Registration Week a Success
Almost 2000 students registered in five days this week using PeopleSoft. According to Associate Registrar Lori Blake, the week was definitely a success.
“We were pleased registration went well,” she reports. “Students were prepared and made good use of the shopping cart and other tools offered by the new system.”
Staff from the Office of the Registrar, Advising, and Technology Services provided one-on-one assistance to students during drop-in sessions in Library 034. Shown below helping students are (left to right) Student Services Coordinator Norma Guiler, Degree Evaluator Melanie Sullivan, and Blake.
Optimize Features Prominently in TechNews
TechNews has gone out to faculty and staff this week with features, photographs, and other details related to Optimize Puget Sound. Special thanks to those who contributed quotes, articles, or your photogenic presence to this issue!
The Campus Solutions team has been extremely busy as they hurtle toward go-live March 25. They’ve converted enrollment data for all classes since 1985 into PeopleSoft. Also, paper and electronic versions of financial aid awards and letters were sent to incoming freshmen. Luanne Meyer in the Office of Admission was especially happy about the automatic processing of the third round of merit letters in PeopleSoft. She reported, “We even got them out before the due date!”
Spring break may be next week, but we’re still offering training for faculty and administrative support staff. See the Campus Solutions training site to register for a session or to find online instructions and self-help videos if you prefer to learn on your own.
It won’t feel like spring for the Puget Sound folks heading to Indianapolis for Alliance 2013, next week’s annual conference of the Higher Education User Group (HEUG). Instead of shorts and sunblock, you’ll want to pack your fleece and mittens!
Time for Training
A faculty training session in Wyatt 226: (l-r) Emily Precht, Rob Hutchinson, Nancy Bristow, Sarah Moore, David Hanson, Landon Wade, Pat Krueger, Terry Beck, Joel Arakaki, and Priti Joshi.
Several faculty training sessions took place this week on how to manage classes and advisees in PeopleSoft. The associate deans have scheduled ongoing sessions in multiple buildings across campus to assist faculty and support staff in learning the new system. Visit the Campus Solutions training site to register for a session or to find online instructions and self-help videos if you prefer to learn on your own.
Congratulations to the Campus Solutions team for reaching a major milestone with the completion of financial aid awards and letters for admitted students!
This week the Financials team sent an update to budget managers and support staff detailing the seamless nature of the partnership with Wells Fargo to issue accounts payable payments.
As always, for assistance with PeopleSoft, please contact the Technology Service Desk at 253.879.8585 or servicedesk@pugetsound.edu.
CS Training Begins Monday
Beginning Monday, March 4, through Friday, March 15, the associate academic deans, director of academic advising, and other Optimize team members will conduct training sessions for faculty and administrative support staff on the changes that will occur when the PeopleSoft Campus Solutions module goes live March 25. Those planning to attend a session are encouraged to register, although drop-ins are welcome as space allows. For those who prefer to learn at their own pace, handouts and short video clips will be available by Wednesday, March 6.
In other news this week, the Human Resources team had an exciting configuration checkpoint on recruiting in PeopleSoft to review the job opening and approval process, while the Financials team continued with nVision report training.
Please send any questions or comments to optimize@pugetsound.edu. Have a great weekend!
Student Center is Live!
Congratulations to the Campus Solutions team on go-live of the Student Center now available through the Cascade menu for students. At this time, functionality in Student Center is limited to two items: a draft of the Fall 2013 class schedule and the To Do List. Student Financial Services is the first to add items in the To Do List, but other offices such as Academic Advising and the Registrar will utilize it in the future. Initially, only a handful of students will be notified by email that they need to check their To Do List, but eventually this feature will play a key role in communicating specific requirements to every student.
Implementation of Student Center is a precursor to the full go-live of Campus Solutions on March 25. The training schedule for faculty and administrative support staff is available on SoundNet (requires Puget Sound login). Sessions begin March 4, so please sign up now to reserve a seat (though drop-ins are welcome as space permits).
If you need assistance using PeopleSoft, please don’t hesitate to contact the Technology Service Desk at 253.879.8585 or servicedesk@pugetsound.edu. We appreciate everyone’s patience during this time of transition!
Payroll Prep and Training
The first week after go-live was extremely busy for the Human Resources module team as they geared up for the first payroll in PeopleSoft. If you haven’t already, see the message Katie Holmes sent to faculty and staff with important payroll tax information.
A special thanks to everyone who submitted and approved timesheets as requested! Training on payroll and timekeeping is still available, including special sessions offered as part of next week’s annual Professional Development and Enrichment Conference for Faculty and Staff.
If you can’t attend a training session, see the instructional videos and printable job aids in PeopleSoft Help (just click the + signs next to Human Resources and then Timekeeping). Helpful handouts are also posted on the Payroll and Timekeeping training page (requires Puget Sound login).
PeopleSoft HR Module Goes Live!
Team members met January 2 to mark go-live of the human resources module. Back row, l-r: Travis Nation, Nancy Nieraeth, Shannon Briggs, Cindy Matern, Garrett Dieckmann, Joel Arakaki, Jeff Strong, Jan Miller. Seated, l-r: Katie Holmes, Jessie Carter, William Morse, Sherry Mondou, Kim McDowell, Jessica Snyder, Janet Hallman, Scott Dunham, Mona Lawrence.
The new Human Resources module in PeopleSoft went live this week! Special thanks to those involved in this major accomplishment, including colleagues in Accounting and Budget Services, Business Services, Career and Employment Services, Human Resources, and Technology Services. A number of these folks worked during the winter break closure to make this happen, and their dedication is appreciated greatly!
Sherry Mondou, vice president for finance and administration, has sent faculty and staff an email message detailing what they need to know and do as part of this transition. Key points include:
- PeopleSoft Human Resources has replaced the Kronos timekeeping system for staff and the Student Employment Time Entry (SETE) system for student staff. Reporting and approving staff and student staff time will now be done in PeopleSoft Human Resources, which can be accessed through the Cascade menu. Also, student staff are now on the same semi-monthly payroll as faculty and staff.
- It is important to get trained on how to enter time and, if a supervisor, how to approve time in the new system. Register for a training session and see the training handouts on the Optimize Training site (requires Puget Sound login).
- It is critical to meet timesheet deadlines. For the current pay period, these are January 7 for submission by staff and student staff and January 8 for approval by supervisors.
- Expect to see changes under Your Employment Information in Cascade. Most of the items there will be removed soon (eventually such information will be accessible through PeopleSoft). Note that Form W-2 wage and tax statements will remain available there for some time.
- Please contact the Technology Service Desk at 253.879.8585 or servicedesk@pugetsound.edu if you have any questions or issues. Since the implementation team is still very busy with configuration and other issues, please do not contact Career and Employment Services, Human Resources, or Payroll directly with PeopleSoft questions. The Service Desk will be very glad to assist or get the answer you need.
The patience and support of the campus community is very much appreciated at this time!
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!
The HR Module is Coming!
Preparations are occurring on many fronts as we approach go-live of the Human Resources module on January 1, 2013. The HR team continues configuration meetings, and the Project Management Office is working with team members and the Office of Communications to plan and develop communications to campus. Informational handouts and posters for offices and break rooms will be distributed at Monday’s LEAD meeting, and a variety of email messages will be sent over the coming weeks. Also look for more information in the next issue of TechNews, scheduled for November.
Implementation of the HR module means timekeeping will move to PeopleSoft from the Kronos system currently used by staff and Student Employment Time Entry (SETE) used by work-study students and their supervisors. Training sessions on the new timekeeping system will be held from early December through the end of January. Details on dates and times will be added to the Optimize Training page as they become available.
Not to be forgotten, the Campus Solutions team carries on with their important work as they move toward go-live in March 2013. This week they signed off on course catalog information, built pre-requisites in the system, entered and mapped data, created item types, and all sorts of other fun stuff.
September Closes with Significant Progress
The way the Optimize teams are moving along, they might well be singing these lines from September Song by Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson: “Oh, it’s a long, long while from May to December, but the days grow short when you reach September. When the autumn weather turns the leaves to flame, one hasn’t got time for the waiting game.”
The Campus Solutions folks certainly aren’t playing the waiting game as they had several major accomplishments this week. They successfully created a budget for a student and loaded Profile and Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) files in PeopleSoft. The Human Resources team completed the salary plans workbooks and are progressing at a rapid pace through other topics such as bio/demo data, student employment data, payroll design, and timekeeping.
The Financials team has been testing the new budget administration tools planned for roll out Monday, October 1. Included will be a new budget view very similar to what Cascade provided under Budget Administration.
Training sessions on budget and purchasing continue. See the full schedule at Optimize Puget Sound Training. Please send PeopleSoft questions to the Technology Service Desk at servicedesk@pugetsound.edu and any project-related questions or comments to optimize@pugetsound.edu. We welcome your feedback!