Expanding reporting with Argos and the Evisions CO-OP User Community

First, there was a collection of reports created during the implementation of the Banner by Ellucian student information system in 2001. The level of skill required to create or modify those reports was in short supply at the university.

So the reporting staff adopted a second method: generating basic reports ad hoc, using an ODBC connection to pull data from Banner. Unfortunately, all this reporting was done at department level, and there was no standardisation from one user to the next.

The changeover started with just a couple of developers but progressed quickly, thanks to the Evisions CO-OP User Community. Instead of starting from scratch, Leeds downloaded and modified pre-built DataBlocks, the structures Argos uses to organise data for report building. That saved the developers a lot of time and meant they could begin producing reports almost immediately.

The team then introduced Argos to the student administrative community gradually, holding a series of small road shows at venues across campus to demonstrate what was possible and how different users fit into the reporting community.

Online training from Evisions negated the need for institution-wide training courses, which would have been a substantial burden on the university’s training resources. And by taking a light touch, the novice report developers avoided being inundated with simultaneous requests from across campus.

One area that benefited significantly was the Student Services Centre’s customer counter. Students used to order letters there, such as bank letters, council tax letters, and statements, then return 3-5 days later to pick them up. With Argos, those letters are an on-demand service, available at the push of a button.

Degree certificates were another. Leeds’ original Banner Graduation Management process was convoluted, involving multiple ODBC databases, mail merges, and days’ worth of manual editing. Argos pulls the data from Banner, formats the certificates, and sends them directly to the printer. Leeds also uses Argos to manage ceremony logistics and to email invitations to the post-ceremony parties.

Scheduling also enables automated emails that otherwise would not have occurred. Any time the university receives an application, Argos sends an email on behalf of the Pro-Vice-Chancellor’s office thanking the person for applying, not a task easily accomplished by hand.

The Evisions CO-OP Community provided a vital jumping-off point when Leeds was new to Argos. Several years later, Leeds has built on that foundation, streamlining, automating, and extending its reporting capabilities all across campus.