Very customizable solution for schools and helps in storing/retrieval of student info
March 08, 2019
Very customizable solution for schools and helps in storing/retrieval of student info
Score 4 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with PeopleSoft Campus Solutions
We use Campus Solutions across the campus especially to house student information and records and student management. Oracle Peoplesoft CS is our system of records for all students admitted to the university. All financial information, class information, bio-data information is stored in Peoplesoft CS and can be accessed by staff and faculty who have the right access. This brings student info to the forefront and helps us better serve our students.
Pros
- It is web based so one can access it from anywhere, even outside of the university's network. Providing a way for staff/faculty to easily access student records from anywhere in the world provided they have a reliable internet connection.
- It is relatively easy to use for basic tasks like looking up a student's bio-data information especially if you are not working in custom bolt-on's configured and developed to work on top of Peoplesoft CS. Once users know how the system works they find it relatively easy to use with little to no issues.
- All the different functions can be found on one easy-to-read menu and that the menu never changes. That's important for a tool that is used several times a day!
- The system can be customized to meet the demands of your university. Each university can customize the tool so it better serves its community. Custom views can be created and different screens can be provided depending on the need of the particular department.
- Security is high and all data is secure. We have it configured with our SSO, so we can control the people who have access to the system. Permissions and privileges can also be given to different modules in Peoplesoft CS so different users have access to different areas of the system and different information. This provides security to sensitive information that may not be intended for all PS users.
Cons
- 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.
- Retrieving information has been faster for us since we implemented Peoplesoft, this has enabled us to better serve our students and provide them with support and answer their questions in a timely fashion.
- Because of PS Campus Solutions, we have a central location to house student information making it easy to access info rather than having the information stored in multiple places all over the campus by different groups. This has tremendously improved our processes and made it very easy for us.
- Since Peoplesoft securely stores our data, we do not have issues with data security or questions from parents or students about fears of student information being leaked or falling into the wrong hands. This has helped us remain compliant and comply with FERPA regulations.
We looked at other systems that operated similarly to Peoplesoft but we thought PS as the best for us at that time. Compared to its other competitors it is more robust and customizable which was a big factor for us. Almost everything in PS can be customized to meet the specific needs of the user. We have special modules for different departments e.g. Financials, Financial Aid, School of Education, Enrollment. All these different screens are available in PS and can be accessed by different users per permission. Other systems do not provide this level of customization while providing a great level of security as well.
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