The Captain’s Chair
John Hooper, Executive Director of Administrative Information Systems, CITC
In our last update, I wrote about the history of EIS and how the UNT System came to acquire and implement the Oracle Enterprise (formerly PeopleSoft) suite of software to meet the needs for administrative computing. When the university buys software of this magnitude, it generally buys maintenance as well. In some ways this is similar to the extended warranty you get with a car, covering most repairs. The software vendor, Oracle, not only provides fixes for any problems we may uncover, but also sends us sets or bundles of patches for the software addressing problems found by other institutions. In addition, Oracle sends us regulatory and legislative updates as a part of this maintenance agreement. This includes such things as changes to income tax tables, new payroll calculations based on legislative changes, and new W2 formats. Financial Aid receives significant updates to both tables and processes each year. Similar to your car's extended warranty, these maintenance pieces keep the software that UNT implemented performing as it did the day EIS went live.
Unlike your extended warranty on your car, however, software maintenance provides new versions of the software. The new versions are called upgrades because they require you to upgrade your system and provide upgraded capabilities. The upgrades include new features that were not in prior versions of the software. For example, the next version of Learning Solutions, version 8.9, includes a 360-degree view of a student that brings much of the information on a student to one page with links providing access to more detailed information. In addition to getting new user features, upgrades also refresh the technical infrastructure that underlies the software. When PeopleSoft delivered the 8.0 version of Learning Solutions (the version UNTS implemented and uses currently), PeopleSoft's existing customers moved from a client server version (the software had to be installed and maintained on every PC) with an Internet-based version. Beyond getting new features and improvements to the technical infrastructure, it is important to move from current versions to these upgrades to stay on a version of the system that is supported by the vendor. Since upgrades provide new features and new technical infrastructure, upgrades are the equivalent of getting the latest model of your car every year or two with all the new features and improvements of that new model.
We have just completed an upgrade of the portal, my.unt.edu, to the latest version. Over the next few years we will be upgrading to new releases of the software suite for the Financial application, myfs.unt.edu, and the Learning Solutions application, myls.unt.edu, which includes Student Administration, HR/Payroll, and Contributor Relations. These upgrades are major activities requiring 9 to 12 months of careful migration and testing to ensure the new release works well for UNT the day the upgrade is turned on. In future updates, more details about the coming upgrades will be provided.
News
Interactive Budget Reports Available Online
Jean Bush, UNT System/UNT Budget Director
UNT budget reports are now available for viewing by appropriate faculty and staff in the myUNT portal. The reports are developed using an application named Cognos ReportNet™. Budget reports are used to track budgets, revenues, expenses, transfers, and encumbrance-related transactions, and balances. The reports are run “on demand” from a database that includes transactions processed through the previous day. Department ID (deptID) reports include details for the current fiscal year to date. Project ID (projID) reports include details from inception to date for each project.
The reports include functionality that allows the user to drill down from the top level of the budget summary report to details of individual transactions included in the summary. The previously used method for budget report delivery necessitated accessing secondary reports to obtain transaction details. The following examples illustrate the types of drill downs currently available:
Example 1: Drill down to the names of individuals paid on an individual payroll transaction:
- Access a summary total for each individual whose payroll is charged;
- Review total salaries/wages/benefits for an individual as well as the sources of payment;
- Review payroll related pre-encumbrance and encumbrance transactions..
Example 2: Drill down to detail line items on vouchers (includes quantities).
Example 3: Drill down to details for pre-encumbrances (requisitions) and encumbrances (PO’s); hyperlinks exist between related requisitions, purchase orders, and vouchers.
Example 4: Drill down to the names of individuals on gift receipts.
Example 5: Drill down to the names of students awarded scholarships in Student Financials.
The reports are designed to be intuitive and user-friendly. During the development and testing phases for this new method of report delivery, a group of 30+ individuals in a pilot group tested the reports. Members of this group received no formal training. A job aid was developed and distributed to the pilot group. All group members were able to successfully navigate the reports using the job aid. Training will be available, however, in multiple settings for faculty and staff who prefer more in depth explanation of the reports. An initial training session was held April 26, 2006. Additional sessions are to be announced in the near future. For departments, groups, or individuals who would like to set up a private training event, contact Brenda Cates at 565-3231.
Need help with the new budget reports? Contact the Budget Office at 565-3231 for assistance with questions regarding accessing the reports, navigation, or content. You may also send email to BudOffice@fis.admin.unt.edu.
The People Side of PeopleSoft
Cathy Gonzalez, EIS Training, Administration, and Communication Manager, CITC
Recently at the 9th annual UNT Equity and Diversity Conference, I attended a workshop on access and inclusion in the workplace led by an associate from Brinker International. Brinker owns the well known eating establishments of Chili's, On the Border, Maggiano's, and Romano's Macaroni Grill. The Human Resources division of Brinker is interestingly called PeopleWorks. Being an IT person working with EIS, which is architected on the Oracle PeopleSoft application suite, I immediately assumed Brinker used PeopleSoft and had coined a catchy phrase for their workforce. I soon discovered this was not the case. The term PeopleWorks is derived from the concept that the people (known as Brinkerheads) are considered Brinker's greatest strength. I find this ideology parallels the core value we place on the effectiveness of EIS at UNT. Without the talent and dedication of the people behind the scenes, all the technology in the world is useless.
The correct organization and governance of the people working with EIS has been and continues to be key to effectively keeping the system running and ensuring it is a good return on the investment made both in money and resources.
During the implementation phase of EIS, a strategic governance model was used. The EIS implementation was led by a Project Management Group that ensured target goals were met by monitoring budgets, resources, and go-live timelines. EIS product family heads lead administrative services departments both at UNT and the Health Science Center in association with EIS module leads identified within each business unit. In the future, upgrades to EIS will result in a push towards a revised governance model more appropriate for a software upgrade rather than a university-wide implementation project. UNT executive staff are currently working on a revised governance model in preparation for changes in the Oracle Enterprise application life cycle.
Success Stories
Contributor Relations Mailing Lists
Clint Shipp, Director of Data Management, Advancement
A critical role of the UNT Development Office is to maintain the best contact information possible. Special attention is paid to keeping up-to-date address information on students and alumni. Recently, the UNT Development Office has taken drastic steps to upgrade the quality of the information. Many external and internal sources of information are utilized, and countless hours of data entry go into keeping this data current in EIS.
If you have a need to send mail out to a select group in EIS, you can contact Deborah Driver (940/565-2900) in the Development office to have a list generated. Also, as a substantial portion of the population relocates or completes name changes each year, it is important that you request a new list on each mailing. This serves two purposes:
- it helps maintain our relationship with alumni and friends; and
- it saves postage expenses by getting the address right the first time.
High Performance Higher ED – Automating PeopleSoft
Jenny Brooks, Programmer Analyst, CITC; Ed Turney, Assistant Director, Student Financial Aid and Scholarship
The Student Financial Aid and Scholarship Office (SFAS) began implementation of their portion of EIS in April 2003 and went live on April 1, 2004. In the 04-05 academic year, the office successfully disbursed in excess of $182 million of aid. Batch processing of financial aid was highly automated and carefully fine tuned in the legacy mainframe system. After converting to the PeopleSoft application, recreating legacy batch processing became a significant development effort. In the beginning, senior staff in the SFAS office had to manually run all processes from disbursement to letter generation. Some jobs literally required undivided attention and a full day to complete. The PeopleSoft Process Scheduler that accommodates batch processing did not fit the needs of the office. A solution needed to be found to relieve senior staff from the time consuming task of “baby sitting” the extremely critical function of disbursing millions of dollars for financial aid recipients.
The solution was found in AppWorx, infrastructure software that is used as part of the EIS application suite. The AppWorx application is primarily used for computing job scheduling and application batch management.
The first process to be automated in the SFAS office was the Authorization/ Disbursement in the Fall 2004. Failure of this automated process has been extremely rare and due to either electrical failures in the building or network outage. From a functional standpoint, automating SFAS processes has resulted in ensuring audit requirements are fulfilled and students are properly being served. Another success realized is better communication between administration departments. The automation process includes the option of an email being generated that reports a process has successfully completed. The email alerts another office who is waiting to “kick off” a process that is contingent on successful completion of the initial process. For example, the financial aid disbursement process runs successfully and then an email is sent to Student Finance, which is waiting to initiate another process. Upon receipt of the email, the Student Finance Office knows it is able to start its job.
Many other processes in SFAS have been automated since the Fall 2004. Examples of these processes are:
- Authorization/Disbursement – runs daily during the business week in the early morning hours
- Right to Cancel Notices – runs weekly
- Financial Aid Notices – runs every night during the business week
- Loan communications, Satisfactory Academic Progress, Summer Financial Aid Notices – run when needed
AppWorx is also being used to automate processes for Financial Systems and Human Resources. Key processes critical to the technical side of EIS that currently benefit from automating tasks are critical functions, such as database backups and refreshing the data warehouse nightly.
Technical Tips
Time-saving shortcuts for Internet Explorer
- To switch to “full screen” mode with no title bar using the Internet Explorer browser, press [F11]. To return to original mode, press [F11] again.
- To see the Favorites pane, press ctrl+I. Press ctrl+I again to close the Favorites pane.
- To open up the Organize Favorites dialog box, press ctrl+B. Press ctrl+B to exit the dialog box.
Using Print Screen to Capture Screen Shots
Many people find it helpful to “capture” and print an EIS page displayed in the Internet Explorer browser utilizing the Print Screen feature in Windows.
- When viewing the active window you want to print, press ALT + Print Screen keys on the keyboard. This captures the active window and holds it in your Windows Clipboard utility.
- Open a new, blank document in Word (or your preferred word processor).
- Click in the new document.
- Select the CTRL + V keys simultaneously to paste the image into your document.
- Print the page as you normally print from the word processor.
When printing pages from EIS, be extremely responsible in the storage and disposal of your printed pages. It is import to follow institutional record keeping guidelines for any printed pages containing administrative data.
EIS Fast Facts
Budget Report Statistics
As of 3:45 p.m. on April 26, 2006, 784 business users are authorized to view budget reports inside the myUNT portal. A total of 237 users had actually begun using the reports.
Alliance 2006 Presentations
The following presentations were made at Alliance 2006 (Oracle/PeopleSoft higher education/government user group) in Nashville, Tennessee during the week of Spring Break.
- REFRESH – High Performance Higher Ed – Automating PeopleSoft, presented by Jenny Brooks, CITC, and Ed Turney, Student Financial Aid and Scholarhip
- Innovative Solutions for Using Waivers with Delivered Functionality at UNT; presented by Dr. R. Joey. Saxon, Student Accounting, and Dan Strange, CITC
- Bells and WSDL’s : Consuming Web Services from Enterprise Portal; presented by Robert Jones, CITC
- Delivering Rapid e-Learning to Faculty and Staff using WebCT; presented by Cathy Gonzalez, CITC
Training News
EIS is for Everyone
Cathy Gonzalez, EIS Training, Administration, and Communication Manager, CITC
At a professional conference, I was asked by someone outside UNT, “Who uses EIS?” The answer is “pretty much everyone at UNT and HSC.” The core user base for EIS is divided into two broad categories, technical users and functional business users.
Technical users are people who understand in-depth the development environment and how to translate the functional specifications into a working application. The primary group of technical users are staff in the Computing and Information Technology Center (CITC). They understand the database design, code, components, web pages, and hardware architecture supporting the various applications that comprise EIS. Distinct system support teams, who know specific business areas and processes, support the business users. This group of users receives training from software or hardware vendors and key CITC technical staff.
Functional business users are divided into casual users who rely on EIS for part of their university-related needs and primary business users who spend most of their time working in EIS.
Casual users access EIS using the myUNT portal. Casual users are typically students, and administrators, faculty, or staff using EIS for a small portion of their job. Students, for example, may look up grades, class schedules, and financial information. Faculty administer their classes by viewing class schedules, imputing grades, and performing academic advising tasks. Faculty and staff may use portal self-service features for viewing such things as their earning statements or Human Resource benefit summaries. As of April 2006, University administrators can now view budget reports delivered through the portal.
The primary business users are staff who have worked in their respective industries (Financials, Human Resources, Student Administration, or Contributor Relations) as either front or back-office people. Their strengths are business process and how the daily business actually gets done. Business users often hold focus/user group sessions to prioritize requirements and were responsible for writing the initial requirements documents during the implementation phase.
Twenty-one trainers and coaches deliver training specific to the processes in their business units. (See EIS Training News) The EIS training team provides application training and documentation to technical and business user, as well as developing WebCT courses related to EIS.
Another important responsibility of the primary business users is the granting of access rights to EIS data. Functional users belonging to the EIS Access Control Executives (ACE) group perform security-related tasks in cooperation with the EIS Security team in CITC. ACE's are trained by the EIS Security Team.
Many business users have received training and developed new skills that were not used in the legacy mainframe system, such as the ability to run searches and query reports against EIS databases. By allowing business users to use new skills when working in EIS, developers supporting the business units are better able to focus on administrative computing needs requiring more advanced technical expertise. Business users having a more “technical” knowledge of EIS has resulted in enhanced communication between functional users and CITC development teams. More importantly, expertise in using EIS is being translated into enhanced excellence in customer service for the students, alumni, and employees of our university.
Training Calendar
WebCT Training
EIS WebCT training is available for faculty or staff new to EIS.Courses available are:
If you are interested in distance learning options, request enrollment by clicking here. |
