Producing knowledgeable, confident, and effective end users is one of the chief deliverables of any project to implement a new computing system in a given organization. For the STARS (System for Tracking Administrative Records for Students) project, end-user training will play a critical role in the manifestation of that deliverable. This strategy outlines the approach to end-user training for the implementation of STARS at Cornell.
End-user training will be provided before, during, and after the implementation of STARS. To ensure that new skills remain relevant and fresh in the minds of trainees, most training will be delivered "just in time" before each phase of the new system is implemented. To support the ongoing need to provide new users with skills in using the new system, repeat training sessions will be offered. To ensure that existing users stay current, refresher training will be offered. To provide distributed support in the colleges and schools at Cornell, "power users" and "coaches" will receive specialized or advanced training in order to support their colleagues more directly, or to provide specialized functions (e.g., advanced reporting) within their units.
Training will be developed and delivered using a modular structure, which optimizes the time and effort required for research, development, and delivery. Related concepts, functionality, and business processes will be grouped together into sets of topics to be covered in a given training module. Training module topics will be designed to stand alone so that they may be easily reconfigured as necessary to best support each phase of the implementation.
All end users of the transactional system will be trained first on the basics of STARS and on legal and ethical uses of student information. Once they have attended introductory sessions, end users will attend training on topics specifics to their job roles and functions.
Specific plans for training topics and audiences will be produced through needs assessment and analysis in collaboration with subject matter experts. A variety of training methods will be employed to best complement the rollout of the new system, which will be implemented in phases of integrated functionality across application modules. Most end-user training will be instructor-led, providing learners with comprehensive training materials and hands-on practice in structured training sessions. Other training formats will be employed as needed, such as demonstrations, presentations, labs, and online tutorials. Once the implementation is complete, "coaches" for individual university units will receive specialized training to facilitate a distributed model of end-user support.
The goal of training is to provide end users with the information and support they need to become familiar with and proficient in using the new system. During the analysis and implementation of new business processes and the system that supports them, different job functions and roles may be identified for end users. Change management activities will tie in with end-user training to help users make transitions to new roles and responsibilities in their work. Ultimately, the objective and chief benefit of providing good training is to ensure that data is accurately entered, managed, and maintained in the system. Equally important is the goal and benefit of providing the means for users to make a successful transition from the old system to the new one.
The scope of end-user training will be to support the learning needs of end users throughout the implementation of the new centralized computing system for student data administration at Cornell (STARS), including Admissions, Student Records, Student Financials, Financial Aid, and related Self-Service applications.
A training database will be needed to provide users with a technical environment in which they can learn new procedures hands-on. The training database will be shared across all three areas of the larger project (Human Resources, Contributor Relations, and Student Administration).
To deliver end-user training, the STARS Project Training, Documentation, and Support (TDS) team will use a variety of instructional tools and formats. Training materials cover all the topics and concepts end users need to learn about to use the new computer system for their work. Business processes will be documented in the training materials, and they will be conveyed within the full context of the appropriate activity, task, tool, or procedure that end users need to understand. Training modules are defined by the topics they cover. Related concepts and procedures are grouped together into the same module.
For each instructor-led training session, a comprehensive training manual will be provided with concepts, procedures, explanations, and exercises. A variety of additional materials will be used in the training program to facilitate learning, such as technical glossaries, flow charts, illustrations, technical documentation, job aids, and online tutorials. All end-user training materials will be provided in an electronic format that can be easily searched, viewed online, downloaded, and printed through the STARS project web site.
Dress rehearsals, multiple levels of review, testing of materials, feedback from evaluations, and other tools will be used to ensure the quality of training delivery and materials.
Training effectiveness will be assessed through tests of learner knowledge. Once trainees have mastered the material presented in training in a given area of functionality in the system, they will be certified for that area (e.g., scheduling classes). Once trainees are certified, they will be given access to that area in the production database through an appropriate security role. In order to minimize security administration overhead, security roles in the production system will be designed to provide end users with access to sets of related functionality.
End users will be able to register for training using an online training administration system. Training session rosters, certification, attendance, and materials status will be managed with a tracking database. Training will be offered in instructional facilities containing 10-16 workstations with connections to the high-speed campus network.
A list of assumptions for training, which are also inherently risks, follows.
End-user training services will be one of the core responsibilities of the Training, Documentation, and Support Team on the STARS project. This team will develop and deliver all end-user training materials, will identify the learning needs of trainees, and will coordinate training administration support activities, such as scheduling facilities and managing registration. Subject matter experts from the STARS project team will provide expertise and guidance on content during the development and review of end-user training materials. Trainers will bring questions, issues, and problems identified during training sessions to the attention of the implementation team so that they may be addressed quickly and effectively. Training administration support will be provided by the TDS team with assistance from the STARS project Office Manager.
End-user training services and support are closely integrated with other TDS activities, namely helpdesk support, change management, and communication. For instance, a new training topic may arise out of a question repeatedly addressed by the help desk, or training materials may be adapted into standalone technical documentation for a particular task or activity in the system. Information gathered through change management activities will assist in the development of training material content that best suits the needs of different groups of users. Managing the balance among these services will be critical in providing useful and effective end-user support; for instance, questions not covered during training will need to be addressed through help desk support.
Training roles and responsibilities for data delivery differ, depending on what kind of access and what level of knowledge the end user needs.
The Training, Documentation, and Support team, CIT (Cornell Information Technologies), and training coordinators from Human Resources and Contributor Relations will work together to arrange use of the training database, database refreshes, "freeze dates" for system updates to the training database (to minimize the impact of constant changes on training materials), and other matters related to providing a technical learning environment for end users. In addition, trainers will work with security administrators to provide trainees with security roles in the training database appropriate for each training topic presented.