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This stuff happens everywhere. They should train these people on the campus itself.
Roddy Stinson: 10 ACCD employees suffer in Honolulu for higher education
Web Posted: 03/17/2005 12:00 AM CST
San Antonio Express-News
On the Squandermania Trail ...
CASE: "Roddy, I heard yesterday (March 9) that no fewer than seven Alamo Community College District employees were in Honolulu for training on a new computer software system.
"I wonder how much money was spent on this junket."
INVESTIGATION: From March 6 to March 9, 10 ACCD staffers attended "SunGard Summit 2005," sponsored by SunGard SCT, a Malvern, Pa., company that develops and services computer systems for colleges and universities.
According to an ACCD spokesman:
"In converting to a new $6 million computer program called Banner, the college district is learning how to successfully implement this (SunGard) system.
"True, the road to results ran through a prime vacation spot, but the venue was picked by the vendor."
The 10 suffering servants of higher education included "three from purchasing, one from human resources, two from finance, one from student financial aid and three from information technologies."
Judging by the district's response to the "how much money" question, the cost of sending the 10 employees to the four-day conference must have been considerable.
Instead of providing specific numbers or estimates, the district spokesman obliquely explained:
"Our employees' travel costs ran almost the same as the costs to send a similar number of employees to last year's work sessions in Philadelphia.
"Room rates in Hawaii were a little cheaper than Philadelphia, but airfare was a little higher to Hawaii."
Interesting.
But not very helpful.
Fortunately, enough information was available on the Internet to come up with an educated guess about the cost of the junket.
Air transportation
At various discount-travel Web sites, a San Antonio/Honolulu roundtrip ticket, if purchased a month or so ahead of time, sells for about $500. So airfare probably cost the district around $5,000.
Registration fees
According to information on the SunGard Summit site, the price of a "Full Conference Registration Fee Package" ranged from $675 (Economy Package, including three lunches and breakfasts) to $825 (Value Package, featuring a "sunset luau").
Multiplied by 10 = $6,750 to $8,250.
Lodging
The SunGard Summit Web site listed 12 places to stay, including the "Headquarters Hotel, Hilton Hawaiian Village," where the daily rate for a room with two occupants costs between $175 (Mountain View) and $225 (Ocean View)."
Rooms for two at the 11 other hotels ranged from $93 to $335.
Assuming the 10 ACCDers stayed in five rooms and spent four nights ... total hotel cost was $2,000 to $3,500.
Miscellaneous
Ground transportation, three or four meals, tips, etc. for 10 — maybe $1,000.
Probable total cost: $15,000.
According to the district spokesman, "All reimbursement requests are not in yet."
So no official cost figure was available Wednesday ... which, coincidentally, was the same day that San Antonians read on Page 1B of the Express-News:
"While voting to raise tuition and fees for the second straight year, Alamo Community College District trustees told administrators Tuesday night they must cut all they can from operational costs.
"The trustees unanimously approved a 5 percent increase that will raise tuition from $38 a credit hour to $40 — with the caveat that the administration show the district has done all it can to reduce costs."
One cost-cutting possibility: Limit the number of annual trips to Oahu to the number of successive years with no tuition increases.
This stuff happens everywhere. They should train these people on the campus itself.
15,000 to train 10 people how to use a 6 million dollar software package does not seem unreasonable....if the vendor chose hawaii, what were they to do?
if there is info that they could have gotten this training cheaper or in house, but chose hawaii instead, then that would be something to have issue with.
and 15,000 is only the beginning... there will be thousands more spent on additional training...
the thing is ACCD seems like they are hiding something in their responses..
What a bunch of euphemistic crap.
http://summit.sct.com/downloads/ebrochure.pdf
I've been to similar conferences. While they can be useful, they are by no means necessary.SUNGARD SUMMIT 2005—HONOLULU, HAWAII
Unifying the Experience
A powerful experience never leaves you. The feelings. The knowledge. The energy. The atmosphere. By
managing the experiences of your cons uents in the most positive way, your ins ution can create a
Unifi ed Digital Campus where learning prevails and loyalty endures.
At this year’s SunGard Summit conference, we’re striving to create a similarly powerful experience for
you—through memorable seminars, collaborative workshops, and an atmosphere you’ll never forget.
To foster that collaborative atmosphere and ensure a successful outcome for everyone who attends and
every ins ution represented, SunGard SCT is designing the conference agenda around specifi c solutions,
partner and add-on products, and general and technical topics. By offering such a robust curriculum,
SunGard Summit affords each participant—and, by extension, every ins ution—the opportunity to envision
and prepare for the Unified Digital Campus, an environment in which systems, individuals, and
communities interact seamlessly for learning, teaching, administration, and achievement.
We invite you to attend SunGard Summit 2005 in the natural paradise of Honolulu, where you and 5,000
fellow SunGard SCT clients can create a memorable experience.
Exactly. I went to several when I worked for UDS to get training on AC Neilson products and the like. It's a waste man, I never learned something I couldn't have gathered from a damn tutorial.
I agree. With so many "on-line" seminars and "virtual" seminars being offered you'd think there were less expensive options.
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