Ideas and Pain Points
Submitted by Attendees at Administrative and Fiscal Officers Meeting,
12/13/11
-‐ Integrate the budget and General Ledger and reporting system.
-‐ The Nimbus budget system is archaic. We should abandon such homegrown, outdated systems and modernize all our systems.
-‐ To harness the talent pool on campus most efficiently, there should be better-‐ designed paths for career development and achievement. Allow for a proactive experience that encourages employees to engage in personal assessment of achievements and goals, matched with career opportunities.
-‐ For account authorizations in roles there are too many different account attributes that vary according to the role being assignment, some of which, like nodes for the EDACCA payroll authorization, are very obscure. Let’s settle on one type of account description ‘tree’ for all of the different authorizations.
-‐ Offer select and willing staff the opportunity to work on special projects, in addition to their regular jobs. Would provide some variety.
-‐ The one administration concept is a wonderful vision. However, when systems and processes are developed they do not necessarily include input of the DLCs/end users. I would like that input integrated in the development process.
-‐ We need greater interaction between central staff and DLC staff. This will increase cooperation and efficiency across the Institute. Trainings are great but we need something more tangible. For example, have experienced research administrators sit with someone in Sponsored Accounting for an afternoon -‐-‐ or AP or Procurement and visa versa. Many individuals in central would love exposure to a "day in the life" of a colleague. Other ideas for furthering these connections: If a proposal is being
completed, let an individual from Sponsored Accounting see how it is being worked on. Get to know you/drop in sessions at VPF and OSP would be valuable.
-‐ There is too much email and computer focus. Let's encourage people to actually call people again.
-‐ It would be ideal to have an instant messaging system to facilitate needed cross-‐ departmental communication. Ideally, the conversations would be recorded and available for future reference.
-‐ Increase transparency of information, i.e., Concur, protocols, sponsored research.
-‐ I am a new AO and feel ill equipped to handle HR issues. There is no training for people like me. I would like to see a mandatory training program for new AOs, and perhaps a mentoring program, pairing new AOs with experienced AOs.
-‐ Develop communications and best practices to increase awareness/adoption of Digital Signatures.
-‐ Increase training and testing across campus.
-‐ There is a large discrepancy in the quality of Administrative Officers across the Institute. We should increase AO's exposure to project management and people management.
-‐ I love the technology but I think the human touch is missing in the onboarding process. We should include points in the process where you meet people to go over questions, ideas, etc.
-‐ Increase threshold for when bids are required to $10K.
-‐ Increase credit card purchase limit to $5K.
-‐ We should no longer print out summary statements or monthly DTRs. Instead, we should receive them electronically and save them to our desktops as PDFs. Then, we could reconcile to Excel spreadsheets.
-‐ MIT should take a bold stand on digital operations. The Institute should declare its intention to be totally paperless (in all aspects of its operation) by 2030 -‐-‐ to coincide with the MIT 2030 Plan. Setting such a goal will distinguish MIT for its emphasis on sustainable operations and drive innovation in developing digital processes and systems to better serve the Institute's mission.
-‐ Better sharing of institutional knowledge: cross training, documentation, avenues to interact across departmental lines, structured training and communication programs
-‐ There isn't to my knowledge a "policy depository" listed by topic to assist AOs and FOs. I find myself calling and emailing a lot to find information. An AO-‐FO portal with links to relevant information and updates would be valuable.
-‐ Imagine a timely, smooth and efficient means for traversing the campus; physical nodes with virtual aids.
-‐ While it's necessary for MIT to have new buildings, the campus would benefit from actual (not virtual) green space -‐-‐ gardens, trees, birds, etc. We should consider developing actual green spaces. Let's buy land and woods, not just buildings and parking spaces, etc.
-‐ Align decision-‐making and funding resources.
-‐ Less resistance on journal vouchers
-‐ Every internal applicant should receive feedback from HR if they are not selected for round 1 interviews.
-‐ Performance development and succession planning are largely decentralized and paper based and not aligned with the goals of the Institute. Can we develop an online talent management system that employees and managers share to usher employees from new hires to development to promotion status and tie it to SAP and
compensation systems?
-‐ The tuition reimbursement process is torturous. Considering that we want employees to further their education and enhance their skills and their ability to serve the
Institute, we should adopt a new process. It might make sense for the Institute to pay all claims for tuition reimbursement immediately and not review each individual claim. Then, the Institute could adopt a selective audit process of claims as a way to ensure compliance with the terms of the program. It would be interesting to learn how many claims each year are actually denied. Is the number large enough to warrant review of each claim and a month-‐plus timeframe for reimbursements?
-‐ In the next few years there will be a number of retirements. MIT should prioritize the use of cloud software to document the processes for their successors.
-‐ We need to create a more streamlined and effective process for the search process.
-‐ Re: staffing, the applicant tracking system is non-‐usable and out of compliance with OFCCP regulations. Progressive systems facilitate a better candidate experience with online onboarding modules.
-‐ We need electronic performance management systems.
-‐ MIT needs an enterprise performance appraisal system.
-‐ Raise the limit on accrued vacation delays allowed. This would soften the sting if benefits are scaled back in future.
-‐ Better explain how individuals making less than $106,500 are benefitting from this attention to the top tier.
-‐ Live online chat capabilities with people in Procurement, AP, VPF when we have issues. This would allow for immediate resolution of issues or at least immediate assignment of an issue to the right person.
-‐ Digitize EDACCA signature collection.
-‐ Combine technical (IT) resources for business functions to streamline business processes while standardizing technologies and platforms.
-‐ Departments operate in silos. The line of communication flows vertically and we don't always know what is going on in other departments across the Institute. Certain
positions (communications, managers) should work horizontally across departments to capture and share ideas about what is happening across the Institute.
-‐ We need one administration that works together and understands the needs of the academic side and works efficiently to support those needs.
-‐ There are too many options for doing the same functions. We should simplify -‐-‐ for example, the buy-‐pay process.
-‐ There are lots of duplicate systems among all the DLCs. A lot of them are not compatible and do not interface well. More standardization across DLCs would be good.
-‐ There should be standardization of policies and procedures across areas
-‐ Integrate various aspects of research administration so there is a logical process from proposal development to project closeout. Make OSP and VPF speak to each other.
-‐ Create an online dashboard for sponsored projects, with aggregate spending, forecasted spending versus proposal/awarded budget. Should include access-‐based authorizations but would include PI awards held in other departments
-‐ The COEUS proposal systems requires PIs to answer a number of questions, but PIs cannot answer those questions directly in the system. Answers also cannot be printed for PIs to verify them. Connect PI-‐specific questions in COEUS to a MY MIT solution, so that a proposal would be approved when the PI has answered the question. This would increase communication, efficiency and audit compliance.
-‐ The process for submitting and managing research grants is a pain point. We should adopt a better software platform for the submission process, create a database that
would have research info, and create one system that would work for administrative functions (Travel, Procurement, HR, etc.)
-‐ Add functionality to RAFT to turn sponsored research budgets into fiscal year budgets.
-‐ Horribly antiquated internal software applications that do not work together and are difficult to use. We have too many dispersed/decentralized applications.
-‐ I love the idea of an intelligent interface. This assumes that the individual's role is understood. A professor's needs are different than an administrator's. It would be helpful to link roles with jobs to inform this and other important initiatives.
-‐ We should automatically link access on ID cards with job descriptions, instead of having to find out who needs to approve and provide for new hires.
-‐ Single portal to launch purchasing of all goods and services across MIT -‐-‐ portal leads you to the most effective option and the best choice.
-‐ One stop shopping: Link various venues to provide answers to difficult questions regarding financial, HR or fiscal issues.
-‐ More automation, less manual processes
-‐ As a way to draw upon MIT's ingenuity and decentralized approach to solving problems, we should adopt an API model to developing administrative and financial systems. In such an approach, we would develop and distribute API software protocols that would serve as the building blocks for systems. Then decentralized areas could use these "building blocks" to construct systems to meet their needs, with the underlying API ensuring compatibility across all MIT systems.
-‐ Develop capability to view online open parking spaces across campus.
-‐ Develop a paperless environment for record retention of financial needs, e.g., a scan and index system for packing slips/receipts/travel docs.
-‐ Brio! It's an arcane, extremely unintuitive program and yet it has so many great
features. Replace it with an intuitive, user-‐friendly system that allows you to create the same type of reports. I don't use it because it is too confusing, yet I desperately need a program like it that would allow me to create reports based on different data.
-‐ SAP is a problem, not a solution. As long as we look to it to meet our needs, we will never realize the vision of a smart, seamless, customized experience as envisioned in Israel's presentation. We need to find other means to realizing that vision. A start may be to enlist the innovative talents of faculty, students, alumni and corporate partners
in re-‐conceiving an administrative and financial system for MIT. What if we partnered with Google or Apple to develop such a system? What if we asked CSAIL to tackle this? Imagine what we could develop. Could we then license such a system to other
institutions?
-‐ Volunteer opportunities for MIT staff, researchers, etc., with the Cambridge/Boston community. Many large employers/corporations allow/encourage staff to participate in community outreach programs. For ex: Habitat for Humanity, Greater Boston Food Bank, Big Brother-‐Big Sister, etc. It would be a wonderful opportunity for MIT as an organization to have a policy that allows staff to take "a volunteer afternoon" once a quarter or every two months with an organization that needs volunteers. This could be the "other half" of community giving. Community giving currently appears geared toward students, not staff.
-‐ Inflexibility of NIMBUS -‐-‐ I am still disappointed that SAPBUD was never implemented.
-‐ Lack of clarity over who makes a decision at MIT. There are often too many stakeholders.
-‐ Ability to select which email lists to be on.
-‐ Need eLearning focused on MIT policies and procedures.
-‐ A significant number of MIT administrators do not meet a minimum bar of computer literacy.
-‐ Only a small population at MIT has embraced Digital Signatures.
-‐ Human error -‐-‐ numbers transposed, typos in papers sent to central offices.
-‐ Lack of clear accountability for business responsibilities.
-‐ Email systems and ticket trackers are inconsistently managed. One never knows when or who will respond. They are increasingly an excuse for departments to not answer phones and not provide personal and immediate support. The same problem exists with Facilities requisitions.
-‐ Response time from some areas of HR and VPF is not good.
-‐ We shouldn't have to keep paper backups for travel vouchers now that the whole approval process for travel is electronic.
-‐ Information is not documented but rather retained in the heads of a few key people. This is problematic, because information is difficult to access and when key people leave it is often lost.
-‐ Processes not well documented.
-‐ Maintenance of facilities is not great.
-‐ The slow disintegration of our physical environment, such as roofs, plumbing,
electrical systems, and buildings is a major pain point. The Institute should invest in full rehabilitation of older buildings in a planned, long-‐term way.
-‐ There is no online backup for checks credited to one of our accounts. We don't know who deposited them. We don't see copies of what was submitted with the checks.
-‐ Limited funding to support administrative functions.
-‐ The inability (or lack of ease) to create custom statement reports with itemized salaries (by person) across disparate cost objects.
-‐ Internal job applicants at MIT can apply online but they never hear back from HR
-‐ The tuition reimbursement process has improved but is still a long process -‐-‐ about 5 weeks. I would like to see this process become more automated and streamlined, similar to the RFP process and new travel process. I think these VPF processes have significantly higher transactions than tuition reimbursement but the reimbursement time is shorter.
-‐ MIT's three-‐year layoff notification period for grandfathered research scientists creates an unrealistic fiscal burden on DLCs. The policy is a legacy that the DLCs don't have the resources to make good on.
-‐ It is a major pain point trying to find out the detailed policies and procedures of personnel changes for faculty/staff in special situations -‐-‐ for example, benefits and vacation for research staff.
-‐ HR offers special retirement benefits for salaries above $106,500. Doesn’t seem fair.
-‐ How can we hold accountable the faculty who do not follow policies, especially the few but scary faculty who are abusive? If we report them, will anything really be done?
-‐ Unclear who to contact for IS&T service.
-‐ Too hard to view calendars in Outlook and scheduling meetings. Too hard to find available rooms.
-‐ Too many IT problems -‐-‐ email, Internet, etc.
-‐ Getting a new computer up and running, with the right software, network
connections, access privileges, printers, remote access, etc., is a major pain point. Takes much more time than it should.
-‐ People are often working in silos.
-‐ Finding the right people at MIT for answers to questions.
-‐ Major pain point: Reporting and forecasting research funding for PIs, both individually and across the departments, from proposal to the budget award.
-‐ RAFT has some potential but still falls short.
-‐ The administrative section of the online MIT Learning Center is very difficult to use. Takes a lot of time.
-‐ MITSIS is not easy to navigate.
-‐ Travel system is not intuitive and needs a lot more work.
-‐ Concur -‐-‐ make it simpler to get our data and get travelers paid.
-‐ Concur travel system is confusing and complicated.
-‐ Limited access to historical data.
-‐ Need a better way to access employee salary data.
-‐ Inability to run reports out of the warehouse on turnover and job history within one's own department.
-‐ Lack of integration between procurement and accounting systems.
-‐ Lack of integrated systems.
