AU to put new studies administration system out to tender

The Danish Parliament’s Finance Committee has given AU’s SIS project the go-ahead and the task of finding a replacement for STADS is now entering a new and decisive phase. The project is being put out to tender and it is expected that AU will have chosen the new studies administration system by the summer of 2024. This system will be the backbone of AU’s studies administration once STADS is phased out by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science. 

University director and chair of the SIS project’s steering committee Kristian Thorn is pleased that AU can begin the tender process, following thorough preparations and a good dialogue with the government’s IT advisory council:

”Phasing out STADS – replacing the motor that keep studies administration running – is a big and exciting job. We’ve had the opportunity to do a great deal of preparation across the organisation, which gives us a solid starting point for the tasks ahead. After all, a new system is not only about technology, it’s also about our workflows and how we collaborate with each other. We will also be focusing on the organisational implementation going forward.”

A better foundation for the student user journey

The goal of the tender process is to find an international standard system that can develop with the market and with own AU’s needs – especially in relation to the university’s existing system landscape, which draws on data from the studies administration system.

There are ambitions for the new and more up-to-date studies administration system to help AU develop and improve the personalised portal mitstudie.au.dk, which lets students access degree programme information and self-service systems in the same place. Additionally, the new SIS system could contribute to the optimisation of studies administration processes and procedures for the individual employee as well as across studies administration functions – and simultaneously increase the quality of the data that’s fed into AU’s related systems.

Throughout the tender and implementation processes, AU’s staff and students will be involved in relevant phases and forums.

Provisional schedule:

Summer 2024:                              Selection of supplier

2025 – 2027:                                 Technical and organisational implementation

Autumn 2027:                              AU can begin using the new system

FACTS about the SIS system

• AU’s studies administration system - SIS - is the motor of the university’s studies administration systems and processes and is central to the tasks associated with the administration of students’ progress through their programmes – from admission to graduation.
• SIS feeds data into the systems used by students and staff every day, for example mystudies.dk, Brightspace and course and exam planning systems.
• The SIS-project group will be mobilized gradually and will – at its peak – consist of 50 staff members from a number of administrative units across AU.
• Up to 300 staff members – current users of the STADS and DANS systems – will be affected by the implementation of the new SIS-system.

Read more about the SIS project on the project site (in Danish only)