Part III · Web viewSustainable and prosperity information system management can only be achieved if the culture of high technology minded can be cultivated among the university

CHAPTER IIISELF EVALUATION REPORT

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

Conclusion

In this conclusion we present the SWOT and its analysis as the following:

Strength- UPT Komputer has been expanded into PIU (Pusat Informasi Universitas) - Annual budget and fund for operations are allocated by the University- Experienced and loyal staffs- Physical facilities are maintained by the University- Attractive computer laboratory- We work hard with limited budget and facilities- Additional facilities have been awarded by TPSDP project

Weaknesses- Data flow among the units still slow- Data Management problems exist - Inadequate budget for development- Lack of skilled staffs

Opportunities- Prominent University in the Eastern part of Indonesia- Information Technology rapid development- Global Information resources (Internet)- ICT becomes a major concern in RENSTRA of UNHAS- E-learning center provider

Threat- UNHAS loosing its popularity- Graduates’ computer illeteracy- Bad decision making process- Deteriorate graduates quality due to inadequate exposed to modern technology and

bad decision masking process

One out of many Hasanuddin University’s opportunities is its popularity as the biggest university in the eastern part of Indonesia, its students come from many regions, however UNHAS may lose its popularity (this is a threat) if the educational process is not being carried out well. One out of many factors that deteriorate educational process is the bad decision making process in the university management. Bad decision is resulted from a bad management habit or from inaccurate and incomplete data. Good decisions can be resulted by the management if they are supported by accurate, timely, relevant, and complete information. Information and Computer Technology (ICT) has become one of major concerns in the university strategic planning (RENSTRA) in order to expand and extend UNHAS into the

future. University has established an organization to handle this ICT, namely PIU, this organization is expanded from UPT Komputer, to become a unit that responsible for providing information for decision-making process.

One out of many UNHAS’ weaknesses is the information supplied to the management sometimes incomplete, inconsistent, irrelevant, and not on time. To change this weakness into strength, a well-organized information system management should be established. Meanwhile rapid technology change will left PIU behind if the center is not developed accordingly. PIU should be expanded and re-engineered to become a modern information center (not only a computer center).

UNHAS is a big campus, data and information flow across the campus is sometimes slow, the university needs an online information source, a campus e-mail server, to distribute information across the campus fast, accurate, and safe. An Intranet system which is established currently by MIS project (awarded by TPSDP) will become the main communication medium for online information retrieval and for interactions among staffs and students. There is also an opportunity to develop web-based online courses to be distributed to students through this Intranet system.

High competitive graduates in the world of high technology job market can be achieved by exposing the students with information technology as soon as possible, as long as possible. Computer laboratory with latest hardware and software, and well-designed training materials must be provided to students. PIU will manage computer training for students from any study programs.

Modern equipment, new hardware, powerful Intranet, will not guarantee the information delivery will be on time, accurate, relevant, and complete. The “people behind the equipment” should be prepared well in using and managing the modern information technology. Staffs’ skills and productivities should be increased. PIU will become a modern management-training center, to educate staffs using and managing modern information technology.

Sustainable and prosperity information system management can only be achieved if the culture of high technology minded can be cultivated among the university community. All level of university management should have high appreciation of modern information technology. They should know how to work and how to act in the modern technology proximate. PIU is responsible to cultivate this culture among UNHAS community. Section 1: Background

Computer technology was introduced to this university in 1977 when a portable stand-alone WANG 2200 computer system was granted by INCO’s (a Canadian Nickel Company) Sulawesi Selatan branch office. This small computer was utilized mainly for students’ academic record administration. In 1981, the computer system was replaced by a Honeywell Bull mini computer system, which was a host based computer system with 10 terminals. The UNHAS Computer Center was established during this time, and this center served university’s

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM III-1

community with several applications such as: personnel record system, payroll system, students enrollment system, and students academic record system. In the late 80s, the microcomputer system was introduced and the Bull system was phased out. The Computer Center was named as UPT Komputer in 1987. A local area network was introduced in the early 90s, by connecting 10 units of microcomputer IBM PC/XT. A Campus Area Network was established in 1995 connecting 15 sites around the campus, and not less than 30 of 486/DX terminals were installed. However, this network system failed in serving university’s high demands in providing online and on time information for decision making purposes. The main reasons were lack of trained personnel to handle the system requirements (hardware/network technical staffs, system and application programmers), lack of administration staffs with computer skill, and lack of financial support to maintain the computer and network system. A culture of computer and network minded has to be grown among the university’s community.

In the last quarter of 2001, a Management Information System project was approved as one of TPSDP projects for Institutional Support System. This project was established with three main objectives:

a. Establish a well organized information system management.b. Establish the campus Intranet and online information access.c. Capacity building for information system management.

This project has affected UPT Komputer organizationally such that this unit is expanded into a University Information Center named “Pusat Informasi Universitas (PIU)” by Rector Decree since September 2002. PIU is established with three divisions: (1) Information Management Division, (2) Information Technology Division, and (3) Information Services Division. The Information Management Division main task is to provide supporting information for university management and university community. The Information Technology Division main task is to provide and to maintain the supporting technology (hardware, network, communication infrastructure, and software) for other divisions. The Information Services division main task is to provide computing services (workstations, internet access, etc) for university community.

PIU vision is to be a well-organized supporting unit which is capable in providing high quality, accurate and on time information, capable in maintaining online information access, capable in keeping the whole campus connected by an intranet, and capable in connecting the university to global information resources by the next five years.

PIU mission toward the achievement of this vision is: 1. to design, implement, and maintain databases which describe the university’s data and

information accurately,2. to design and implement an intranet which connects every single office in campus,3. to maintain the inter-office connections and global connections,4. to establish computer based management practices among the staffs5. to provide computing facilities for students, administrative staffs, and teaching staffs


PIU main tasks are: providing accurate and timely data and information for decision making purposes in all levels of university’s management, conducting training for students and university’s staffs in computer related subjects, providing computing facilities for university’s community (students, staffs, and lecturers), and serving the needs of university’s community in accessing online information internally and externally.

We, therefore, carried out a self-evaluation (SWOT analysis) to evaluate the current condition of the University Information Center (PIU). This report was prepared by Dr. Suarga, The structure of this report follows the guidelines, however some irrelevant sections are omitted. The sections are presented in the following order: Background, Environmental Settings, Management and Organizations, Physical Facilities, Laboratory, Funding, Performance Indicators, and Proposed Plans.

Section 2. Environmental Setting

Hasanuddin University is the largest and the most prominent university in the eastern part of Indonesia. The students are originated not only from the city of Makassar, but also from the various regions of South Sulawesi, from Eastern part of Indonesia, and some students are originated from Western part of Indonesia. As a prominent university, UNHAS must maintain its ability to produce high quality graduates in various fields of knowledge who are committed to the national development. The high quality output can be achieved through effective and efficient educational process, which is supported by a well-organized information system. Ineffective Management Information System will have effects on the educational process, which in turns may deteriorate graduates, and at the end will make UNHAS loses its popularity.

Even though PIU has no direct connections to the university’s external environment, it is influenced by national and global situations and also it may affect indirectly the surrounding communities through the university’s alumni. Graduates who have a lot of experiences in using computer through PIU laboratory will become university’s silent agent to promote UNHAS popularity. Meanwhile, by implementing this Management Information System project, PIU may become an information center for its community, internally and externally, and serves its stakeholders by providing information, training, and consultation especially in computer related fields.

Our world is a changing world, and nothing is constant but change. Technology is

moving at the speed of light and skilled information technology resources are at premium. The development of Information and Computer Technology (ICT) is a global phenomenon and affects many organizations to perform reengineering or reinvention of their management. UNHAS is a large organization, it has 12 undergraduate faculties, 53 undergraduate programs, 23 master programs, 14 diploma programs, not less than 25 thousand students, and about 3 thousand staffs (administration, academic, technician). Without being supported by a modern and reliable information system, UNHAS will be an inefficient and less effective organization.

Fortunately, a TPSDP subproject has been implemented to assist Institutional Support System, the former UPT Komputer, in developing MIS at Hasanuddin University. This


subproject has improved the technology infrastructure used by UPT Komputer, and has become a main-cause of the expansion of UPT Komputer into PIU. Computers from the 80-s (mostly IBM XT and 486/DX) has been replaced by Y2K computers (Pentium III and Pentium IV), the communication infrastructure (yellow cable backbone) is supported by wireless devices (Wave-LAN), and intranet and internet connection has been established. However, there is a backward change in the university data management policy, students records which were maintained by PIU (inherited from UPT Komputer), nowadays is maintained by University Registrar office (Biro Akademik UNHAS), and unfortunately, this University Registrar office has a weak computing power using technology from the eighties. This situation creates problems on data availability to the whole campus. We hope the continuation of this Management Information System subproject will improve situations toward data integrity improvement across the campus, by building a data-bridge to communicate offline data of Registrar office into university intranet and internet system, and helps PIU becomes a better supporting unit in providing information to the University community.

The globalization and the free trade agreements will increase the possibility of foreign labor forces to fill the scarcity of IT professionals in this region. UNHAS graduates must be prepared to face this global competition. Besides the well-organized learning environment and English language proficiency, the students must be well-exposed into modern technology, for example by providing computer training for them, providing computer laboratory, and also Internet access to them. This exposure will strengthen students and graduates’ skills and increase their competitiveness in regional and global markets.

Information assessment by management is hardly provided in time, there is no online access to the university’s databases, most data is processed repeatedly and manually because there is no recorded data available. University key databases are supposed to be presented on line such that the information can be accessed anytime and anywhere. This MIS project is expected to provide such on line information, software and infrastructures have been implemented, however, the database still requires much efforts in order to have a complete collection, and data management policy should be re-established. Section 6. Management and Organization

Pusat Informasi Universitas is one out of five university’s “Technical Support Units” in order to facilitate the educational process and also to serve the research and extension programs being conducted by students and university staffs. The management and organization of this center will affect its functions in serving the university. The staff` profile before and after MIS project implemented is presented in Table-1. Table-1: Staff Profile Position November 2000 (before) September 2004 (after)Management 1 Head of UPT Komputer 1 Head of PIU

1 Head of IS Division1 Head of IT Division1 Head of Services Division


Programmer 1 Senior1 Junior

3 Seniors5 Juniors

Technician 0 2 Network TechniciansOperator 4 operators 4 operatorsAdministration staff 2 administrator 2 administrator

Pusat Informasi Universitas (PIU) involves in many things to the campus wide needs, including computer training for the staffs, new students enrollment process, student’s academic administration, on-line data access, internet access, software consultations, computer training and computer laboratory facilitation for the students. A limited budget is allocated every year to cover the center basic operational and maintenance costs. This budget is far from enough to keep the center in its updated position in the ICT technological rapid change. Fortunately, a MIS project was approved by TPSDP to support the center development. The limited budget also prevents the center to offer regular computer training for the campus community, and also hamper the Intranet establishment for online information presentation.

The other weaknesses of this technical support unit are the shortage of technical expertise to maintain the computer and network system, and also the lack of administration staffs who have good computer knowledge to run the university’s information management. Although computers are already presence in many offices around the campus, the usage is not optimal. Most of these computers are used as modern typewriters, not as information resource devices. The data flow around the campus is very slow, because the administration staffs still perform manual operations before submitting data to computer center. As an example, recently the UPT Komputer designed a form to be filled by students in the beginning of semester. This form is supposed to be scanned into the computer to speed up data entry process. However, these forms were kept and processed manually by the administration before they were submitted to the computer center. The forms arrived at the computer center in the middle of semester, eight weeks late from the schedule, some of them were already damaged and torn off so that the scanner unable to read them. A culture of computer minded must be grown among the campus community. This is a long way to go especially if we do not start from now.

Networks within departments are the responsibility of the departments although UPT Komputer’s staff can provide assistance with installation and maintenance if required. No central computing bureau service is provided as it is considered that computing is better provided at the Faculty or Department level. Faculty and departments are responsible for providing all students computing and network access facilities required for their courses.

There is no other way except implementing a Management Information System project in order to solve the management problems and to improve the information flow among the units. Section 8. Physical Facilities

The UPT Komputer has one data-entry room, two office rooms, storage rooms, and one laboratory. Due to space limitation, the data-entry room has also been used as a


multifunction room, where the operators do their jobs every day, the network servers are also placed in this room, and sometimes the computer training is also carried out in this room. The office rooms are the office of the UPT Komputer Head, and the office of the programmers. The laboratory is located in the other building for students who need computing facilities.

In 1995 UNHAS built a Campus Area Network (CAN) to connect each work unit around the campus. The backbone is using thick coaxial cable, which runs from UPT Komputer into offices in the central administration building, the offices of the dean of every faculty, the research center building, and into Sisdiksat (Satellite for distance learning) office. UPT Komputer has three network servers, one for students academic record which is an old Hewlett Packard server computer, one for students transcript and diploma processing which is a Hewlett Packard Pentium I computer, and one for the Internet proxy server which is also a Hewlett Packard Pentium I computer. Most of the terminals and workstations are old system, five of them are IBM PC/XT compatible, three of them are IBM 486/DX compatible, three of them are Pentium I compatible, and one Pentium III compatible. Three dot matrix Epson printers, one ink-jet HP printer, and two laser printers are installed for printing purposes. One mark sense scanner, one color image scanner, and one CD Writer are also installed. The details of facilities available are presented in Table 2. It is very clear that the equipment are too limited and old fashioned.

The current network has some problems, the lack of maintenance and technical expertise to maintain the network have resulted broken data communication in several places. Also terminals at some offices around the campus are too old to be used as Intranet terminals. They have to be replaced! The administrative staffs need training in office automation, computer networking, and information technology to increase their skill and computer appreciation. The other problem is the bandwidth of Internet connection. It is only 64 kilobit/second (provided by IptekNet through Sisdiksat), for uploading and downloading to the Internet. This bandwidth is too narrow to serve the online information access for this huge campus. To be a university with modern information system for the management, which is able to provide on line information retrieval, and Internet access, the physical facilities must be upgraded, the network must be reinstalled, and the connection bandwidth must be increased.

Table-2: Physical Facilities (November, 2000)Facilities Amount (Nov, 2000) Amount (Sept, 2004)

Rooms Administration: 1 Computer room (80 sq. mtr)2 Offices ( 2 x 20 sq. mtr)Laboratory: 2 Computer rooms (98 sq.mtr) 1 Office (31.25 sq.mtr) 1 class room (65 sq.mtr) 4 Storage rooms (54 sq.mtr)

Administration:1 Computer room (80 sq.mt)1 Server room (80 sq.mt)2 Offices ( 2 x 20 sq.mt)Laboratory:

Computers Administration : 5 PC/XT 3 PC 486/DX 6 PC PentiumLaboratory : 9 PC AMD 5x86

Administration :


22 PC PentiumNetwork Operating System

Novell, Linux, Windows NT

Peripherals Administration : 4 dot matrix printer 2 laser printer 1 ink jet printer 1 color image scanner 1 mark sense scanner 1 CD WriterLaboratory : 3 dot matrix printer 1 ink jet printer 1 color image scanner

Section 9. Laboratory

A laboratory has been provided by UPT Komputer to serve students’ need on computing matter. This laboratory is located in another building (next to the library). There are eight rooms in this laboratory, one office, one classroom, two computer rooms, and four storage rooms. The classroom is the place where the computer instructors deliver their training to the students. The computer room is equipped with a file server, and 30 networked terminals. Ten terminals are connected to the UPT Komputer’s Internet proxy server; the rest are connected to the file server. The student-computer ratio is around 800 to 1, so that this laboratory can serve only about 10% of the total student population each month. The laboratory is run by 5 assistants, who assist the Head of UPT Komputer in serving students needs.

This laboratory can serve only about 100 students daily, or approximately 2500 students monthly. The demand is sometimes much higher, however the limited number of computers prevent some students to get computer access. The laboratory usage can be categorized into 35% for serving students computing necessity (e.g. preparing assignment, doing homework), 45% for serving computer regular classes (e.g. programming class, word-processing class), and 20% for training purposes. The participants of this laboratory come from almost every faculty of Hasanuddin University.

Table-3: Laboratory Usage according to Faculty (Nov, 2000)Faculty Name Percentage

1. Economy 10 %2. Law 1 %3. Medicine 1 %4. Engineering 18 %5. Social and Political Sciences 14 %6. Letters 14 %7. Agriculture and Forestry 10 %8. Mathematics and Natural Sciences 21 %


9. Animal Husbandry 4 %10. Dentistry 0 %11. Public Health 4 %12. Marine Science and Fisheries 1 %13. Graduate School and others 2 %

Almost 40% of Laboratory users come from Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. The extension of this laboratory will support students from every study program especially students from those study programs which are strengthen by this ADB projects. To serve more students with better computing services, this laboratory must be expanded. The number of computers must be increased, the old system must be replaced, new software must be installed, and more Internet terminals must be added.

Section 12. Funding

The University through DPP and “Dana Rutin” allocates UPT Komputer funding. The amount was not significant to be used as budget for developing this supporting unit into an advanced computer center. The funds are allocated mainly for maintenance of the computers and their peripherals, for office and computer supplies, and other operational purposes (e.g. staff’s incentives). Table-4 shows the revenue and the expenditure. In 1999/2000, the budget was increased because at that time UPT Komputer also carried the budget for Sisdiksat (Satellite distance learning unit), which was 25% of the total fund.

The student who use the computer in the laboratory is charged Rp.500 / session (increased recently to Rp.750 / session). On average there is an income of amount Rp.1.25 million / month. The distribution of this income is approximately as follows: incentives to 5 laboratory assistants (Rp.500 thousands / month), computer supplies (Rp.150 thousands/month), operational expense (Rp.150 thousands/month), and computer maintenance (Rp.450 thousands/month).

Table-4: UPT Komputer Revenue and Expenditure1997/1998 1998/1999 1999/2000

REVENUE:Government Budget (DPP) Rp. 30.000.000 Rp. 42.924.624 Rp. 60.000.000Government Budget (DIK) Rp. 7.550.000 Rp. 6.250.000 Rp. 17.250.000Total Revenue Rp. 37.550.000 Rp. 49.174.624 Rp. 77.250.000

EXPENDITURE:Operation Rp. 11.265.000 Rp. 14.752.287 Rp. 23.175.000Maintenance Rp. 7.510.000 Rp. 9.834.925 Rp. 15.450.000Consumable Rp. 18.775.000 Rp. 24.587.312 Rp. 38.625.000Total Expenditure Rp. 37.550.000 Rp. 49.174.624 Rp. 77.250.000


Section 13. Performance Indicators

Several indicators are set to measure the performance of the project implementation, which includes:

1. Timely information: the information required for decision making is produced on time, for example: the attendance list for each course should be handed to lecturer at the first class meeting, students grade report should be handed to student at most two weeks after the exams period, etc.

2. Number of students served: the number of student use the computer laboratory should increase, and number of student take the computer training also should increase.

3. Number of person accessing the network: the online information should be accessed by many people and it is increasing by time.

4. E-mail exchanges around the campus community are increased by time.

Section 14. Proposed Plan

From the data and SWOT analysis presented in this self-evaluation report (Sections 1-12), we have identified several strategic issues relevant to UPT-Komputer, which includes:

Management Information System is of prime importance to produce high quality, accurate, relevant, and on time information for decision making purposes in all levels of management. Rapid technological changes, demand for having high quality graduates, pressure from the campus community to practice more effective and more efficient management, etc. have put pressure to the UPT Komputer to improve its quality services.

Campus network should be established for online information delivery, which promotes consistent, fast, and on time information.

The graduates’ skills and their competitiveness in local and global market should be enhanced by computer literacy.

The staffs’ skills and their productivity must be increased through office automation and modern management training.

Culture of computer and networking minded should be cultivated.

In handling the above strategic issues, UPT-Komputer faces various problems. We are left behind in the modern Information Technology. This has particularly happened due to lack of computer expertise, lack of skilled labors, inability of staff in applying modern management principles, insufficient equipment (in term of number and quality), and low budget allocation. Details of these problems are presented in Table-5.

The university does not have many choices, it is to stay in the current situation or it is to rebuild the University Information System by improving the UPT Komputer’s capabilities. The University is committed to rebuild its Information System and we have decided to support this commitment. Based on the above SWOT analysis, strategic issues and problem statements, we proposed some inception plans:


1. Establish a well organized information system management

2. Establish the campus Intranet and online information access

3. Managing computer training for the staff and students

4. Increase staff skill and productivity

5. Cultivating computer and networking minded culture

The above inception plans and list of activities involved as well as investment required are presented in Table-6.


Table-5: Identified Problems and Alternative Solutions Possible Problems Alternative SolutionsEnvironmental Setting: UNHAS losing its popularity Graduates’ computer illiteracy UNHAS is left behind in modern

technology Local and Global competition in job

markets

a. Establishment of well-organized information system for the management.

b. Intensive computer training for the students

c. Regular upgrading of Computer Center’s hardware and software

d. Increasing the students capabilities in computer usage and English comprehension

Management and Organization: Lack of Computer expertise and

network technician Incapability of staff in applying

modern management principles Lack of computer knowledge of the

staff Incapability of the administration in

providing timely and accurate data and information

a. Recruitment of Computer expertise and network technician

b. Staff training in system approach and modern management principle

c. Staff training in computer software and hardware

d. Recruitment of new staffs with computer literacy

e. Re-analysis and redesign of university’s information system

f. Cultivate computer minded culturePhysical facilities:

Old equipment Broken network Lack of office rooms Narrow Internet bandwidth

a. Purchasing new equipmentb. Re-install campus network systemc. Re-organize the computer centerd. Increase upload and download Internet

bandwidthLaboratory :

High ratio of student-computer No fixed budget Small number of Internet

terminals

a. Purchasing additional terminalsb. Adding more computer room spacec. Allocation of fixed budget for the

laboratoryd. Adding more terminals for the Internet

accessFunding :

Low budget allocationa. Proportional budget allocationb. Allocate periodic budget for new

equipment


Table-6: Inception Plans, Activities, and Investment requiredPlans Activities Investment Required

1.Establish a well organized information system management

1.Analyzing the Existing system.2.Listing the new system requirements3.Design the system4.Implementing the system5.Testing the system6.Deploying the new system

Procurement of powerful databases servers, workstations, and additional peripherals.

2.Establish the campus Intranetand online information access

1.Analyzing the campus network topology.2.Installing the Intranet cabling system3.Installing network equipment4.Connecting the Intranet5.Testing the connectivity6.Implementing online system7.Connecting the Intranet into Internet access8.Socializing online information retrieval system

Procurement of network equipment: cable, servers, clients, repeaters, hubs, bridges, routers.

Installation of leased-line, satellite downloading system, or direct radio-link connection.

3.Managing computer training for all students

1.Designing training objectives2.Designing training contents3.Expanding the computer labs.4.Scheduling the training5.Executing the training

Procurement of training software, training aids (notebook, computers, LCD Projectors), books, journals

4.Increasing staff skills and productivity

1.Providing regular training for the staffs2.Recruiting new computer minded staffs and computer technicians

Procurement of training aids such as books, diskettes, continuous forms, etc.

5.Cultivating computer and networking minded culture

1.Designing information technology appreciation and modern information retrieval system short training for managers2.Socializing the networking advantages among the staffs3. Performing network usage training

LCD projectors, notebook, training CDs, books, journals.


Curriculum Vitae

Full Name : Drs. Suarga, M.Sc, M.Math, Ph.DDate/Place of Birth : February 27, 1949 / MarosSex : MaleAddress : Kompleks UNHAS Blok CX-10, MakassarSpecialization : Information System, Computer ScienceEducation :

1. Ph.D in Information System, McMaster Univ., Canada, 19972. M.Math in Computer Science, Univ. of Waterloo, Canada, 19923. M.Sc in Computer Application, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok,

1983.4. Drs. in Instrumentation Physics, Gadjah Mada Univ. Yogyakarta, 19775. Elementary, Secondary, and High School, Makassar, 1956-1968.

Assignments :1. Head of Technical Support Unit in Computer, 1999 - 20022. Lecturer of Faculty of Mathematics and Sciences, since 19773. Member of UNHAS development team, since 20004. Programmer and System Analyst, 1983 – 1990

I hereby certify that this curriculum vitae is a true description of myself.

Drs. Suarga. M.Sc, M.Math, Ph.D


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Part III · Web viewSustainable and prosperity information system management can only be achieved if the culture of high technology minded can be cultivated among the university