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Faculty of Health Sciences

Faculty of Health Sciences Database (FHS-DB)

About the FHS-DB

What is the FHS-DB?

The Faculty of Health Sciences Database (FHS-DB) is a web application designed specifically to meet the unique needs of our community. This system will launch in the beginning of May 2023, replacing the Star Acuity, MacFACTS and ATP systems.

Key Functionality Within This System

  • Personal information, including academic appointments (formerly held in the ATP system)
  • Preceptor payments
  • CV information for tenure and promotion (formerly held in the now decommissioned MacFACTS system)
  • Credited teaching contributions (formerly held in MacFACTS)

FHS-DB Guiding Principles

There are several guiding principles that have been considered while building the FHS-DB:

  1. To successfully replace the critical services that were offered through MacFACTS.
  2. Consider other campus solutions including Mosaic, MedSIS and McMaster Experts. The goal is to build a database that fills in the gaps and integrates with the existing systems whenever possible.
  3. Require faculty-wide stakeholder feedback across the Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) to be effective.
  4. The FHS-DB team considers projects that are in progress or have already been endorsed by central campus to avoid any duplication of effort.
  5. Continuous feedback and support to ensure the solution remains effective to the changing needs of FHS.
  6. Best practices and policies are always be followed with respect to security, access and data governance.
  7. The FHS-DB is a core service to FHS and has program endorsement by the FHS-IT committee.

Governance

The primary objective of governance for the FHS-DB is to ensure that the web application meets the needs of its users and aligns with the overall strategic goals of McMaster University.

The Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) Database Steering Committee (FHS-DBSC) is part of the information technology (IT) governance framework of the FHS. It serves as a sub-committee of the FHS Information Technology Committee (FHS-ITC), focusing on the FHS Database (FHS-DB).

The FHS-DB is a web application designed to benefit the entire FHS, by offering a solution to help facilitate critical FHS-specific business processes such as: tenure and promotion, budgeting, clinical department merit processes, medical school preceptor payments, CV management, reporting and targeted electronic distribution lists. The FHS-DB will require continued development to meet the evolving needs of the FHS. The FHS-DB is a core service to the FHS via the computer services unit (CSU).

Roles and Responsibilities

The following roles and responsibilities will be assigned in the IT governance framework for the FHS-DB supporting the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University:

Steering Committee

  • The steering committee’s primary goals are to contribute stakeholder perspectives, provide feedback, help prioritize ongoing development enhancements and provide transparency around decision-making regarding the database.
  • The FHS-DBSC acts as an advisory sub-committee for the FHS-ITC but makes no final decisions. Recommendations made by this committee will be taken to the FHS-ITC committee by the Director of IT. The FHS-DBSC also acts as an intermediary to facilitate communications and clarification of FHS-ITC decisions and priorities to operational groups.

Director of IT

  • Provide updates on the FHS-DB to the FHS-ITC Committee
  • Managing FHS-DB resources and budget

CSU

  • Lead by the senior project manager, who will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the web application, including:
    • Gather user requirements, write change requests, perform testing, write documentation and provide training
    • Reporting on FHS-DB performance metrics to the Steering Committee
    • Ensuring that technical standards and best practices are followed.