Kuali Project Receives Grant, Gains Partners

March 23, 2005

A $2.5 million grant from the Mellon Foundation and the addition of four new partner institutions were recently announced by the Kuali Project, an effort to develop an open source financial system for colleges and universities. The grant brings the total funding for the Kuali Project to $7.2 million, with eight partnering organizations guiding development of the initiative.

The new Kuali Project partners include Cornell University, San Joaquin Delta College, Michigan State University, and the University of Arizona, which have joined with Kuali Project founders Indiana University, the University of Hawaii, and the r-smart group to develop the modular financial software. As the eighth member, NACUBO will provide supporting services to the Kuali Project.

The Kuali Project is based on the proven financial system design that has been used at Indiana University for more than 10 years. Its modular design includes a base system of chart of accounts, general ledger, transactions, reporting, and workflow.

Planned additional modules include:

accounts receivable
budgeting
capital assets management
endowment
enhanced decision support/reporting
labor distribution
purchasing/accounts payable
pre- and post-award research administration

The first Kuali modules are expected to be released in early 2006. Other modules will follow as the two-and-a-half year project completes its work in summer 2007. The Kuali Project will also release a Fiscal Officer Training Series and financial policy templates to accompany the software.

All Kuali Project software and materials will be available under the Educational Community License and can be adopted by colleges and universities without licensing fees. The open-licensing approach provides opportunities for support and implementation assistance from commercial providers, such as a recently formed partnership between the r-smart group and IBM. The r-smart group/IBM agreement will provide offerings, service, and support for higher education open source projects such as Kuali.

For more information on the Kuali Project, visit www.kualiproject.org.