Maine Community College System faculty and staff are expressing concerns about a new software system that they say has created problems with class registration, financial aid letters, and transcript access.
Katrina Ray-Saulis, field representative for MSEA-SEIU Local 1989, said one employee told her tasks that used to take minutes now take almost an hour.
"She goes through the old system to get half the information through the new system to get the rest of the information, compiles it all into a spreadsheet, basically something that would normally take her just a few minutes, ends up taking her 45 minutes, because she's got to pull it from so many different directions," Ray-Saulis said.
Ray-Saulis said the biggest concern is for students. She's heard some faculty now have empty classrooms because students have been unable to register for classes.
And she disagrees with the assertion that these issues are just part of breaking in the system.
"The usual Growing Pains can be expected, but the length of time this has taken makes this no longer use usual growing pains," Ray-Saulis said.
Ray-Saulis said the workers don't know what the solution is but that many have said they would simply prefer the old system over this one.
Community College System President David Daigler said the system implementation involves integrating 10 years of data from seven different college databases into a single system. Daigler admits that process has been challenges but he believes the problems will be fixed.
