Yale's first client-server business application went "live" over the summer. The Graduate Student Payment System (GSPS) is home-grown, designed and implemented by Yale people for Yale graduate students and administrators. GSPS uses a database system called Oracle (another first at Yale; over time, Oracle databases will be replacing FOCUS databases throughout the University).
GSPS is first because it got an early start. Long before anyone thought about client-server technology or relational databases, we knew we had a problem to solve. Our systems and procedures for paying graduate students weren't up to the task.
Paying graduate students is complicated. Funds are derived from hundreds of different accounts, and there are different rules for each type of student appointment (many of them issued by government agencies). An added complication is that the sources of student support change so often.
When we set out two years ago to design a system to make this cumbersome process more efficient, our primary goal was to pay graduate students correctly (according to all those rules) and on time. Another important goal was to make information accessible to departments. Even though it was new to most of us, the client-server concept seemed ideal.
Unlike mainframe systems, which process information on the mainframe itself and utilize the desktop computer only for display, a client-server system actually uses the desktop computer for processing (the "client"), leaving the server to provide and store data. A new database product, Oracle, was selected in part because it is so much easier to access for reporting purposes than FOCUS, and because it is capable of linking different kinds of information from different databases.
The more we looked at existing procedures, the more we realized how much the new system could do to improve them. To eliminate data entry errors, GSPS provides required information in pull-down menus: standard dates, charging instructions, and appointment types can be selected by the click of a button. To eliminate bouncing charges, GSPS (accessing information from UFMIS) identifies and provides lists of funds appropriate to the type of appointment and warns if a grant will expire during the term of the appointment. To eliminate human error, GSPS calculates proportionately correct amounts of stipend/ salary and tuition. To eliminate delays in the approval process, GSPS reviews each kind of appointment according to the applicable rules. If all the conditions are met, no further approval is required.
The development and implementation of GSPS has involved the work of many dedicated people. It is out on client-desktops in seven departments, with more installations to come. Best of all, it is doing what we set out to do in the beginning: paying students correctly, and on time.
Alice Oliver <Alice.Oliver@yale.edu> is Director of Financial Aid for the Graduate School.