AU has chosen a replacement for STADS

AU can now start planning in earnest for the next generation of studies administration system (SIS), which will replace STADS once it is phased out. Following a constructive and inclusive tender process, Oracle Campus Solution has been selected as the new motor to keep AU studies administration running from 2027 onwards. The Danish company Miracle and the Dutch company CY2 will be responsible for implementing the new system.

University Director Kristian Thorn, who is chair of the SIS project’s steering committee, is pleased that AU has found a main supplier and a system that fulfils the university’s requirements for functionality, quality and price.

“We have made it our priority to find a standard system that covers all our studies administration work processes and that fits into AU’s current system landscape. As the main cog in the studies administration system, it’s vital that it can keep the wheels turning across all our other systems, including Brightspace, our timetabling system, and our Wiseflow digital exams system. We are in safe hands with Miracle, CY2 and Oracle, because they have extensive experience from the university sector. The system is well tested and used at many higher education institutions around the world,” says Kristian Thorn. These institutions include Stanford University, the University of Edinburgh and INSEAD Business School.

During the tender process, Miracle, CY2 and Oracle Campus Solution emerged as the best overall match for AU in terms of their technological stability, operational reliability, and not least their capacity to support studies administration processes. The new system is also able to work with AU’s current mystudies.au.dk user interface, which offers a single point of access to study information and self-service systems for students.

Now the implementation phase can begin

Having selected a new studies administration system, AU can now begin work on the technical and organisational implementation of the new system across the university – in close collaboration with the supplier. This process will build on the solid groundwork that was carried out when the tender was prepared, which involved mapping all the systems and processes with which the new system was expected to function.

The project group responsible for implementing the new system consists of employees from AU Student Administration and Services, AU IT, AU Finance and administrative units across AU.

“Changing to a new system will involve changing our workflows and collaboration interfaces, especially for members of staff in our studies administration units. So it’s important that we focus on implementing the new system properly across the university in close dialogue with the system users,” says Kristian Thorn.

The new studies administration system is scheduled to be fully operational in autumn 2027.

Provisional timeline for implementing Oracle Campus Solution

• Late summer 2024: Clarification phase – technical and organisational implementation is prepared
• Up to summer 2027: Step-by-step implementation of five main studies administration processes, focusing on data integration, data migration and workflows.
• Autumn 2027: New system is operational across Aarhus University, and STADS is phased out.