Since the start of the Bachelor College, students have been taking electives at departments other than their own more and more often. And it may just happen that these other departments use a different registration procedure. Course registration are now processed through Owis or Studyweb – or takes a different route altogether. Confusing for students, schedulers, study counselors, and teaching staff. The ICT education group concluded as much, too. They’re a consultative body at TU/e that prioritizes issues, and SIS was high up on the list.

A make-or-buy analysis determined whether TU/e was to create its own system or should outsource its development. Bas Rijnbende, project leader of SIS at TU/e conducted the analysis and concluded it was time for a new system – it ‘made sense, all things considered’. “Owis is outdated, and there are several standard solutions available. We’re really the last university in the Netherlands that still uses a homemade system. It makes sense to opt for an existing system. Education and research are core skills at TU/e, and it’s important to focus on those rather than o developing our own SIS.”

Up until now, TU/e has always built its own systems. Owis is the administrative part, Studyweb the Learning Management System, and OASE the access portal. And several courses have their own systems beside that.