The project to revamp the University of Maryland’s Testudo site, formally known as the Student Information System, is officially underway, the university announced Thursday evening.
In a campuswide email, the university introduced the Elevate Program, a project that will transition and combine multiple university systems to a cloud-based enterprise platform.
The new system, which will combine Human Resources, Finance and Student Information platforms, is set to be fully functional in the fall of 2026.
This university’s Human Resource and Finance systems are also used by the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and the University System of Maryland office.
[The Testudo site is getting a $100 million makeover that’s been years in the making]
The university began reviewing cloud-based systems in 2017, when it began to seek to improve user experience, modernize technology and change business practices. In February 2020, the university announced it had chosen Workday to house its cloud-based system.
As of December, the new system will cost nearly $100 million and will be paid over the course of 11 years, if all options are exercised.
The university began implementing the project this year, as it will rebrand the Human Capital Management and Finance Systems. The university is set to complete that transition in the summer of 2023.
This three-year transition is due to how technical the student information system is — it deals with transcripts, course scheduling and financial aid.
“[The university is] replacing everything that’s taken pretty much decades to build, going to a completely new way,” Jack Blanchard, chair of the project’s executive steering committee, told The Diamondback in 2019. “It’s not just changing the software, it’s changing business practices.”
