Rolling, Rolling, (Pay)Rolling
Work rolls along for the Campus Solutions team as they move toward go-live March 25. A new feature called Student Center will roll out even sooner, so configuration, testing, and communication plans are in full swing for that.
Not resting on their laurels, members of the Human Resources team have embarked on the process of implementing Recruiting and Benefits Administration, both of which are scheduled to go live in April. The third payroll period is being processed in the new system, and this is the first for many student staff on campus. A message sent Monday to student staff and supervisors provided helpful information on pay periods and time entry, including a link to the 2013 Payroll Calendar.
Lots to Celebrate!
The HR module team: (l-r) Cindy Matern, Katie Holmes, Shannon Briggs, Andrea Shea, Jeff Strong, Mona Lawrence, Ana Burns-Johnson, Scott Dunham, Jessie Carter, and Nancy Nieraeth.
In case you missed it, there was a rockin’ party in the lower level of Howarth Hall this past Monday afternoon to celebrate the accomplishments of the HR module team! Colleagues, dignitaries, and just general fans came by to congratulate team members on going live and making payroll in the new system (twice now!).
There was greeting, eating, and, of course, music to enjoy. All team members autographed the individual HR logo sign, and team leads Jessie Carter (general HR), Katie Holmes (payroll), Mona Lawrence (Career and Employment Services), and Shannon Briggs and Ana Burns-Johnson (benefits) added their signatures to the Optimize wall in the project lab.
Kudos, too, to the Financials team, which went live this week with the Wells Fargo Payment Manager! The team is now focused on refining various aspects of this most helpful tool which provides one source for the processing of internal and external payments of all forms.
The Campus Solutions team is making significant progress as they prepare to roll out components of their module over the next few weeks. The Office of the Registrar is verifying enrollment data, building reports, and tracking graduation, among other things. Student Financial Services has been working on such items as the student checklist for financial aid, federal application processing, financial aid packaging terms, and the interface with the general ledger and third-party payment system, Nelnet.
Academic Vice President and Dean of the University Kris Bartanen sent a message to faculty this week detailing expected changes with the go-live of Campus Solutions on March 25. Training is planned for faculty and administrative staff during the weeks of March 4 and March 11 in various academic buildings on campus. Topics will include tasks related to course schedule, class lists and management of courses, and advising. More information will be sent to faculty as it becomes available.
Human Resources Team Processes Payroll
Round one of Program Plan validation was completed by the Campus Solutions team. The team continues to work through the remaining configuration and data conversion tasks as they begin the home stretch towards the March 25 go live.
Here Come the Holidays and HR Go-Live
The university will observe winter break beginning December 21 at 5:00 p.m. Offices will open again January 2 at 8:00 a.m. However, some members of the Optimize team will continue to work over the break as we prepare for the January 1 go-live of the Human Resources module. To those folks, we extend a big “THANK YOU” for your dedication and service!
In other news, the Campus Solutions team spent a busy week refining the early decision process that went live last Friday. We greatly appreciate the hard work of those involved from Student Financial Services, Admissions, and Technology Services.
Veterans of our first go-live back on July 2, the Financials team attended an excellent training session this week on the extensive functionality available in their module. They are excited about implementing many of these capabilities as we move forward.
With that, we here at Optimize say on to 2013! Happy Holidays, everyone!
Kudos to Ed Barber!
Procurement Director Ed Barber has been appointed to the Procure-to-Pay (PTP) Product Advisory Group of the Higher Education User Group (HEUG) representing institutions that use application software from Oracle. The HEUG website describes the Procure-to-Pay group as “collaborating with Oracle representatives on many levels to evolve the PTP products to continue to improve functionality, flow, and user experience.” We have no doubt Ed will be a great advocate for Puget Sound and all others using Oracle’s PTP products!
Campus Solutions had a great week, going live in PeopleSoft with the early decision process, which includes financial aid awarding and notification, for next fall’s incoming class.
In preparation for the January 1 go-live of the Human Resources module, Jessie Carter from HR and Katie Holmes from ABS spent the week at MIS headquarters to work on configuration and testing. See the new fall issue of the Technology Services newsletter, TechNews, for more information on the HR go-live and other Optimize developments.
Prospects, Students, and PeopleSoft
Did you miss last week’s Optimize blog post? So did we! Let’s catch up…
The Campus Solutions team is preparing for an important milestone on Monday, when the early decision process for next fall’s incoming class will go live in PeopleSoft. Student Financial Services, Admission, and others involved in the project have built a pathway for prospects to see financial aid award information as well as admission status utilizing the new system. This is a major accomplishment!
We are gearing up for changes in payroll and timekeeping as we near the January 1 implementation of the Human Resources module. Payroll sent a message Monday to student staff and their supervisors with details, dates, and other information they need to know. A highlight is the fact that students will transition to the same semi-monthly payroll as faculty and staff.
If you’ve missed any of the campus messages and publications related to the project, see our new communications archive in the Optimize Training site on SoundNet (requires Puget Sound login). A new issue of TechNews is on its way to faculty and staff mailboxes next week, so keep your eyes open for that!
Super Focused, Moving Forward
Everyone associated with Optimize Puget Sound is super busy and super focused as we move through an intense phase of the project these days. HR and Financials participated in parallel payroll testing this week and also engaged in PeopleSoft Time and Labor meetings. The Campus Solutions team completed and signed off on the validation of external organizations, meaning the possible high schools and colleges students transfer to and from.
It’s still being developed, but we’ve opened a new SoundNet site to house Optimize training information and resources. See https://soundnet.pugetsound.edu/optimizetraining. Registration is available for training sessions on budget administration, purchasing, and payroll and timekeeping. Please send any questions related to training to optimizetraining@pugetsound.edu.
Fits, Gaps, and Conversions
The Human Resources team has been working on solutions for filling gaps and tightening fits in preparation for migrating from our current systems to PeopleSoft. They are collaborating with the Financials team on plans for parallel payroll testing.
Congratulations to Katie Holmes, who has accepted the regular staff position of Assistant Director of Financial Systems and Disbursements in Accounting & Budget Services. In this position, Katie will be responsible for processing Puget Sound’s payroll and related tax reporting. Katie also assumes the role of PeopleSoft payroll functional lead. Look for email messages from Katie in the coming weeks about the changes and training opportunities related to payroll and timekeeping.
The Campus Solutions team includes a wide range of members working on many different tracks. Some 21 people are involved in validating bio/demo data. The Registrar’s Office has been setting up external credit, test score, and advising conversion tables. Student Financial Services has been working on the setup and conversion for packaging financial aid awards. The technical team created an interface between Enrollment Manager and PeopleSoft for the Office of Admission. And Academic Recorder Leah Coakley completed the manual clean-up of the course catalog in PeopleSoft!
And The Beat Goes On!
All teams continue to work very hard in preparation for the January 1 go-live of the human resources module and the March 2013 implementation of the campus solutions module. Project Manager Travis Nation says he appreciates how everyone is pulling together and maintaining a sense of collegiality even as the work intensifies. With that in mind, he has restocked the chocolate supply in meeting rooms and has arranged for an extra hour of sleep for everyone this weekend!
For questions related to using PeopleSoft, please contact the Technology Service Desk at servicedesk@pugetsound.edu or 253.879.8585. We also welcome feedback on the project itself at optimize@pugetsound.edu.
Optimize Teams Collaborate Across the Board
With the PeopleSoft Financials module in place, the Human Resources module set to go live January 1, and implementation of the Campus Solutions module planned for next March, cross-team collaboration was happening across the board this week for Optimize Puget Sound.
On Monday, Optimize representatives participated in a panel at the President’s LEAD meeting to discuss policy and operational changes prompted by the transition to PeopleSoft. Participants included William Morse, chief technology officer and associate VP for technology services; Travis Nation, Optimize project manager; Cindy Matern, associate VP for human resources and career and employment services; Janet Hallman, associate VP for accounting and budget services; and John Hickey, associate VP for business services and community engagement. For details covered in their presentation, see the handout distributed at the meeting.
On Tuesday, Sherry Mondou, vice president for finance and administration, and Kristine Bartanen, academic vice president and dean of the university, sent an overview of project developments to faculty and staff. This was followed on Wednesday by a message from HR describing leave policy changes coming with the HR module in 2013. Members of multiple teams are engaged in the development of more communications to come related to faculty and staff ID cards, payroll, and timekeeping.
As project work continues, we are seeing growing integration between the systems supporting Financials, HR, and Campus Solutions. This week, the HR and Financials teams worked together on budgeting and payroll processes in the HR module. And both technical and functional team members have been involved in the conversion of data for Campus Solutions. As they say, it takes a village to implement an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system like PeopleSoft!