fully robust solution for large campuses and University systems. The tools it provides are powerful and scalable. It can handle anything from 1,000 students to over 100,000. The issue because spreading that cost around. Smaller schools will probably need a dedicated functional staff and an information systems staff to handle the chore of managing the system. Although many of the tools allow for automated processing it take a considerable amount of effort to get to that point and the upfront and maintaining costs should be considered.

Incentivized

• Particularly well, CampusNexus identifies at-risk students. In our school, and in any school, but in many city schools or schools with a lack of parent involvement or large populations, it is crucial to be able to identify students at risk of failing or struggling. This is something that is extremely effectively done here.
• An additional strength I see is the ability to track graduate requirements. This is easily shared with students, parents, and the rest of the administration, to track and assist in student growth.
• Academic records need to be shared and sent to colleges, parents and other high schools. Controlling academic records is a strength because it tallies the entire career of a student. Using this system helps to solidify communication.

Incentivized

• The Query Manager tool is useful - especially for users who are not comfortable writing SQL queries. Query Manager also allows Security staff to dictate exactly what access to grant to query writers.
• Campus Solutions offers several batch-style functions, such as batch transcript requests and batch degree conferral. There is a Population Selection option that allows you to use a query or Excel file to specify the students who are in the batch.
• The Communication Generation process allows users to create batch emails or letters that include mail-merge style data for each individual receiving the communication. There is a Microsoft Word plugin that allows you to craft the message that will be sent, and they can be sent on a set schedule or when certain trigger conditions occur.

Incentivized

• Support and resolution of issues can be slow, even major issues that interrupt business operations
• Developers need higher quality control in their processes to mitigate bugs and defects
• Solution architects need higher level of ownership in aligning configurations with business processes
• Financial aid needs greater automation without requiring the purchase of the specific financial aid automation module

Incentivized

• We don't like that you cannot export student grades and information into an excel spreadsheet or document that allows you to edit when necessary. Other tools do this but for a system us robust as PeopleSoft we are surprised you are not able to do this.
• Continuing with the schedule, in order to see how many students are registered in a section one has to click on that section which is another waste of time. Each section has a blue square meaning full and a green circle meaning not full. Why can't the number of students be shown instead, or in addition? And to top it off, the number of students is shown so low that one has to scroll each time to see it.
• Occasionally, PeopleSoft will randomly stop work, and you will lose all the information you were working on, so I recommend saving your work frequently. PeopleSoft is also not the most user-friendly student information systems. The new update did improve its aesthetic appeal though.
• Relying on Oracle system administrators to do all updates and handle any problems that may occur. Sometimes you feel a little helpless and too reliant on the vendor. It takes a while for our admins to update the software because we have so many custom configurations and custom bolt-ons so they all have to be tested thoroughly to make sure nothing breaks when migrated to production. Because of this, our university is always behind when it comes to system updates.

Incentivized

When you open a service request you will get contacted in short order. They will usually develop a patch or hot fix in a reasonable amount of time. You do usually need to keep the software updated and will want to be on the latest versions.

Incentivized

I have not come across other platforms that can do what CampusNexus provides. There are platforms such as Skedula for tracking grades. There are add-ins to websites such as MoodleRooms to provide curriculum and content management support. However, I have not found a platform that provides grades, curriculum, key functions for enrollment and tracking your own academic progress as well as analytical abilities. CampusNexus provides the output of data and results from a wide range of data sets. Tracking the data and being able to output it into charts and graphics for all educators, administration, and politicians can improve the culture of a school district. Providing all of this data can transform an entire educational institution.

Incentivized

PeopleSoft Campus Solutions has been the software of choice between Jenzebar and Campus vue as the user interface is easier, students seem to understand their progress and the system better than the other two softwares I have used. I would recommend this as all things student related are in one portal area.

Incentivized

• It helps us manage our current students

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• Manages student records well.
• The course enrollment process for the student is non-intuitive.
• Waitlist functionality for the courses is hard to implement.

Incentivized