The College is beginning a strategic project to migrate our Ellucian Colleague system - our core platform for managing student, finance, and HR operations from an on-premises environment to Ellucian’s SaaS (Software as a Service) platform in the cloud.
What is Ellucian Colleague?
What is SaaS (Software as a Service)?
What is "The Cloud"?
Why are we moving to the cloud?
What is the project timeline?
Will the system look different?
Will this affect my daily work?
Is my data safe in the cloud?
Will there be any downtime?
Will there be training?
What if I have questions or feedback?
Colleague is Clackamas Community College’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) system provided by Ellucian. It’s the central system we use to manage student information, financial aid, course registration, human resources, payroll, finance, and more. Most of the services our students, faculty, and staff rely on every day are powered in part by Colleague.
SaaS stands for Software as a Service. Instead of running the software on our own campus servers, SaaS means the system is hosted and managed in the cloud by the vendor (in this case, Ellucian). SaaS is the industry standard for modern, scalable, and secure enterprise systems and many colleges and universities are making this transition now.
“The Cloud” refers to a network of secure, remote servers hosted on the internet that store data and run applications instead of relying on local servers or computers on campus.
When a system like Colleague moves to the cloud, it means:
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The software and data are stored in highly secure, professionally managed data centers (often with redundancy across multiple locations).
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College IT staff no longer need to maintain the hardware or manually install updates, this is handled by the vendor (Ellucian).
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Users can access the system anytime, from anywhere, using a secure internet connection.
Think of it like storing your photos on Google Drive instead of your personal hard drive - safe, backed up, and available when you need them.
Migrating to Colleague SaaS helps the College:
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Modernize technology by eliminating aging infrastructure
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Improve system reliability and uptime (including 24/7 availability and disaster recovery)
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Streamline updates and patches (handled by Ellucian)
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Enhance security and compliance
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Enable new features faster, including modern self-service tools for students and employees
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Free up IT staff to focus more on innovation and service, rather than system maintenance
This migration is part of a larger effort to ensure our systems are secure, future-ready, and focused on improving the student and employee experience.
We anticipate a two-year project timeline, aligning with our operational calendar and ensuring a smooth, low-risk transition. Key phases include:
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Assessment & Planning: Fall-Winter 2025
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Configuration & Testing: 2026
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Training & Go-Live: Targeting late 2027 to early 2028
We’ll provide regular updates and opportunities for input throughout the project.
Yes. Users will gradually transition to modern interfaces (e.g., Colleague Self-Service) that are cleaner, mobile-friendly, and easier to navigate. While the core data and processes will remain familiar, some tasks may look different or become more streamlined.
We will provide plenty of training and hands-on support to help everyone adapt.
Eventually, yes for the better.
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Students may register for classes, check financial aid, and update personal information using a more intuitive portal.
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Faculty may find simplified advising tools and easier access to student records.
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Staff may see more automation in processes like hiring, budgeting, or reporting.
We’re committed to supporting every user group through these changes with training, documentation, and campus communications.
Yes. In fact, Ellucian SaaS is more secure than our on-premises setup. The platform includes:
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Continuous security monitoring
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Automatic backups and disaster recovery
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Redundant hosting in U.S.-based data centers
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Compliance with industry standards (e.g., FERPA, GDPR, SOC 2)
We are also working closely with our internal cybersecurity and compliance teams to ensure alignment with all College policies and requirements.
We expect some brief planned downtime during the final cut over period (likely over a weekend), but we will:
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Communicate dates well in advance
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Schedule the migration during a low-activity period
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Ensure critical services resume promptly
Most of the migration will happen behind the scenes with no impact on day-to-day operations.
Absolutely. We will offer:
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Department-specific training sessions
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Quick-start guides and video tutorials
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Drop-in help sessions and post-go-live support
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“Train-the-trainer” programs to build in-house experts
Training will begin well before the go-live date and continue through the transition.