LYNX Interface - Installation Overview

The Series25 LYNX Interface provides full data communication and bi-directional integration between your student information system (SIS) and the Series25 environment. LYNX keeps your academic data automatically synchronized between your local or remote SIS database and your remote Series25 database located on CollegeNET servers.

There are two types of LYNX implementations:

  • API Integrations for SIS types that are fully remote. This includes Workday as well as an upcoming Ethos integration. Completing this integration requires configuring aspects of your remote SIS tenant to connect with LYNX via its API.
  • Database integrations for SIS types that are hosted locally. Setting up this integration involves creating specialized "history" tables to record transactional changes to academic data, then posting their contents to Series25 via a lightweight Java application installed at your institution. For the most common SIS types, CollegeNET provides a standard set of scripts and triggers to populate the history tables within your existing SIS database. For other SIS types, you may be required to create a separate database for these tables and are responsible for creating a custom method to populate them.

For more information and architecture diagrams, see How LYNX Processes Data.

To get started with LYNX, contact your account manager at series25implementation@collegenet.com and schedule your initial consultation.

Image: LYNX home page 

Learn more about LYNX

Learn more about LYNX with a product overview or dive into the details of its technical architecture.

Installation Steps

LYNX installation consists of several phases, outlined below. CollegeNET staff will directly assist you along every step of the process.

Follow links in the sidebar for more information about each step.

Plan for implementation

Gather your team, read documentation, and consult with CollegeNET about the upcoming steps.

API integration

(Remote-hosted SIS types only.)

Configure your SIS environment using its native tools, then connect it to LYNX using API credentials.

  • Workday: Create an Integration System User account for API requests and set up the Student Transaction Log Outbound Connector and an optional custom report for change detection.
  • Ethos: Create an API key and give it access to specific Ethos resources.

Database integration

(Locally hosted SIS types only.)

Make changes in your SIS to prepare it for integration with LYNX. Depending on your SIS vendor and database type, this takes several different forms:

  • Banner (ORA), Campus Solutions (ORA/MSS), Colleague (MSS): Deploy scripts in your existing SIS database to configure the LYNX history tables and the triggers.
  • Colleague (UniData): Establish a new MSS database to hold LYNX history tables and configure the Colleague environment to interface with it.
  • Other: Establish a new ORA/MSS database (or use the existing one for your SIS) to hold LYNX history tables and create a method to populate it with data from your SIS. This "Universal LYNX" option is a generic method to integrate any SIS with Series25.

Following this, install a lightweight Java application (LYNX-APP) on your SIS server to serve as a bridge to Series25.

Test the connection

Verify that data from your SIS can be initialized into the hosted LYNX database on CollegeNET's servers.
Configure LYNXSet up your import/export settings, translation tables, and other configurations to ensure that LYNX is configured to meet your needs.
Train your usersCollegeNET offers personalized Academic Cycle training sessions to prepare users for operating LYNX on a regular basis.
Start using LYNX!

You are now ready to:

  • Generate specialized scheduling reports to answer campus-wide questions
  • Run the Schedule25 Optimizer to quickly place courses into classrooms
  • Have up-to-date information about what's happening in classroom space across campus, helping Series25 schedulers and other departments (Facilities, Security, IT, etc.)
  • Create accurate web calendars for public and private use
  • Feed data to building automation systems connected to Series25
  • And more!