Upgrades improve MyInfoVault, mark gain for shared Kuali software

Information and Educational Technology has made several important improvements this year to MyInfoVault (MIV), the campus service that creates digital dossiers to support faculty promotions.

The most significant upgrade, done in January, improved the workflow and role management processes in MIV. But the way the workflow was improved is significant too. The MIV group used Kuali Enterprise Workflow, part of the Kuali Rice set of shared middleware tools--software that allows separate systems and processes to interact across a network.

The upgrade improved the way documents flow through the MyInfoVault process outlined by Academic Personnel. Using Kuali Rice for the upgrade meant IET didn't have to build its own workflow and role management components to get the work done.

And that's important. Wider use of Kuali Rice could save UC Davis money and time. Developers won't have to re-invent workflow tools each time they create or update a program at UC Davis. Wider use should also simplify training, as more people become familiar with how the tool works.

MyInfoVault lets faculty present their career accomplishments in a data repository, which can then be mined to create the electronic dossiers. The dossiers include publications, creative work, grant proposals, honors, awards, teaching evaluations, and other materials that define a career. The dossiers are Web-based, so administrators and faculty can review the material from anyplace with Internet access.

MyInfoVault is the first UC Davis application to use Kuali Enterprise Workflow. It is also one of the first non-Kuali applications to be integrated with Kuali Rice--another step forward for both the central Rice service and the nonprofit Kuali Foundation, which helps develop community-source administrative software for higher education.

IET's Middleware team has adopted Kuali Rice as its standard, and is working to integrate it with future campus deployments of Kuali Financial Systems (KFS) and Kuali Coeus (KC). After Rice is integrated into KFS and KC, Middleware plans to offer KFS and KC to the general campus.

UC Davis became an investing partner in the Kuali Rice Project in March, earning the campus a seat on the Rice board filled by IET Vice Provost Pete Siegel. In May, he also took a seat on the Kuali Foundation board, joining Mike Allred of Administrative and Resource Management as the board's second member from UC Davis. These appointments increase the campus's influence in the development of Kuali projects.

Meanwhile, the MyInfoVault team continues to address requests for improvements from its users. Recent upgrades include:

• Improved department and school/college archives: A snapshot of the dossiers is created in MyInfoVault at each location--department, school, college, or the Office of the Vice Provost of Academic Personnel. These snapshots preserve a version of the dossier at each stage before it advances to the next part of the review; Academic Personnel archives the final dossier. This feature is available to department, school and college administrators, and to Academic Personnel analysts.
• A "Release for Signature" feature: It lets the dean's analyst prepare and release the dossier to the dean for review and signature. Academic Personnel analysts can use the same feature to prepare and release the dossier for the vice provost's review and signature.
• A new workflow to re-delegate merit actions that require a recommendation from a review committee: The "Recommended Action Form" now has a new delegation authority option for actions requiring a review committee recommendation. New workflow steps allow dossiers to be routed from the school or college to the committee, and then back to the school or college for a final decision.

The Committee on Academic Personnel (C AP) recommends campuswide use of MIV. MyInfoVault receives broad support from existing and potential users, the MIV Users Group, and is endorsed by the campus Administrative Management Group (ADMAN).

Find the complete list of changes to MIV here, and send questions to miv-help@ucdavis.edu.