SRCC Workshop 2007

Strathmore University shone brightly at the Kuali Days Conference held in Phoenix, Arizona on the 13th and 14th of November 2007.  The University was represented at the Conference by its Financial Accountant, Mr Vincent Ndoloka and its ICT Director, Mr Martin Wanjohi.

The two attended were invited to the conference by the Kuali Foundation.  Also accompanying them was Dr Joseph Sevilla, Dean, Faculty of Information Technology; and Mr Robert Gakuo of Strathmore Research and Consulting Centre (SRCC). 

Kuali Foundation is an Open Source Foundation comprised of many prominent universities, all focused on developing and enhancing academic and administrative systems for universities globally.  Universities participating in the project include Indiana University and University of Arizona among others.

SU is the first university in the program to implement the Kuali Financial System (KFS).  The System went live within schedule on July 1 2007.  KFS is a financial system developed by universities for universities in order to meet their specific needs.

Significant features of the system include a chart of accounts tailored to meet financial information and reporting needs of universities, online financial transactions (including routing and approvals) which make financial processes paperless and efficient and comprehensive electronic audit trails aimed at improving financial controls.

Vincent, Martin and Keiko Takahashi (Project Manager from rSmart, The rSmart Group of Phoenix, Arizona, whose company worked hand in hand with Strathmore University in the implementation of the System) presented a joint paper on the implementation of KFS in Strathmore University.  The paper discussed the implementation, the reasons for success, challenges and future plans.

Dr Bradley Wheeler, Chair of the Kuali Foundation Board of Directors had this to say on the success of the Strathmore University presentation. “The talk was very well received by attendees….Your presentation style represented Kenya quite well.”

“The community benefited tremendously from your account of going live with an open source financial system.  It is a remarkable story of leadership and execution in efficiently solving your institution's needs,” Dr Wheeler added.

David Lyons, the chair of the conference remarked: “Your presentation was eagerly anticipated by the attendees because Strathmore University has the honor of being the first university to implement the Kuali Financial Base System.  The interest in the Conference was so high that we had to close registration because we had no more seating capacity.” 

“There was great interest in how you organized for the implementation and accomplished it on schedule and within a tight budget.  The material was very helpful to the many colleges and universities that are now beginning their implementations of the Kuali Financial System.”

John Robinson, Chairman of the rSmart Group said “Being the first institution to go live with the Kuali Financial System, they (Strathmore University) were invited to talk about their significant experience in achieving that milestone.”

The feedback received by the presenters from Conference attendees was highly favorable.   “The comments from the Conference attendees on the value of your sessions have been uniformly favorable. I gained insights that will help me in my role as Liaison to the Kuali Project for the National Association of College and Business Officers.  Many thanks for making such an important contribution to the success of our Conference,” Lyons said.

“The reasons for Strathmore's success as the first University to go live with the Kuali Financial System came through the presentation by Mr Wanjohi and Mr Ndoloka.  Their skillful presentation reflected and represented the executive and managerial leadership and commitment of the Strathmore community which enabled this major success.”  Mr Robinson said.

He added that Vincent and Martin were a big hit with the 345 attendees as their notable implementation set a new expectation which gave a new sense of reality to the attendees.

During the Conference, KFS Release 2 was unveiled which include electronic purchasing, accounts payable, payment processing and contracts and grants.