CCC trustees sign off on next step of shared services

CLOVIS — Clovis Community College trustees signed off Thursday on the latest step of an Enterprise Resource Planning and Student Information System between five New Mexico colleges CCC President Charles Nwankwo characterized as the future of higher education.

Following a lengthy description from various partners and the Collaborative for Higher Education Shared Services (CHESS) nonprofit set up for the process, trustees unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding between CCC, Central New Mexico Community College, Santa Fe Community College, San Juan College and Northern New Mexico College.

Documentation for the shared services agreement refers to the five schools as “Wave 1 Institutions” in the event other colleges come on board.

Presenters told trustees the colleges have largely the same software needs for human resources, financial aid, student registration, etc., and each college would save money collectively purchasing an all-in-one software system. Each institution operates the system independently, but can cooperate if needs arise.

Workday, based out of Pleasanton, California, was chosen as the winning vendor from five applicants, which were each required to demonstrate their system to each college. The request for proposal process ran Dec. 18 to June 18 and included 123 evaluators in 11 teams across the five schools.

The first-year costs are largely handled by CNM at 60%, with SFCC (16%) and CCC (12%) the next two largest contributors.  Five-year contribution costs are anticipated to run about $3.126 million for CCC. Presenters said there are various cost savings for the colleges, including $6.8 million on subscription licenses alone over a 10-year period. The New Mexico Legislature provided the colleges with $3 million to help kickstart the effort.

Trustee Carolyn Spence repeated a phrase said during the presentation of a “world-class student experience” and asked what exactly that meant. Robin Kuykendall, associate vice president of enrollment management and student affairs, said one benefit is that students would do most things on one software system for all assets of the campus experience instead of repetition on a patchwork of software systems that may or may not interact with each other.

Robin Jones, executive vice president of academic affairs, said students will benefit from a simplified registration and expanded catalog.

“If there was a class that was at San Juan College they want to take, they can register through the CCC process,” Jones said. “It’s going to expand our degree plans, it’s going to expand options.”

Nwankwo said the push to online instruction necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many classes keeping online options going forward. Jones noted that since all of the colleges are accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, “their classes are going to meet the same rigors that ours do.”

Spence asked if the program would lead to elimination of positions. Nwankwo said that wasn’t a goal of the process, and he sees it will more likely help the colleges when they can’t find specialized employees.

As an example, Nwankwo said when he joined CCC in February 2020, the college had a posting for an information technology instructor. The position is still vacant, so CCC can’t offer a specific cybersecurity course. Nwankwo said the ERP means CCC could cooperate with another college that has that position staffed.

Nwankwo said there were plenty of thanks to go around, including the staff at CCC and the other four college presidents.

“I can’t thank you enough for this action you took,” Nwankwo told trustees.

In other business at the Thursday meeting:

• The board approved a list of 91 summer semester graduates — 46 associate’s degrees, 18 certificates of completion and 27 certificates of achievement. Those students are welcome to walk during the 2022 commencement scheduled for May 13.

The board also approved a supplemental list of spring semester graduates, 11 associate’s degrees and eight certificates of achievement to bring the spring total to 377 graduates.

• Trustees approved a $475,000 contract with Valcom for security upgrades, including campus-wide camera replacement and security access systems to the Allied Health and Library complex.

• The next meeting is scheduled for 8 a.m. Sept. 1 in CCC Room 512.