West Chester University Applies Smart Business to its Bottom Line

West Chester University (WCU), a public institution of approximately 9,400 undergraduate and 2,000 graduate students outside Philadelphia, is the second largest of 14 institutions in Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education.

West Chester offers its diverse student body degrees in the arts and sciences, teacher training and certification, advanced study preparation in fields such as medicine and law, education for specific professions, and continuing education.

To run the institution smoothly, WCU administrators demand that the records for its student body, alumni and administrative functions be maintained in an efficient and cost-effective manner. These records are kept on a database which is at the heart of the University's operations. 15 gigabytes of information are stored and accessed by the registrar, admissions, human resources, finance, and other administrative offices. This type of integrated data access proves invaluable to WCU's administrators, but maintenance of this type of system can be very costly.

State-funded universities, like all small businesses, keep a close eye on the bottom line and are always looking for opportunities to trim costs and increase efficiency.

The real cost of any system rests in the resources needed to develop, maintain, update, and guarantee consistent services. Tom Egan is the executive director of West Chester's Business Technology Center. "The human factor in all of this can be immense. Time and errors are big resource-sinks," says Egan. "We are constantly aware of this and make sure that every effort is made to keep costs down and effectiveness high."

In 1985, WCU's existing mainframe system no longer met its needs. Egan led the University's push to invest in a database that was guaranteed to keep administrative costs low and meet the school's evolving demands over time. WCU knew that replacing a database system was a long-term, cost-based, functionality-focused investment. The University conducted a very competitive nine month bid process which screened all commercial products available. The panel was surprised to find that the common path of third-party, turn-key systems was not the most cost-effective option. In fact, WCU discovered that investing in a pre-designed package would be at least three times more expensive than generating its own system.

WCU turned to Computer Corporation of America (CCA) for help. CCA is a worldwide provider of high-performance, high-capacity database management systems. Known for its dedication to developing and maintaining long standing relationships with its customers, CCA worked with WCU to provide an integrated, cost-effective solution that supported open access to WCU's critical business information and leveraged its investment in information technology.

WCU programmers designed a system using CCA's Model 204 high-performance database technology. This system addressed the school's constant growth of records, supported the increase of casual users, and promised to keep pace with modern technology. Most importantly, Model 204 was capable of addressing these and other issues cost-effectively.

WCU's small administrative computing staff was able to port all data to the new system within three months. Model 204 had all the functionality of the legacy system, plus additional capabilities including a fourth-generation language, open connectivity into the database, and a highly accelerated capability to build new applications. Within one year, Model 204 was out-performing the old system in every aspect.

The next year, in a periodic product review, CCA technicians told WCU programmers that compared to other Model 204 scenarios, WCU's system had a tremendous amount of unrealized potential. WCU, with CCA's help, reconfigured the system for maximum performance in six months. Together they created an administrative database solution that, in less than two years, provided the school with data solutions far above their original requirements.

"With Model 204, we were fully operational in one year, and done with our original scope of development in two," Egan states. "That kind of turn-around keeps businesses moving forward. Finances were tight when we initially chose the system, and they continue to be. We made a tough, unorthodox decision-all eyes were on us-and we made the right choice.

"Resources are limited in any educational institution. You have to have faith in your provider when you invest in one inclusive system from start-up through 100% imple- mentation," continues Egan. "The cost of ownership of Model 204 combined with the savings of staff salaries and minimized human-errors reveal some serious savings. At the time we could not find another database anywhere that was more cost-effective and more performance-based than Model 204. This statement is stilltrue today!"

Over 12 years later, Model 204 continues to outperform all expectations. Currently, WCU has over 2,000 student and administrator PCs fully meshed with the network service, and approximately 200 database users at any one time. But, as Egan comments, "The numbers of users was never an issue-Model 204 handled anything we asked of it. It was the cost-effectiveness that sold us initially and is what continues to keep us very loyal to Model 204 and to CCA."

As technology develops over time, Model 204 continues to keep WCU up to speed with capabilities like database access through the Web. The school's student records are now available on-line, allowing students, professors and other university employees access to scheduling information through their Web browser. The self-scheduling program is available to all 9,400 underclassmen, and includes major-only verification, two-way commu-nication between students and advisors, and a degree audit system that allows advisors to assist students with planning their schedules.

In addition to self-scheduling, prospective students can query course offerings as well as off-campus housing availability, both of which provide real-time response information. "It's a dynamic resource," says Cindy Barnes, WCU's manager of appli-cation development. "Model 204 allows us to exploit modern interfaces without impacting our legacy systems. For businesses with superior performance needs and modest budgets like WCU, Model 204 is an excellent solution. Model 204's power, flexibility, and openness allow us to meet the needs of our institution in a rapidly changing environment."