Supporting Open Source Software for Education
Kuali Rice is a very powerful middleware resource. It helps developers integrate a broad array of applications and services, allowing them to build enterprise-level systems with common workflows and customizable user interfaces. But the deep capabilities of Kuali Rice present a challenge: How can developers best learn to tap into its full potential?
To break down this hurdle, rSmart has begun offering comprehensive Rice training. Customized for each institution, it helps developers learn how to create their own systems through demos and hands-on instruction. So far, we have provided this training at almost a half dozen institutions—Brown University, Illinois State University, University of British Columbia, University of Connecticut, and University of Washington.
The rSmart team begins with a basic overview, covering all the modules that make up Kuali Rice. Typically, the team then dedicates a fair amount of time to the complexities of workflow and identity management, including these topics:
We also show developers how to create Rice-based applications, as well as integrate both Kuali and non-Kuali solutions.
At each institution, our staff helps developers decide how they will use Kuali Rice and what the main areas of focus should be for the training. Developers at UW, for example, didn’t plan on using the Kuali Nervous System (KNS) module, and instead wanted help integrating Kuali Enterprise Workflow (KEW) and KIM modules with an external .NET application and their own, home-grown roles management system. At Brown, on the other hand, developers wanted to focus on integrating Rice with Ruby on Rails (RoR).
According to Michael Oatley, Assistant Computer Manager, Enterprise Admin Systems, at UConn, an important advantage of the training was getting hands-on, real-world experience. “What I found most valuable was that we were working with the actual code base and it was implemented in our environment,” he says. “So the training was tailored to closely match what we will implement in production, unlike a classroom or lab setting, which is a simulation.”
For Elaine Saklad, Business Systems Manager in the Computing and Information Services department at Brown, the perspectives and support that rSmart provided were key. “We are a small shop,” she explains, “with very little Java experience, and we’re trying to take our first wobbly steps into the world of Kuali.” rSmart staff, she says, “were always honest about the realities of Rice and both the difficulties and the promise of using it. They are concerned about our success and are willing to help us in any way we need.”
Of course, Rice training is only the beginning for Brown, UConn, and other schools. We look forward to learning more about what these institutions accomplish with Kuali Rice! For more information about Rice training, please contact Sean Warren.