Development and Alumni Relations offices get new computer system

Contract negotiations are in the works for a complete overhaul of the computer system in use at the Office of Development and the Office of Alumni Relations. The current system, installed in 1986, has fallen behind the times in its ease of use and functionality, according to Tom Cahill, Senior Director of University Development. Since the system is completely text driven, the data entry for the approximately $600 million fundraising campaign Tufts completed last year has been a time consuming process.

The exchange of data between Development and Alumni Relations is made difficult due to incompatible computer systems in each office. With the current system, Development's alumni fundraising information must be printed in hard copy and brought over to Alumni Relations. The information is then manually entered into the alumni computer system.

According to Cahill, the system overhaul "will enhance productivity for both Development and Alumni Relations, allowing the departments to work easily with one another and share the same data."

The planning process for upgrading the computer system in the two offices began during spring 2001 when the Board of Trustees committed funding to the project. But the upgrade project was put on hold during the transitional time when President Larry Bacow was inaugurated and many administrative personnel were changing, Cahill said. Over the last several months, work progressed on the upgrade initiative, leading to the contract negotiations that are currently underway.

The upgrade will allow the Development Office to better keep track of donations throughout the year while providing individuals with records of their contributions at tax time _ reducing the number of inquiries that come into the office. A virtual link between the two offices will enable Development to search for the locations of alumni and donors so they can be personally thanked and invited to meetings when fundraising committees travel.

The upgraded system will also be able to interact with the Student Information System (SIS) which the University now uses. This database contains all the information about current students, their majors, addresses, and graduation years. Currently, all of this information must be reentered into the alumni relations database when a student graduates from Tufts. After the upgrades, the records contained in the student information database will automatically be transferred into the alumni relations system after a student graduates, Cahill said.

New, web-based functions will be introduced with the system upgrade. "The web-based services will provide information at the fingertips for staff traveling the country," Cahill said. Currently, paper printouts of the donor records have to be mailed or faxed to these staff members.

The web functions will benefit Tufts alumni, who will be able to update contact information on the alumni relations website instead of manually sending a card back to the school with their new information on it. Alumni will also be able to specify there area of work experience to aid Career Services in matching alumni advisors with interested students.

Over the next few months, after the contract for the system is approved, the Development Office will have to review its operations and restructure the department. "We will have to review the current processes and implement a complete redesign of the development business," Cahill said. Although the upgrade is a time consuming process, it will allow Development and Alumni Relations to provide better services to donors, alumni, and the university as a whole.