Ivy League schools have also seen their share of problems as they implement new computerized finance systems.

Yale University, which like Harvard uses software designed by Oracle, nevertheless seems to be ahead of its Cambridge rival.

The new systems designed under Project X, Yale's equivalent to Project ADAPT, went online July 1, 1999--the same day Harvard's did.

But Yale decided to implement its new financial and human resource information systems simultaneously, in what the industry calls a "Big Bang" approach. In contrast, Harvard has chosen to stagger implementation of the system and has so far only launched the financial segment of the program.

"We possibly should have tried to better understand what we were doing, but I think it's best that we jumped right into it," Indy Crowley, director of administrative systems at Yale's Information Technology Services, told the Yale Daily News.

Project X Director Steve Sunderland told the Yale Daily News that nothing is perfect.

"There have been bumps in the road," Sunderland said. "The first real problem was with the first monthly payroll. A number of checks went to the wrong locations."

Still, Crowley said the project has been a success.