Challenges and opportunities associated with the university-wide transition to a new learning management system

This project is a case study about a university-wide transition to a new learning management system (LMS). Organizational and technical challenges associated with this transition are described. For several years, results from faculty satisfaction surveys at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS) shown dissatisfaction with the university’s LMS. Mostly, faculty complained about lack of flexibility and lack of faculty control over course content and development of coursework. Following a review of a number of options, it was decided in the fall of 2011 to purchase the Jenzabar eRacer LMS. In the summer of 2012, USAHS made a university-wide transition to the new LMS. This transition involved the transfer of approximately 170 courses with over 10.000 pages of course content and thousands of tests and assignments. The transfer also involved training of faculty and students in the use of the new LMS. The purpose of this study is to analyze a university-wide transition to a new LMS, with reference to models of general change management and project management. The study employs a retrospective case study approach, employing data from documents, surveys, and email communication. For the most part, the transition itself was successful, without, errors, interruptions of service or delay in course access for faculty or students. The main problems that were experienced did not relate directly to the LMS itself or transfer of course materials, but to technical issues related to synchronization with the databases of the campus management system