Welcome to Project FOCUS

Project FOCUS is an initiative to help UNB harness the power of Colleague, our primary ERP system.

Colleague touches almost every aspect of academic and administrative life at UNB – including financial, human resources, student and advancement data and services -  but it isn’t being used to its full potential.  

Project FOCUS is overhauling UNB’s use of the system so the university can fully optimize how Colleague is used. It is transforming from a clunky, outdated service into a state-of-the-art toolset.

By updating the ways in which UNB uses Colleague, we have better access to data and information; to deliver services to students and clients more effectively; be more productive and efficient; and enhance accountability.

This initiative is ambitious but necessary to modernize and simplify our data environment. With Project FOCUS, all departments will have access, from a single source, to the same information and processes they need to do their jobs:  

  • Faculty need to access current and accurate information to conduct classes and research;
  • Administrators need up-to-the-minute financial and personnel reports;
  • Staff need information to develop and implement appropriate programs and services; and  
  • Students need timely and relevant class data to track their academics.

Currently UNB operates many systems and services that sometimes contain conflicting data.  Project FOCUS represents a co-ordinated, thoughtful approach to overall management and governance of the ERP. 

Costs, and timelines, associated with an initiative of this scale can be difficult to project. Colleague software licensing costs are already part of UNB’s annual operating budget. The aim of this initiative is to ensure UNB is getting better value from that ongoing expense. It is anticipated much of the expense related to Project FOCUS will be in people hours – both UNB stakeholders and external consulting from Colleague specialists. In some situations, it may be necessary to incur new and ongoing licensing costs for additional Colleague functionality or complementary partner solutions to meet the needs of the university