2008-06-25 16:44:55 - Four-Year Private College Recognized for Measurably Improving Performance, Decision Making and Strategic Planning with Business Intelligence Initiative

MALVERN, Pa., June 25, 2008 - SunGard Higher Education (www.sungardhe.com) announced The College of St. Scholastica as the 2008 winner of the SunGard Higher Education Award for Institutional Performance for outstanding results from its business intelligence initiative. The announcement was made during the opening session of the annual SunGard Summit user conference. In addition to receiving the award, St. Scholastica

received $10,000 for a student scholarship.

The College of St. Scholastica was honored for its successful transformation from a paper intensive, redundant, disparate, manual environment to an online environment of easily accessible knowledge assets to support data-driven decision making and strategic planning.

Its initiative began with a goal to position the college with access to information critical to decision making for its future success and competitiveness. Its legacy enterprise data reporting system and method of having staff developing individual spreadsheets and requesting paper reports had become inefficient, unsecure and time-consuming to maintain. Information and reports were inconsistent from department to department, even the question of current enrollment was difficult to determine.

Following an extensive value on investment (VOI) / return on investment (ROI) analysis, The College of St. Scholastica selected SunGard Higher Education's Banner Performance Reporting & Analytics product set including the Banner Operational Data Store and Banner Enterprise Data Warehouse as the foundation for its initiative.

According to St. Scholastica, the performance improvement outcomes and efficiencies resulting from the business intelligence initiative have enhanced efficiencies and productivity across every area of the college from institutional research and financial aid to admissions and academics:
• Vice presidents across the institution have "on demand" access to information to inform their day-to-day decision making and measure their progress against a longer term strategic plan.

• In the payroll department, time spent on information retrieval has been reduced by 75%, enabling staff to devote their time to more strategic priorities.

• For grants management, the institution is now able to verify that it is fully utilizing funding sources in the way it was intended.

• Fiscal management was improved as the gathering and submittal of tax information has become turnkey and collection process has improved by nearly 240%.

• In athletics, coaches monitor their players' academic performance to make sure they are progressing and eligible to compete. A process that used to take days, now takes seconds.

• For the first time in the college's history, the Finance Department, Institutional Research and the Registrar's office now use one report for headcount and census numbers.


'I think our biggest success is the way business intelligence has been supported, accepted, and incorporated throughout the organization,' said Pat Flattery, chief financial officer and project champion. 'Successes are everywhere and are not hard to find.'

'The College of St. Scholastica's business intelligence initiative represents the culmination of foresight, planning and performance achievement and represents the true essence of the Award - to promote individual achievement, enhance institutional performance, and foster educational community,' said Brian Madocks, chief executive officer, SunGard Higher Education. 'We congratulate St. Scholastica on this well-deserved accolade and feel privileged to play a supporting role in this achievement.'

The SunGard Higher Education Award for Institutional Performance recognizes one institution of higher education for measurable institutional performance improvements supported through SunGard Higher Education technologies and/or services. Nominated institutions that earned finalist recognition this year included:
• The College of William and Mary, for improving emergency contact information gathering
• El Paso Community College, for improving admissions office operations & service
• Ithaca College, for improving the housing selection process and experience
• Kent State University, for improving their full technology environment to become more service-oriented
• State Fair Community College, for improving services to students and employees.

The call for nominations for the 2009 SunGard Higher Education Award for Institutional Performance is scheduled to be available third quarter 2008 and will be available at www.sungardhe.com/sharesuccess.

About The College of St. Scholastica
The College of St. Scholastica located in Duluth, Minn., is a Catholic Benedictine institution and the only independent private college in northeastern Minnesota. Founded in 1912 by a group of pioneering Benedictine Sisters who offered college courses to six young women, today St. Scholastica educates more than 3,250 men and women and has graduated more than 14,000 alumni. St. Scholastica is consistently recognized for excellence by U.S. News & World Report magazine. The magazine's 2008 "America's Best Colleges" ranks St. Scholastica in the Top Tier of regional universities in the Midwest. St. Scholastica has been called a 'hidden gem' by The Washington Post.

About SunGard Higher Education
SunGard Higher Education provides software and support, systems implementation and integration, strategic consulting, and technology management services to help colleges and universities build, unify, and manage their digital campuses. Bringing together people, processes, and technology, SunGard Higher Education assists 1,600 customers worldwide to strengthen institutional performance through improved constituent services, increased accountability, and better educational experiences. www.sungardhe.com.

About SunGard
With annual revenue of $5 billion, SunGard is a global leader in software and processing solutions for financial services, higher education and the public sector. SunGard also helps information-dependent enterprises of all types to ensure the continuity of their business. SunGard serves more than 25,000 customers in more than 50 countries, including the world's 50 largest financial services companies. Visit SunGard at www.sungard.com.

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