Kuali Foundation releases open source financial system, launches a research administration system project, announces new board members and corporate partners.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Kuali Foundation announced today the first release of the open source Kuali Financial System (KFS), the first phase of a comprehensive set of open-source software tools to serve the financial system needs of higher education. The Foundation also announced the appointments of two new board members, new corporate partnerships, and the launch of Kuali Research Administration (KRA).
“The release of Financials makes clear the growing momentum for colleges and universities to take control of their enterprise software by pooling investments in community source projects,” said Brad Wheeler, Indiana University chief information officer and chair of the Kuali Foundation. “The model shows that we can pool our investments, execute a disciplined project, and share the benefits of these efforts as part of a sustainable open source community.”
The Kuali Financial System (KFS), funded in part by a $2.5M grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, represents a major first step to establish a comprehensive series of modules for administrative functions in higher education. Designed to serve the financial system needs of all Carnegie Class institutions, KFS addresses core financial operations, including accurate accountability, timely reporting, efficient processing, and strengthened internal controls through computerized business rules.
The Kuali Foundation also announces its next development project as Kuali Research Administration, funded in part by a $1.5M grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Kuali Research Administration (KRA) will build on the models used successfully by Sakai and Kuali Financial Systems where the system is based on a proven design. KRA is based on an update of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s proven COEUS system, one of the first cradle-to-grave award management systems in the nation. Indiana University, in close partnership with Cornell University and the Weill College of Medicine, MIT, Michigan State University, and the University of Arizona, will develop the KRA system to meet the growing needs of university Research Administration Offices.
Steven Dowdy of MIT and John Walda, president of the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), have also been appointed to the Kuali Foundation Board of Directors.
The Kuali Foundation also announces its first Kuali Commercial Affiliates to provide support for the open source Kuali software. IBM, Huron Consulting, and The rSmart Group have joined as members of the Kuali Foundation and will be providing for-fee services to support the Kuali software. Interest in the Kuali Foundation has grown significantly since the community source initiative was first announced in 2004, and the Kuali Foundation is now adding new college and university partners. “The Kuali Foundation Partners is the first opportunity for colleges, universities, commercial, and other not-for-profit organizations to join the Kuali Foundation and influence the direction of Kuali’s important mission,” said Wheeler.
Kuali Days, taking place November 14-15 in Tucson, Arizona, will be the next major gathering for the growing Kuali community.
Additional information about each of these announcements is available at http://www.kuali.org/.
About the Kuali Foundation
The Kuali Foundation is a non-profit organization responsible for sustaining and evolving a comprehensive suite of administrative software that meets the needs of all Carnegie Class institutions. Its members are colleges, universities, and interested organizations that share a common vision of open, modular, and distributed systems for their software requirements. The goal of Kuali is to bring the proven functionality of legacy applications to the ease and universality of online services.