Anthology Student consulting
Hands-on help with Anthology Student (formerly CampusNexus and CampusVue) from someone who has worked in it since 2007, first as a user and then building on it.
Services
What I can take off your plate
Eight services that usually arrive together. Pick the one that matches the problem in front of you; if it turns out to be a different problem, I will say so on the first call.
SIS integration
Connect your student system to everything around it, as changes happen, with a record of every change.
Reporting and dashboards
SSRS reports and Power BI dashboards your staff trust, including Crystal Reports rebuilt for the web client, by someone who has used those reports.
Data migration
Move student and financial aid data between systems with a rehearsal first and proof for every record.
Financial aid automation
Automation around financial aid data, built by a former aid administrator, with the evidence an auditor asks for.
Workflow automation
Take the manual steps out of admissions, registrar, aid and finance work with Workflow Composer and FormsBuilder, inside the system your staff already use.
Applied AI
Put AI agents to work on real operational tasks, with the controls and the audit trail a college needs.
Managed hosting
Nowhere to run an integration? I host and maintain it on Azure, in your subscription or a dedicated one.
Ways to work together
Three ways to pay for the work
Fixed scope
A defined deliverable for a set price, such as an integration, a migration or a report suite. Best when the outcome is clear.
Monthly retainer
A block of hours each month for a team that needs a student-system specialist to turn to, without hiring one.
Time and materials
Hourly, for investigation, rescue work, or anything whose shape is not known yet. You see the hours every week.
How an engagement runs
Six stages, from the first call to the handoff
From the first call to the handoff: a free call, a short read-only look, a written plan you accept or decline, the build in your test environment, approval by a named person at your school, and a handoff with documentation, runbooks and a walkthrough.
Nothing is billed until you have signed the written plan. Pick a stage to see what happens, what you get, who decides, and where the detail lives on this site.
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1 Free call
A free 30-minute call
- What happens
- You describe the systems and the problem, and I ask the questions I would need answered to scope it. Helpful to bring: the systems involved, what is going wrong or what you want to exist, and any deadline such as a term start or an audit.
- What you get
- A clear next step whether or not we work together. If I am not the right person, I say so and point you somewhere useful.
- Who decides
- You. There is no obligation, and the next stage happens only if you ask for it. A new inquiry gets a reply from me within hours; weekday afternoons Pacific time are my main call windows, and I will take a call in your time zone when it matters.
- When billing starts
- Nothing. The first call is 30 minutes and free.
Read the detail on the Contact page.
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2 Read-only look
A short read-only look, under a confidentiality agreement
- What happens
- I take a short read-only look at the systems involved, under a confidentiality agreement. Your systems stay where they are; I connect the way your security team prefers, and student data is handled as little as the job needs, inside your environment wherever possible, and not by email.
- What you get
- A confidentiality agreement before I see anything, and a plan written from what I have seen rather than from a conversation. The plan is the next stage.
- Who decides
- Your security team decides how I connect. Which tools may see which data is settled with you in writing before any work begins, and you name the person at your school who approves a change before it is applied.
- When billing starts
- Nothing. Nothing is billed until you have signed the written plan.
Read the detail on the questions page (what you need to start).
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3 Written plan
A written plan with a fixed first milestone, which you accept or decline
- What happens
- I write down what I would do first, what it would cost, and how we would both know it worked. The first milestone is small and easy to check: a rehearsal on a copy of your data, a check-only run, one report or one process, in days or weeks rather than months.
- What you get
- A short written plan with a fixed first milestone and a price. I do not publish a rate card; the free call and this plan set the price, in one of three shapes: a fixed price for a defined deliverable, a monthly retainer for a block of specialist hours, or hourly with the hours shown to you every week.
- Who decides
- You. The plan is yours to accept or decline, with no obligation. We also agree working hours and response times in writing before a project starts.
- When billing starts
- Here. Nothing is billed until you have signed the plan; from your signature on, the work is billed the way the plan says.
Read the detail on the questions page (pricing and the first milestone).
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4 The build
The build, in your test environment, in small steps with evidence
- What happens
- I build in your test environment in small steps, each with evidence that it does what it should, and you see progress every week. A migration is rehearsed on a copy of your data, with a check-only run that lists what would change before anything does.
- What you get
- Progress every week, and evidence rather than summaries: before-and-after records for everything a run touched. That is what you show an auditor.
- Who decides
- You do, from the evidence. Each step comes with evidence that it does what it should, and where AI agents are part of the work a separate verifier re-checks the result against the source systems, record by record; anything that cannot be proven goes back to be redone. Nothing reaches production at this stage.
- When billing starts
- Under the plan you signed: a fixed price for the deliverable, a monthly retainer, or hourly with the hours shown to you every week.
Read the detail on the questions page (working in your test environment first).
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5 Approval
A named person at your school approves, then the change is applied
- What happens
- Production changes are rehearsed first and applied by a person, so the real run is not the first time the work has been tried. A named person at your school reads a report showing exactly what the change would do, and approves it before it is applied.
- What you get
- A report of exactly what the change would do before it happens, and before-and-after records for everything it touched afterward.
- Who decides
- The person at your school you named at the start. Who applies the change is agreed in writing; if nobody on your side can apply a change to the live system, usually that is me, after that approval.
- When billing starts
- Under the plan you signed.
Read the detail on the Approach page.
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6 Handoff
Handoff: documentation, runbooks and a walkthrough for your team
- What happens
- The work ends with documentation, runbooks and a walkthrough for your team. The runbooks cover how it works, how to restart it and how to switch it off, so another engineer can take it on.
- What you get
- You own everything I build for you: the code, the documentation, the runbooks, the evidence from the build, and the walkthrough. Reports and validator checks are built for your staff to run for themselves rather than tools only I can use.
- Who decides
- You. The handoff means you are not dependent on me. Support after go-live, if you want it, is in a shape we agree before go-live, often a monthly retainer.
- When billing starts
- Under the plan you signed. Support after go-live is a separate agreement, made before go-live.
Read the detail on the questions page (handing over and ownership).
Small schools
Before you get in touch
We are a small school without an IT team. Is that a problem?
No. I can work directly with your registrar, financial aid and finance staff, because I have done those jobs. If you have nowhere to run an integration, I can host it for you in a dedicated environment; see managed integration hosting. And if nobody on your side can apply a change to the live system, we agree in writing who does. Usually that is me, after a named person at your school has approved a report showing exactly what the change would do.
Common questions
Questions people ask
Do you work on site?
Mostly not. I work remotely, across the United States, from Vancouver, Washington, in the Portland, Oregon metro area. Your systems stay where they are and I connect the way your security team prefers, so the work does not depend on my being in the building. If you are in the Portland area I can come to you when a meeting calls for it, and travel farther is by arrangement, planned ahead. See about.
When are you available?
DataZak runs alongside my full-time architect role, so consulting work is scheduled, not on demand. Weekday afternoons Pacific time are my main call windows; early mornings suit East Coast teams, weekends work too, and I will take a call in your time zone when it matters. We agree working hours and response times in writing before a project starts. A new inquiry gets a reply from me within hours, usually much sooner.
Have a system that needs untangling?
Tell me what you run and where it hurts. The first call is 30 minutes, free, and you will leave with a clear next step whether or not we work together.