Temple’s $38 million universitywide Enterprise Resource Planning initiative to replace Temple’s aging administrative systems is quickly moving forward.

Scheduled for implementation over a five-year period, Project Enterprise will include a detailed re-evaluation of Temple’s business processes such as payroll and time keeping, purchasing, accounts payable, financial aid, student registration and admissions. In conjunction with business process redesign, a Data Standards Committee has been formed. The Committee will evaluate data formats and develop consistent data entry standards and definitions to support a single University-wide integrated database.

Since December, progress has been made in the following areas: committees and teams were formed; current business process analysis sessions were held; a project plan was created; a timeline was formulated; hardware was installed (including 60 Dell Blade servers and a SAN with 40 disk arrays); several major system software components were installed and configured, including Luminis, the new portal software; production reports were evaluated and inventoried in a database; a prototype of the chart of accounts was developed; CollegeNET’s Resource 25 software was selected and purchased for classroom and event scheduling; dedicated project working space was completed on the fourth floor of the Bell Building; and a public web site was developed at www.temple.edu/enterprise.

In addition, software to manage information on international students, called fsaAtlas, was installed and data conversion has begun. The program is targeted to go live in April.

Activities continue on a daily basis as committees and project teams meet frequently to complete various tasks, including effectively redesigning current processes, sharing information and making decisions.

Training sessions are also in progress for implementation team members involved in system configuration.

Learn the latest developments

To stay informed about the progress of the implementation, visit the Project Enterprise web site, which includes:


• a general introduction to the Project Enterprise


• news items on the latest project developments


• a project overview, giving background on why Temple has embarked on this initiative


• guiding principles, outlining the philosophy behind the implementation process


• a timeline showing when the various modules will be implemented


• information on committees and project teams, including their functions and an organization chart


• a list of communication activities to publicize project activities


• training information


• a project history listing major milestones, and


• a frequently asked questions section, where readers can submit questions