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The Beginning
ASCUS began in 1987 when a few districts (less than 10) decided to create a state user's group. This would allow all of us to learn the new CIMS finance system together. As new users, we felt that we could pool our knowledge and resources for the betterment of us all.
Under our leadership of President Cheryl Crates (Madison School District) and Secretary Karen Eyherabide (Gilbert Unified), we grew quickly as CIMS became the most prevalent financial software in the state. We were blessed to have some very knowledgeable and technically savvy users; we learned and taught others how to write queries, perform functions and produced newsletters full of information and tidbits.
ASCUS Expands
When ASCUS was about a year old, our ASCUS Board collaborated with other states and developed the first international user's group to support the CIMS product line. This group became CIMS USA (User's Support Association. During ASCUS' early years, J&K was bought by National Computer Systems (NCS) and the Student CIMS software became part of our ASCUS support palette.
ASCUS has proved to be invaluable over the years as a support for school users. When the State of Arizona implemented a new financial chart of accounts, school districts worked together with NCS to spec out a program that would help them with the transition. Arizona users worked together with the vendor as well as state officials to enhance the software to meet needs.
ASCUS Now
ASCUS has undergone many changes over the most recent years. Due to the proliferation of other software products in the state, ASCUS has become a non-vendor specific user's group. The implementation of SAIS (Student Accountability Information System) has been a riveting point. Now users come together to share information with each other, glean information from state officials, and brainstorm solutions to common concerns in the meetings' morning sessions. Afternoons now consist of as many as 5-6 user group meetings: users meeting together with their software vendors to discuss concerns, program bugs and requests for enhancements.
Mission Remains
ASCUS has changed and grown over the years, but our mission remains the same: Provide Information and Support to Arizona Schools.
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