Financials: Going Live on Monday
This was a milestone week for Financials, Campus Solutions, and Human Resources! As the team leading the implementation process, Financials spent the week testing and training in preparation for go-live on Monday, July 2. Meanwhile Campus Solutions signed off on its Fit-Gap document, outlining each department’s operational requirements for the new system, and Human Resources kicked off its Discovery sessions to begin documenting operational requirements. Training sessions with the General Ledger and Accounts Payable teams went well, with team leaders guiding their staffs through PeopleSoft, and the purchasing department taught requesters and approvers—in seven departments!—how to order goods in the new system. But the accomplishment everyone is most excited about was getting checks to print correctly! (Woo hoo!)
The PeopleSoft Help system is now accessible with basic PeopleSoft navigation instruction videos. Budget administration and purchasing resources will be available shortly. Remember to check the Optimize Training page for updates on in-person and online training. Additionally all weekly campus communications about Optimize Puget Sound system changes and training opportunities are available on the Optimize communications page for your reference.
As the university transitions to PeopleSoft, please refer all questions or comments about system access and functionality to the Service Desk at 253.879.8585 or servicedesk@pugetsound.edu. It is important to document all the questions during the coming months. The Service Desk will then route your question to the appropriate party. Thank you for your patience and excitement as the university launches PeopleSoft Financials!
Preparing for Financials Go-Live
In addition to participating in all-day work sessions to prepare for go-live on July 2, this week the Financials leads provided an introductory training session on PeopleSoft for members of the Accounting and Budget Services (ABS) team. The ABS group was excited to log in to PeopleSoft, navigate through screens, enter journals, and process inquiries. In another session the leads demonstrated the grant process for the staff of the Associate Deans’ Office, and everyone was happy to see how the new system will support grant tracking. Grant tracking’s functionality will continue to be enhanced over the coming months. In two years, the options will be phenomenal.
Campus Solutions celebrated the completion of their Fit-Gap review sessions with cake and cookies! The Fit-Gap highlights how operations will be configured in the new system, and now they can begin the design phase!
To learn about upcoming training sessions and preregister, visit our Optimize Puget Sound Training page. Please check the website often as current session offerings will be updated regularly.
Gaining Momentum
The Optimize project gains momentum through the combined efforts of Puget Sound and MIS! On the Financials side, technical and functional teams are busy organizing the system to ensure that processes run smoothly. Members of Accounting and Budget Services were pleased to learn how to query in PeopleSoft, moving them into a new world of reporting. Instead of using many systems to generate reports, the team will now be able to utilize one system for reporting. The team also experienced a breakthrough with the Approval Framework structure streamlining the approval process for the purchasing of goods.
Campus Solutions had an exciting week as the team assembled to approve the Fit-Gap document. The Fit-Gap document summarizes each department’s operational requirements and how the new system will handle those requirements.
Additionally, Human Resources is preparing for Discovery sessions to begin June 25.
Technology Services’ Optimize Puget Sound page now includes a calendar for upcoming training sessions. Budget administrators and staff members with purchasing authority should take note and see when upcoming opportunities for training will occur. Stay tuned next week for more information about Financials progress.
Congrats and Thanks to Optimize Student Staff
The end of Spring semester brings happy thoughts of the many student staff supporting Optimize Puget Sound! Congratulations to Garrett Dieckmann ’12 who is joining the Enterprise Information Systems team as our new implementation developer. Extra special thanks to Lexie Gallegos ’15, Kenzie Miller ’13, and Andy Galbraith ’13 for their hard work during the 2011-12 academic year. Lexie will return in the fall to continue her good work, while this summer, Kenzie, Erin Bryne ’13, and Corinn Hillstrom ’14 will assist the project team.
The Financials team continues configuration as they prepare for go-live on July 1. Mike Staton from MIS is set to guide the team through creating the approval framework, a critical part of the purchasing cycle. Teri Mills and Ed Barber have tested the Punchout catalog. Ed has also been working with buyers across campus to standardize the new purchasing system.
In Campus Solutions, Mattie Watts from Student Financial Services and MIS consultant Robbie de Leur set up PeopleSoft tables, a major step in learning the program and building accurate data in the system. Ellen Peters, Alyce DeMarais, and Carol White are working with the Data Standards Committee to establish demographic conventions and a process for checking duplicate records.
For questions or additional information, contact Project Manager Travis Nation at 253.879.2710 or tnation@pugetsound.edu.
A Word from Our Project Manager
Work on the Financials and Campus Solutions modules proceeded as planned this week. Both teams continue to make outstanding progress!
Over the past several weeks, I have enjoyed meeting with many departments across campus. These sessions provided an opportunity to discuss the details of the project. I appreciated the questions and comments I received and welcome continued dialog.
We try to create a blog entry each week that provides valuable information about the project. If you have suggestions for improving this blog, we would like to hear from you. Please feel free to contact me, Travis Nation, at 253.879.2710 or tnation@pugetsound.edu.
Financials Reaches Another Milestone
The Financials team reached another milestone this week as Senior Financial Accounting Analyst Stefanie Lund entered the first grant transactions into the test system! This was the culmination of a busy week for the team as several MIS consultants were on campus to continue the design and configuration process.
The Campus Solutions team had another productive week of discovery sessions, with the focus primarily on academic grade and term processing.
Many of the discovery and design sessions have been recorded and are now available for viewing on the Financials and Campus Solutions pages on SoundNet.
Campus presentations about Optimize Puget Sound are wrapping up with three more meetings this week. If you have not scheduled a time for Project Manager Travis Nation and Associate Academic Dean Alyce DeMarais to visit with your group about the project, please contact Travis at 253.879.2710 or tnation@pugetsound.edu.
Deciphering PeopleCode and Rocking Reps
Stephen Phillips from MIS led the Optimize technical team in training for PeopleCode this week. It sounds futuristic, but PeopleCode is the programming language used for PeopleSoft applications. The team focused on coding for interfaces, a significant part of the current implementation, and Stephen says they are “one step closer to being experts.”
The Campus Solutions team continued their discussions of registration and financial aid processes. Mattie Watts, systems manager for Student Financial Services, had high praise for the MIS reps involved, noting, “Our people rock.”
We’re working on getting recordings of the Campus Solutions discovery sessions posted on the Optimize SoundNet site. This will allow folks who missed sessions to catch up on the discussions and will help MIS review requirements as needed.
Optimize Rolls On!
There was a lot of positive energy in Howarth 005 this week as MIS representatives Robbie de Leur, Jessica Ewald, and Tina DuBose joined the Campus Solutions team in discovery sessions focused on financial aid, charges and payments, academic requirements, academic exceptions, and enrollment. As Melanie Sullivan from the Office of the Registrar noted, “The best part of these sessions is getting to work with people from across campus that we don’t typically work with!”
The Financials team signed off on their Fit-Gap document to guide design and configuration of the module. The Human Resources team is making good progress as they explore opportunities for integrating the current timekeeping processes for faculty, staff, and students.
Project Manager Travis Nation and Associate Academic Dean Alyce DeMarais continue with presentations about Optimize Puget Sound to faculty and staff groups across campus. To schedule a presentation for your department or office, please contact Travis at 253.879.2710 or tnation@pugetsound.edu.
Financials Marks Milestone, Campus Reviews Registration
The Financials team reached an exciting milestone Monday with the presentation and review of their first Fit-Gap summaries. These documents are critical in guiding the configuration and testing of the system which is scheduled to go live in July. MIS is now integrating feedback from the team as they set up the module.
Discovery sessions for the Campus Solutions team focused on registration. The group was particularly happy to learn the new system will automate some important processes currently done manually.
Those who attended last week’s Higher Education User Group (HEUG) conference in Nashville shared their experiences with campus colleagues in a one-hour session on Monday. Learning the meaning of technical jargon, networking with counterparts from other institutions, and building rapport with Puget Sound colleagues were cited among numerous benefits of the conference.
Jody Putman of Accounting and Budget Services sends a big thank you to those 80 respondents who heeded her call to take the Budget Administration survey. If you did not get a chance to complete the survey, please contact Jody at jputman@pugetsound.edu.
HEUG and Other Happenings
This week, over 3000 people from 24 countries attended the annual conference of the Higher Education User Group (HEUG) in Nashville, TN. Fourteen members of the Optimize team were among them! Three and a half days of wall-to-wall sessions provided excellent opportunities to network and learn from other institutions utilizing PeopleSoft. Project Manager Travis Nation noted that “learning what not to do is as valuable as learning what works.” A debrief on the conference is scheduled for Monday, March 26. If you are interested in attending, please contact Emily Precht-Patterson at 253.879.2596 or eprecht@pugetsound.edu.
Meanwhile, back in the Underground at Puget Sound, the Campus Solutions team participated in remote discovery sessions on tuition calculation. The Financials team engaged in productive discussions on annual budget processes.
Project Coordinator Emily Precht-Patterson provided an overview for team members who access the Optimize SoundNet site (requires Puget Sound login). The site is a key tool for facilitating collaboration and managing the wealth of documents related to the project. To learn more about SoundNet, see the schedule of training sessions offered by Technology Services.