I have spent almost my entire career working with student systems. That began at UCLA as a fledgling computer science student when the Assistant Registrar came knocking, twice, to have me join the team. That blossomed into implementing the first self-run student system there, as well as subsequently maintaining, improving and creating new functionality. After returning to school for an MBA and a few stints in paper manufacturing, accounting and insurance systems I returned to Higher Ed. Along with a few other members of the team which implemented the system at UCLA, we formed a Higher Ed consulting company. After several projects involving, HR, payroll and student systems a wonderful opportunity presented itself. PeopleSoft came knocking on our door - or perhaps we went knocking on theirs. In any case, we convinced them that we had the skills and knowledge to build the student administration system that they were interested in creating. Lo and behold, that worked reasonably well and here we are today. I lead the creation and development of the Campus Community and Admissions modules, helped design the core structures of those modules as well as Student Records and plenty more during that wild, fun and crazy time.
After leaving PeopleSoft, I was an independent consultant for 18 years and worked with many Universities on their initial implementation of Campus Solutions. Those projects required the understanding and honing of a wide range of skills which included requirements gather and writing, working with, teaching and training "new to PeopleSoft" functional and technical staff, production of training materials, presentations, etc.
Several years ago I left the road and consulting ranks to join Duke University. The team here, along with my boss, are very similar to the group I started with way back when as a student. I feel very fortunate to be part of such a wonderful, supportive group.
Recently (May 2020) I have adopted a wonderful pup who has the best of names. One day, a co-worker who is associated with a local dog adoption group said "I have the dog for you". Hard for her to be more correct! When I heard the name, I knew it was a match. For those that remember the early days of PeopleSoft (yes, she does and so do I), the connection is there. As a fun quiz, let's see who can name the dog (your hint is: "Fetch Button").
Thanks for reading. Have a wonderful day.
:-)