From Concept to Implementation

Recreation software improves productivity, business efficiency, and sustainability.

Todd Hammonds, University of California, Santa Cruz Janice DeMonsi, Santa Clara University Steve Najera, University of Colorado, Boulder Pamela Hightower, University of Florida

Session Overview

• • • • • • Learning Objectives Campus Recreation Overviews Software Basics Do your homework How long will it take?

Contract Negotiations To view this PP online, scu.edu/recreation

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Learning Objectives

1. Discover how to research, procure, and implement software that meets your specific operational needs. 2. Evaluate software programs such ActiveNet, CSI, Fusion, RecTrac, and based on cost structure, functionality, and ease of use from current users and/or system administrators. 3. Learn the ins and outs of contract negotiation that will save you time and money.

Campus Recreation Overviews

• University of California at Santa Cruz • Santa Clara University • University of Colorado, Boulder • University of Florida

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University of California Santa Cruz

Public University-18,000 (16,400 undergraduate & 1,600 graduate) OPERS reports to the Office of Campus Life - has 21 Full-time Professional Staff, 3 maintenance staff, 45 Part-time staff and instructors & 300 student assistants. Swipes: 2000+ weekday, 1000 weekend users All enrolled students pay a rec fee in their tuition and have access to all facilities and regular programs Paying members only = Faculty, Staff, Spouse, Alumni and Community 500 per year PE classes free to members and students, 1500 students enroll via ASI Intramural sports – Teams register online, usually $60.00 per league Online registration for the Outdoor Recreation program has 180 Trips, Classes and Workshops per quarter Locker Rentals(1000 per year) & equipment check out.

UC Santa Cruz & ActiveNet

• • Uses ActiveNet for the following procedures Access Control, POS, Equipment Check-Out, ECommunication, Locker Rentals, Membership Pass Management, Reporting, and Online registration: Outdoor Recreation, IM’s and Special Events.

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Top 5 ?’s

Why you chose the product you currently use?

– We were going from using nothing to software and looked at Ezfacility, CSI, Vermont Systems/Rectrac, B2H, TIBOR, ActiveNet and our IT department wanted to build us something. We went with Active Net based on cost, It’s hosted and web-based.

What does it cost?

– We pay about $720 a month or about $8600.00 per year, hope to reduce that figure to $5,000 per year by moving more procedures online.

If all options were available would you switch to another product?

– I don’t see it based on the time that it would take to train everyone on a new product, we are pretty happy Do you find the software easy to use for staff and customers?

– Its very easy for the students to learn and use , for the professional staff change to takes time, energy, and optimism.

Are there any parts of the software that are not meeting your needs? – We currently don’t use ActiveNet for IM Scheduling, Facility Reservations or Donation Management.

Santa Clara University

• • • • • • • • Private university 8500 students (undergraduate & graduate) Campus Recreation reports to athletics - has 2 full-time staff, 12 undergraduate student coordinators & 175 other student workers 1200 daily users at the recreation center All current students, faculty and staff have access for FREE plus their spouses - approximately 14,000 Paying members only = Alumni approximately 200 Fitness classes currently sell a spot in the class - 1800 annual participants Intramural sports - pay a deposit to play, 591 teams annually Also do lockers, & a towel service, guest passes & equipment check out

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Santa Clara University & CSI

Uses CSI for the following procedures Access Control, Membership & Guest Management, POS, Locker Rentals, Class, Program, Event, and IM Registration, and Reporting

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Top 5 ?’s

Why you chose the product you currently use?

– In 2007 we looked at Vermont Systems, CSI and a Web-Based program from San Diego that would be customized to our needs. We selected CSI, for the price and the evaluations/feedback from other universities using it.

What does it cost?

– We pay about $1820 a month or $21,840 a year. We are vendor hosted (CSI) If all options were available would you switch to another product?

– Not at this time, with only two prof. staff – it would be hard to see us switching, its working, and why add all of the stress with change – change….no one likes change Do you find the software easy to use for staff and customers?

– Yes, that was one of the criteria-ease for students to use both as the limited front desk and coordinators with admin rights-we had to know it was easy to use –intuitive since FTE time is valuable.

Are there any parts of the software that are not meeting your needs? – We currently use Intramural League Manager, but are hoping it improves with the next release.

University of Colorado, Boulder

• • • • • • • • • • Public University-29,884 on-campus degree-seeking students, 24,757 undergraduate students 5,127 graduate students Recreation Services reports to Student Government and Student Affairs - has 36 full-time staff, 300 student staff 4,000 – 4,500 daily users at the recreation center during the school semesters. 1,500 – 2,000 daily users during the summer months. All full-time students pay a mandatory student rec fee within their tuition and have access to all recreation facilities. Memberships are available for Faculty, Staff, Alumni and University Affiliates. 88% of annual users are students, 6% Others, 4% Faculty/Staff, 1% Tours, 1% Special Events. Fitness classes currently sell a spot in the class - 1800 annual participants Fitness Classes – Offer 100+ classes per week, annually sell 1500 Be Fit Passes, 75 ten punch pass, 1400 drop in passes Intramural sports – 30 sports provided, 15 special events annually Club Sports – 34 Collegiate Club Sport Programs, 14,000 participants Locker Rental - 4,434 rented lockers annually Equipment Checkout – 200,000 items checkout annually. Locks, towels, basketball, etc.

University of Colorado & RecTrac

• • Uses RecTrac for the following procedures: Access Control, Membership Management, POS, Locker Rental, Class Registration, Equipment Checkout and Reporting

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Top 5 ?’s

Why you chose the product you currently use?

– At the time (1991), we were looking for a POS / Rec Software System. We did a review of 2 software’s on the market in the 90’s and choose Rec Trac as the better product. This did improve our operations leaps and bounds from our old school paper system.

What does it cost?

– $5,442 for annual licensing, $4,980 for OIT to host server, estimated $3,000 to replace the server every 4-5 years. Total per year equals $11,172.00

If all options were available would you switch to another product?

– We are moving forward with a switch to a new product line, if cost isn’t prohibitive. Innosoft, Fusion is the software we are currently looking at switching to.

Do you find the software easy to use for staff and customers?

– Our customers have no direct use of RecTrac because we do not use Web Trac Software. Training time for professional staff and student staff is extensive. The professional staff struggle a bit with the older operation system as well as the program not fully being developed for strictly university/collegiate Rec Sports. Are there any parts of the software that are not meeting your needs? – The locker module is very difficult to use and the phone technicians don’t know how to use it to help with questions. The software in general works well. It is a complicated software with too many toggles that if not checked will mess up what you are trying to do. If we had someone full-time working with the ins and outs of its quirks we would probably use more of the functionality.

University

of Florida

• • • • • • • • Public Land Grant University- 49,000 students (undergraduate & graduate) Campus Recreation reports to the Division of Student Affairs - has 17 RecSports Professionals, 6 Administrative Support Staff, 13 maintenance staff, 15 graduate assistants & 800 other student workers 4,255 weekday, 1,995 weekend daily users at the recreation center All current students who are paying the Activity and Service fee (a portion is allocated to RecSports) have access to all facilities and programs Paying members only = Faculty, Staff, Spouse, Alumni approximately 550 Fitness classes free to members and students, spots are first come first serve with online registration - 12,640 participants annually Intramural sports - free, charged a fee if they forfeit a game, 2725 teams, 12,239 participants annually Also do online group fitness and special event registration, facility requests and calendaring, guest passes & equipment check out

University of Florida / Fusion

• • Uses Fusion for the following procedures Access Control/ Biometrics, Membership Management, Equipment Check-out, Facility Reservations, ECommunication, Group Fitness and Special Event Registration, Interface to IMleagues for intramural management, Guest Pass Management, and Reporting

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Top 5 ?’s

Why you chose the product you currently use?

– Customer Service, Ease of use on the managerial side, Intuitive student staff interfaces, Opportunity to manage online registrations and payments, centralized information system accommodates extensive reporting What does it cost?

– $25,000 per year licensing, $10,000 initial server purchase. Self-Hosted If all options were available would you switch to another product?

– No Do you find the software easy to use for staff and customers?

– Overall yes. The customers don’t notice it and training time for staff is minimal. Are there any parts of the software that are not meeting your needs? – Our web portal is not mobile ready and our university ldap authentication interface causes a bottleneck for registrations occasionally. The interface with IMleagues is DEFINITELY not ideal, and there are some image continuity issues between our website, rsconnect, and IMleagues that we don’t like.

From Concept to Implementation

SOFTWARE BASICS

Software differences

• • • • • • • Web based ------------- Server Based Monthly Fee, Transaction Fee, or Purchase Vendor Hosted --------------Self Hosted IT Professional Staff -------- IT Support Free upgrades -------------- Paid upgrades Onsite training ------------- Web based training Tech Support --------------- Limited Tech Support

What will software do for my program?

• • • • • • Improve business efficiency Improve productivity Improve sustainability Improve customer experience Require training and learning new skills sets Cost you $$$$$

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What else can it do

Create computer dependence for staff Tie your hands, when it goes down (Yikes) Move dedicated time to other projects Reduce busy work Reduce workload Improve tracking, inventory control, and reporting

From Concept to Implementation

DO YOUR HOMEWORK

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Research

Develop a budget for the project including: Software fees, PC’s, possible server, receipt paper, cards, printers, POS monitors, card swipes, etc... Visit nearby schools that use the different programs that you are looking at Set up meetings with everyone involved, staff, IT if needed, purchasing, cashiering …

Research

• • • • • Reach out through NIRSA Habitat Talk to your friends Ask questions If your talking with a vendor ask for references Don’t rush, be flexible

From Concept to Implementation

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE

Implementation Timeline

Varies (6months – 2 years) Decide its time to use purchase software Research products that meet your operational needs Bring all stake holders to the table: IT, Purchasing, Staff etc..

Figure out your budget For State schools inform Purchasing of your plan Contact Vendors Select Vendor Organize Webinars and presentations Negotiation of contract Business Process Review (Usually done by purchasing ) Sign contract Training 1-3 weeks In-house testing Go Live date Start simple and build on

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Timeline Cont.

Don’t rush, you will using this product for the next 3-5 years or more Do as much research as you can Go into it, knowing that not everyone is going to happy Give yourself and your staff time to train before going live Involve your top student employees in the whole process

Who will be in charge of it?

• • • • • You will be System Administrator will need to be determined/Designated in most cases Back-up System Admin’s IT Staff In-house IT support

From Concept to Implementation

CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS

Contract Negotiations

• • • • Best Solution/Lowest Possible Price Case Studies – What are they worth They want your business ($$$) Keep an ace in the whole & be willing to use it

Questions & Answers

Contact Info

• Todd Hammonds, [email protected]

• Janice DeMonsi, [email protected]

• Steve Najera, [email protected]

• Pamela Hightower, [email protected]

Dtt To view this PP online scu.edu/recreation , under the news feed