After year-long researches, planning and practical execution, Tsinghua SEM has finished the first phase of its strategic IT project upon the occasion of the 99^th anniversary of Tsinghua University.

 

The School released the information on a press conference held on April 24, 2010.

 

“The completion of the first phase of SEM's IT project marks a substantial improvement of the information capability of the School, significantly narrowing down the gap between SEM and leading business schools in the world," said Professor QIAN Yingyi, Dean of Tsinghua SEM, to the press, “Being a crucial move in the School’s information strategy, the project adopts the most advanced information technology to boost the competitiveness of the School. It will surely help strengthen the relationship between SEM and its students, alumni and partners, therefore upgrading the overall quality of education.”

 

 

 

Dean QIAN Yingyi at the press conference

 

Year-Long Execution

 

The IT project was initiated in March 2009. A project group was established with Dean QIAN Yingyi heading the team. After several months’ preparation, including researches, design and comparison, the project was formally implemented in November 2009. The completion of the first project phase was marked by the launching of the School’s new website in April 2010.

 

During the first phase, the project team has been supported by almost all departments at the School, as well as the Computer and Information Management Center, the Internet Center and the Academic Administration Office of Tsinghua University.

 

The information units finished in the first phase include the portal of the School, the office system, Executive Development Program (EDP)'s customer management system and online alumni service.

 

New Portal

 

The new portal of SEM not only has a news and announcement section, but also highlights the importance of thoughts and ideas, the faculty, as well as the interactive community.

 

Professors, students, alumni, the Schools’ partners and other users can log in on the index page of the portal, and access a collection of highly personalized information and service options compiled by the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.

 

The new portal aims to provide a user-friendly platform of knowledge exchange, resources sharing and effective communication. It strictly accords with the overall goal of the whole IT strategy: to prioritize the need of faculty and students, and provide comprehensive information service for professors, students, alumni and partners.

 

Shift in the Focus of Information Service

 

Professor ZHU Yan, Associate Dean of the School, director of the IT project, said to the press, the strategic project is featured by its novelty and progressiveness. It has shifted the conventional focus of information service, stressing customer relationship management, instead of the education administration system, attaching crucial significance to the users who create and utilize knowledge, which is still a rare move among business schools home and abroad.

 

An advanced information platform is required to ensure improved management of customer relations. Since empirical cases indicate that leading business software can be an appropriate choice, Oracle’s PeopleSoft CRM and PeopleSoft Campus Solutions have been chosen as the technical solution. The combined application of two PeopleSoft solutions is expected to boost information integration, upgrade service, and improve the educational capability of the School.

 

Five No. 1s

 

According to Dean QIAN Yingyi, the first phase of SEM’s IT project presents five ground-breaking No.1s in the information service development among business schools in China: SEM is the first in all to adopt IT development as a core strategy to boost its competitiveness, to create an information service model centered around the CRM system, to serve the faculty, students, alumni and partners with highly personalized collective information, to execute the IT project with leading international business solutions and professional agencies, and to operate and maintain the entire system by outsourcing.

 

“After the completion of the first phase of SEM’s IT strategy, top business schools in China certainly will catch up,” said Dean QIAN Yingyi, “which will lead to the overall level-up of their information capability.”