SPIRE

SPIRE is UMass Amherst's enterprise management system. SPIRE is a complex system of software that runs the entire university, handling everything from student finances, class schedules, and many other departmental needs in information technology. In the past it has been quite unreliable, crashing for days at a time at the beginning of the semester, limiting access their schedules and other important information. As of Fall 2005 it is much more reliable than in previous semesters.

SPIRE was upgraded in Fall 2006 to version 3.0. The upgrade brought a new user interface and many new features that make SPIRE easier to use. Such features include the Student Center and tabbed views throughout the system.

You can access SPIRE at https://spire.umass.edu
If SPIRE is down, you can view a PDF of the class schedule at Office of the Undergraduate Registrar Website

[edit] SPIRE tips

• Students may log in to SPIRE with their 8-digit Student ID number or their OIT username (NetID).
• Staff and Instructors log in to SPIRE with a unique username given to them by their department.
• In the past, some class schedule search results have been inaccurate. If you are looking for all sections of a specific class, for example SPANISH 321, try searching on SPANISH 3 instead of SPANISH 321. This problem was reported to OIT by Spring 2005 and may or may not have been fixed.
• If you have problems, try using a supported browser like Internet Explorer (PC), Mozilla Firefox (Mac / PC), or Safari (Mac).
• Students, Faculty, and Staff having problems with SPIRE should contact the OIT Help Desk at (413) 545 - 9400
• Avoid opening more than one window or tab at once in SPIRE.
• To automatically generate a printable class schedule in table form, see schedule generators for the most up-to-date list of tools.

[edit] History

SPIRE is made by Peoplesoft. In January 2004, Peoplesoft was sued for $510 million by the state of Ohio over a botched installation of a system very similar to SPIRE at Cleveland State University.

...The initial version of the software that Cleveland State received [in 1997] was "woefully deficient," according to the suit. Subsequent releases also didn't work as promised, the school claims, saying it had to install "hundreds of fixes" to try to get the software to function properly. Work on the project continued unsuccessfully into 2001, the suit says. The fallout at Cleveland State allegedly included more than $5 million in lost revenue.... [1]

There has been a similar pattern of "fixes" and "upgrades" to SPIRE which have often broken parts of the system.

SPIRE replaced a telephone-based registration system.