News R3

Imagine moving to a new home: it’s exciting, full of possibilities and, let’s be honest, a little overwhelming. Now imagine that instead of furniture and boxes, you’re packing up decades of student data and transporting it into a sleek, modern Student Information System (SIS). That’s exactly what the R3 Project’s Data Governance team is doing as we prepare to move from GeneSIS to Thesis SM.

Just like a house move, Data Migration (DM) is a step-by-step process. Here’s a breakdown of how the analogy fits and what you should know about where we are in this important journey.

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Picture this: you’re at a smoothie bar where you can create your own custom drink. The smoothie bar has pre-defined recipes, plus a variety of ingredients—fruits, veggies, proteins, and sweeteners. But you don’t want everything—you want something specific, like a Very Berry smoothie that’s also tropical, dairy-free with extra protein.

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Earlier this month, employees participating in the R3 Project’s Change Champion Network had the opportunity to drop in and connect with R3 Project Team members and the Registrar’s Office team.

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Did you catch the May 2025 R3 Project Showcase? If so, you may have heard terms related to course creation, and you might be curious to learn more. Now is your chance to test your knowledge by playing our interactive game below!

During the event, Sharon Rendle introduced features of the College’s upcoming Student Information System (SIS), Thesis Student Management (Thesis SM).

Her presentation focused on how the new SIS supports the creation of date specific Course Offerings. These Course Offerings will be visible to learners during the new Course Enrolment process, making it easier for them to plan and personalize their timetables.

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May’s Showcase was the first R3 Project event of 2025 and was hosted by Krista Pearson, Vice President of Student Services and R3 Project’s Executive Sponsor, who welcomed more than 230 participants.

Lois Pollock, Chief Digital Officer and R3 Project Executive Lead, kicked off the presentation with an overview of the revised project schedule.

Jessica Devries, Acting Dean of Academic Development, summarized the Academic Plan—specifically Priority #2, which is to deliver inclusive programs that enable learners to choose—and the Curriculum Stabilization Project.

Ryan Porter and Lisa Langton, Full-time Professors and Curriculum Specialists in Academic Development, highlighted the important work they led on the Curriculum Stabilization Project, as well as what work is still upcoming.

Sharon Rendle, Business Systems Analyst, provided a live demo on how the Course Master, Course Offering Templates, and Course Offering will work in Thesis SM.

We concluded the event with a Q&A session, where attendees were encouraged to ask questions surrounding the topics previously discussed. Continue reading →

Welcome to our ongoing discussion about how we’re communicating the launch of the new Student Portal with our learners. As part of the transition from GeneSIS to Thesis Student Management, the new Student Portal will replace ACSIS as the primary platform where learners can pay fees, enrol in courses, and access many other important services.

This post continues from where we left off in our Communicating with Learners about Thesis Student Portal – Part 1 blog post. If you haven’t read it yet, we encourage you to check it out.

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At Algonquin College, being learner-driven is at the heart of what we do. This is true for the R3 Project, where one of the five project objectives is to improve learner success and satisfaction.

Our Organizational Change Management (OCM) team is gearing up to support learners with the transition to the new Thesis Student Portal. We’re leveraging data-driven strategies recommended by the Human-Centred Design Lab (HCDL), which surveyed over 750 learners across our campuses. We also met with 17 learner-facing employee groups, including Student Support Specialists, the International Education Centre, and Academic Advisors.

Key Guidelines:

• Consistent messaging
• Simple language and visual aids

These principles guide all our communication campaigns, eLearning video tutorials, and online resources.
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Change is a learning journey.

If you’ve been following the R3 Project by attending Showcase events, reading blogs or connecting with your department’s Change Champion, you’ve likely learned quite a bit about the project.

Check your understanding with this H5P map game. Here’s how to play: click a blue circle to open a unique game. The game is an interactive map with brief waypoints in Admissions, Course Enrolment, Portal Pathfinders, and Training. It only takes about 3 – 5 minutes to complete.

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We hope you’re ready for our fourth installment of the R3 Project Terminology Quiz series! Our previous quizzes covered Admissions, Course Enrolment and 2024 Terminology. Not only are the topics different each time, but we also introduce a different game to offer a fresh perspective. Make sure to check out the previous quizzes to see which games we’ve done already.

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It’s that time again—we’ve prepared our third installment of the R3 Project Terminology Quiz series! So far, we’ve done Admissions and Course Enrolment. Each quiz offers a unique game, so make sure to check them out if you haven’t already.

The R3 Project’s Glossary page houses all the terms we’ve defined so far, so it’s a great resource to understand what language we’ll be using once we go live with our new Student Information System (SIS), Thesis Student Management (Thesis SM). And what better way to learn new things than to play a fun game?

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