Colleagues will be aware that we reached an important milestone in the development of the new KentVision student records system at the end of June. The project has now been taken ‘in-house’, we have established a new governance structure and the development team has been relocated.

The governance structure includes the KentVision Strategic Group and the KentVision Operational Group; they comprise stakeholders and practitioners who are both close to the business and highly committed to its delivery. The team’s relocation from the Innovation Centre to Cornwallis is intended to facilitate better connection with student data system users and will improve communication.

Both the KentVision Strategic and Operational Groups will meet regularly. The Strategic Group which has been established to receive the initial system development, complete the build and plan and deliver the implementation phase of the project, is committed to keeping the University abreast of latest developments and this is a brief first update.

Much has been achieved during the first development phase and University teams are currently reviewing the system that has been delivered in order to assess the completeness of the build and determine what further work need to be progressed in order to facilitate a smooth transition from SDS.

The first development phase of the project has been lengthy, during which time the University has continued to adapt and change. Accommodating University and external changes is important, but it has added complexity to the project and the Strategic Group is considering how best to launch the system using an incremental approach.

We consider such an approach to be important as it will allow for a clear and orderly migration from SDS that is timely and does not put important University processes at risk.  In order to achieve such a migration, we will prioritise functionality for the initial launch (minimal viable product) and consider the best time during the spring and summer to introduce the new system.

The KentVision Strategic Group has met once and is planning to meet regularly from now on. We are currently overseeing the initial piece of work that will help determine the necessary components for a minimum viable product and from this we will develop an implementation plan and launch timetable.

We expect this initial assessment to complete later this month and we will issue further updates regularly via Campus Online/Kent Staff Online newsletter to ensure that University colleagues are kept informed of progress and can prepare for future changes.

Mary P. Hughes
Academic Registrar and Chair of the KentVision Steering Group