this issue
KFS Go Live Delayed P.1
Student Recruitment
P.1
What’s Happening Now? P.2
KFS Departmental Liaison P.4
Prepaid Purchase Orders
P.5
Mosaic Training Update
P.6
Mosaic Spotlight
Jean Vock, CPA Assistant Dean, Finance &
Administration The University of Arizona Eller College of Management
What is your role with the Mosaic Project?
In my role as a college adminis-trator and member of the Council of Academic Business Officers (CABO), I am one of many who represent college and depart-mental users of the University’s systems.
I am actively involved in provid-ing input regardprovid-ing end user requirements through meetings and workgroups, including the Business Intelligence Council. In addition, I have invited Mosaic reps to share information with Eller staff, and will assist mem-bers of the college during the implementations.
What excites you about the implementation of the Mosaic
The Student Recruitment solution, Hobsons Connect Solution, is a hosted Customer Relationship Management product which will allow for a high paced implementation schedule. The lead for this project is Nikolas Glazier Hodge, a coordinator with The Office of Admissions, working in conjunction with Enrollment Management Systems Group’s Chris Bergeron and the Hobsons’ Implementation Specialist, Ryan Thornley. Nikolas Hodge, felt “most excited at the prospect of a more
advanced communication solution and the abil-ity to track prospects by territory.” The Office of Admissions intends to go live with Hobsons Connect on May 1, 2009 in preparation for recruiting and communicating with the incoming Fall 2010 class.
The advantages of the Hobsons’ solution are the ability to more effectively target our stu-dent populations and ultimately allow us to organize and access our resources
economi-Continued on page 2 Continued on page 2
Ami Scull Student Administration
Team
Student Recruitment Go Live in May!
The Mosaic Executive Steering Committee, alongwith the leadership of the Mosaic Financial Systems team, and with the support of the UA senior lead-ership, has decided to delay the Kuali Financial System (KFS) implementation Go Live date of July 13, 2009 until January 2010. This decision is based primarily on the fact that the official release of KFS 3.0 software from the Kuali Foundation has been delayed from its original date of December 2008.
The issues being addressed in the KFS software version 3.0 release appear to be minor from a development standpoint; however, the compressed
timing creates issues and risks with our software implementation. The Financial Systems initiative is a large and complex project under the best of cir-cumstances, and in order to implement the system and maximize our use of resources, the KFS team will continue to work aggressively with departments and colleges to establish their workflow and busi-ness processes and Chart of Accounts structures. However, as a result of software delay, the Mosaic project must realign the KFS rollout plans.
This delay will have minimal impact on the other Mosaic initiative implementations; in effect the
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KFS Go Live Delayed
P.1
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Mosaic Spotlight
F e b r u a r y 1 8 , 2 0 0 9 www.mosaic.arizona.eduProject at the UA (in Phase 1)?
I am looking forward to stream-lining our operational functions and the advanced business intelligence capabilities. Having ready access to timely, accu-rate and relevant information for decision making and man-agement purposes will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of business and operational management.
Many of our peer institutions have kept pace as technology has advanced over the years, while we have fallen behind. It’s time to move forward.
What advantages will the Mosaic Project provide the UA?
Enterprise systems serve to fulfill operational requirements, to enhance our ability to man-age the organization through timely and useful information, and to provide reliable informa-tion for decision-making. The robust features and functional-ity available in the new enter-prise applications will improve our abilities in each of these areas.
What do you expect to be the greatest challenge for the UA during this Phase 1 imple-mentation?
Resources and scope. Resources are critical to an effective implementation and are at risk in the current eco-nomic environment. Members of project teams as well as administrative staff through-out the University will find it difficult to dedicate the time necessary to learn new
sys-Student Administration...
cally. Additionally, the student experience is greatly enhanced by a more customized interaction with our offices. The features of the Hobsons service allow us to bring specific and customized informa-tion to our prospects and research has indicated that these types of tools lead to a savvy consumer which allows for more quality interactions with our prospects. Hodge added, “Our first priority over the coming months is to work with Hobsons to config-ure and build the basic Connect solution including the customized web portal”. A few (and this is just the tip of the iceberg) benefits to the basic Connect solution include:
The Connect product essentially functions as
the database storage module
Powerful features that will allow us, among other
things, to more accurately track prospects by employee, territory, or any number of criteria, as well as trend tracking to more effectively
allo-cate our resources
The reporting options with Hobsons will not
only cross filter data, but the information can be funneled into automated reporting dashboards which will self populate when opened
Hobsons will allow for an almost entirely auto-
mated communications plan including features like “click through tracking” where we can follow up with students to see what email they’re open-ing and their chosen avenues for more informa-tion. We can use this to track student email/ communication habits.
As part of the Connect implementation we will
be working closely with Hobsons to develop a customized web portal which will replace our current MYUA system.
Questions regarding the Hobsons project can be directed to Nikolas Glazier Hodge at glaziern@ email.arizona.edu.
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Mosaic Spotlight
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HR Highlights
Payroll, Workforce
Administration and Benefits Administration teams contin-ued testing converted legacy data and began work to docu-ment business processes,
develop system modification requests.
Payroll
Worked with Technical team to
complete conversion mapping on garnishments
Met with Police Department
on K-9 time reporting business rules, officer special pay and compensatory time record keeping.
Sent a report to FSO on
num-
ber of states (37) in which UA employees reside for tax
What’s Happening Now?
Updates on each Mosaic Initiative
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KFS Go Live Delayed...
delay will bring relief to a very tight training and preparation schedule for the campus community. The Student Administration and Research Administration implementations will not be affected. The Human Resources (HR) System team will have to write interfaces to FRS for use until KFS is implemented. However, the HR team was ready for this possibility, and the October 2009 HR Go Live will not be affected.
It is important to remember that the work that has been done thus far has been and will be of great value. The new implementation date of January 2010 will:
Allow UA departments to more thoroughly analyze, establish and test their workflow and business
process-
es and Chart of Account structures.
Allow more time for system, business process, and BI testing.
Allow the UA to take advantage of modifications developed by Colorado State University (CSU) and
les-
sons learned from the CSU and San Joaquin Delta implementations taking place this summer. Allow the KFS/UITS team to refine their support model for the KFS implementation.
The Mosaic team wants to thank everyone involved with the Mosaic project implementations for their support, understanding, and dedication in ensuring that these implementations are successful.
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Page 3
What’s Happening Now?
HR...
reporting purposes and requested a confirmation on implementing a reporting process beginning with the 2010 tax year.
Met with Eller business administration
representa-
tives on timekeeping system requirements. Developed proposals for modifications to the
PeopleSoft system to accommodate or improve current UA business practices for further consider-ation.
Workforce Administration
Continued work on action/reason codes based on
feedback from HR Consulting Services
Created draft cross-reference documentation for
PSOS history to PeopleSoft action/reason codes Developed documentation for title standards.
Testing conversion tables and test deck data in the
test environment against the configuration environ-ment for both Job Data and Position components Standardizing the title specifiers (descriptor after
the comma): eliminating duplicates, ensuring con-sistent spelling, and Job Title and UA Title Code cleanup
Benefits Administration
Verified successful conversion of benefits-specific
configuration data (43 of 44 tables)
Configured benefit status and reason for each of
Workforce Administration’s action/reason code combinations
Discussed leave- and termination-related action/
reason codes with Human Resources Consulting Services
Technical
Conducted first successful migration from the
Configuration and Conversion environments to the Test environment.
Identified several discrepancies between the
hand-
entered data in the Configuration environment and the converted data from the Conversion environ-ment. Team members are classifying the discrep-ancies in preparation for resolving them.
BI team members worked to migrate data from the
conversion environment to the EPM data ware-house.
BI team created a schedule for BI technical
(instal-
lation and configuration) work for the next six months.
Plans
Standardize titles in Job Code Table
Discuss, document and create action/reason codes
for student employee job and position records. Continue discussion on department/location
con-
figuration
Resolve discrepancies found between converted
and hand entered test data.
Complete conversion programs to ready data for
the development.
Continue with the installation, configuration and
deployment of programs that load the EPM Warehouse’s staging area.
KFS Highlights
Business Process AnalysisQA got off to a good start last week with most all
modules starting to test release 3.0 code. Several issues exist related to Kuali Identity Management (KIM).
Our current business process design is 85%
complete, we’re almost done. After completion of business process design, writing functional specs for identified gaps will begin. The list of gaps are short, but there are a few things that need to be modified.
The Business Process documents will also be
used to create test cases. We hope to be able to publish these documents, the gap list and business impacts in a few weeks.
FRS Data
We are also in the process of writing conversion
scripts to convert FRS data from 2.2 to 3.0. Have converted accounts, vendors and reference
tables and are hoping to get 7/1 beginning balanc-es and transactions since the beginning of the year converted and loaded in the upcoming weeks.
Testing
Please welcome Natalie Webb, KFS
Implementation Testing Coordinator. We are now fully staffed.
Business Intelligence Highlights
BI Advisory Council:BI Advisory Council meeting: The BI Advisory
Council has been giving feedback on the issues of transition from UIS to the new environment and security/access to the new data environment. A recommendation for the latter is still in the works.
Readiness Assessment:
To manage the growing concern regarding the
transition from UIS to the new environment the BI team has been meeting with concerned UIS users on a one to one basis. These conversations have been very helpful in understanding what will be dis-rupted by the change.
It also appears that many of the needs will be met
with the Enterprise Directory System spearheaded by Gary Windham. We anticipate and welcome more of these readiness assessment meetings in the coming weeks.
Training
Training: General OBIEE training has been made
available starting in February. The first module was tested. Participants were largely very pleased with
tems and plan for the change effectively as resources are constrained even more. The learning curve is significant and employees are already stretched thin. During the transition period, it will be especially challenging to operate and generate data using both old and new sys-tems while maintaining audit-able records and ensuring compliance with federal, state and other external require-ments.
The scope of this project must necessarily ensure institu-tional level requirements are met, and it is anticipated that the new systems will also reduce the need for college and department level systems. While the new systems pro-vide some provisions for local data, many needs and issues related to local management functionality will have to be addressed and fewer resourc-es will be available to addrresourc-ess these needs.
Upcoming Events
“A Day in the Life of Kuali
Financial System (KFS) User”
will be presented by the Mosaic Training and KFS Teams at the next Business Community Open Forum on February 19th, 2:30 - 4:00, Student Union Gallagher Theater.Mosaic Environment
Update…..
Kuali Financial System –
We have U of A data loaded into our 3.0 Configuration environ-ment
Research Administration –
All KC environments have been upgraded to the latest code base, 1.1
Human Resources and Enterprise Performance
Management – All
non-pro-duction environments are up and running
Student Administration – All
environments are patched to the current Maintenance Pack and bundle
Infrastructure – Production
hardware configuration will be finalized by February 13th.
Meet our KFS Departmental Liaison!
Kuali Financial Services
What is a Departmental Liaison? Please meet Cheryl Adair, our KFS Departmental Liaison on the Mosaic Project. She is currently providing KFS demonstrations and will soon be communicating with departments/units to provide support for establishing their organizational structure and workflow.
Cheryl is uniquely qualified to be the KFS liaison. She graduated from the University of Arizona in 1992 with a degree in Accounting and two years later her UA service began at Sponsored Projects Services in 1994. In her 14 years at the University, she also worked in the Financial Services Office and the business offices in colleges. Cheryl retired from the University in May 2008 to spend more time with her husband, however since she loves the University
and is always willing to lend a helping hand, she has returned to the UA for various part-time and voluntary positions after retirement.
As the KFS Departmental Liaison, Cheryl’s goal is to reduce the stress resulting from change by having all the units ready for the KFS go-live. She also sees this as a challenge since change generally results in stress and the University is quite large. She is thrilled to be a part of the team that will make a difference in the future of the University of Arizona.
Cheryl strongly believes that together KFS and the BI tool will be invaluable to the University. The pos-sibilities for obtaining data that can be used in deci-sion making are immeasurable. KFS also has the same look and feel for all the documents, which she sees as a major benefit. She would like everyone to remember, “Although change is usually difficult, this new technology will benefit the UA for many years to come”. If you would like to contact Cheryl, her email address is [email protected]. W D L m A D L M S p
the tool itself, but had many questions regarding data access and availability. (See training update on page 4). Furthermore, a training/promotional video was shot and will be available for release soon.
BI Team
The BI team has been augmented to meet the
cur-
rent project needs. As of January 1, 2009 the head count is 7.5 FTE. Within a matrix structure individu-als are assigned to the different implementation efforts while working towards best practices for BI.
Student Administration Highlights
Completed Build 1 Course Catalog introduction
and discussion
In the second week of configuring student
finan-
cials, and have begun to explore how charges and payments will be prioritized.
Have begun to set up and configure some of the
core financial aid tables.
Preparing to have our consulting firm conduct the
first of its quarterly quality assurance assessment for the project; this is provided at no cost to the project, and should help ensure efforts remain on track and on target.
Began building Build 1 courses - approximately
950 courses
Recording issues, decisions, and configuration
details in our project’s collaboration site. Considering how academic terms and academic
organizations will look within PeopleSoft. Identified 65 UA students whose records will be
configured in the system as part of the first build.
Project remains on time and on budget.
Received great feedback from our consultants
about the readiness of our team, and on their level of engagement with issues as they are identified.
Plans
Begin conversion mapping efforts for Course
Catalog conversion
Begin to draft Conversion Approach and Population
white paper
Continue to inventory reports, forms, UIS data
feeds, business processes etc.
Research Administration Highlights
The full rollout of Kuali Coeus Research
Administration implementation will be postponed due to the decision to implement KC version 2.0 rather than KC version 1.1 .
The routing and workflow technology for Kuali
Coeus Research Administration has not caught up to the Kuali Financial System workflow system. This has strongly influenced the decision to delay the implementation for a later release of KC, since without the delay, people would have to log on to two In Baskets in order to retrieve documents. The pilots for Chemistry and Respiratory Sciences
will go forward as planned and are scheduled to begin in the March time frame as planned. These pilots will allow the Research Administration team to work out the issues and business processes, which would then translate more easily into the 2.0 software implementation.
The timeline for the RA implementation remains
Mosaic Lingo
Kuali:a humble utensil that plays an important role in the successful kitchen, serves as a metaphor for the com-munity source project, which is a financial system built and maintained by a community of users.
KFS - Kuali Financial System: New Financial System replacing FRS.
KC - Kuali Coeus:New Research Administration system replacing SPINS. Formerly named Kuali Research Administration.
HCM - Human Capital Management: PeopleSoft solution for our Human Resources/Payroll
Administration (HR/Payroll).
Community Source: a variation of open source where much of the develop-ment of the software is done by the organizations that adopt and use the software.
BSA:Business System Analyst.
BI:Business Intelligence
OBI EE -Oracle Business Intelligence Suite Enterprise Edition
- a comprehensive suite of enterprise Business Intelligence (BI) products that delivers a full range of analy-sis and reporting capabilities.
Page 5
Prepaid Purchase Orders to be Discontinued
Kuali Financial Services
Business process analysis has been underway for the past couple of months as part of the KFS Implementation Project. When analyzing the pro-cess of Prepaid Purchase Orders (PPOs) with the Purchasing Department, several factors were noted:
(1) KFS does not support the creation of pre-paid purchase orders.
(2) The use of PPOs has decreased as alternatives have been made available.
(3) The cost to issue a PPO is almost twice that of a standard PO and seven times that of a PCard transaction.
In light of the above factors, the Purchasing Department and FSO, in conjunction with the Implementation Team, has made the decision to discontinue the use of PPOs as of 05/31/2009. Prior to making a final decision, the team met with the three top users of PPOs to inform them of the elimination to ensure the alternatives being offered met their needs without great detriment.
The greatest uses of PPOs relate to food pur-chases, conference fees, and entertainment. The following list includes alternative methods that may
be used in the absence of PPO capability:
PACS PCard Program
- With the PCard Plus
program the individual credit card may be used for Business Meeting and Business Entertainment expense. Please note that State and Sponsored accounts cannot be used for PCard Plus expenses.
http://pacs.arizona.edu/pcard/default.htm Purchase Order
- If exact amount of payment is known the department can issue an online requisi-tion to request a purchase order and the purchase order will be forwarded to Accounts Payable for issuance of a check.
http://www.fso.arizona.edu/fso/deptman/10/ Reimbursement
– An individual may pay for an item and request reimbursement.
http://www.fso.arizona.edu/emp_reimb.html Purchasing-Stores
– Departments may also
work with Purchasing-Stores to stock items pur-chased in quantity from Costco; Purchasing-Stores may choose to stock items purchased in quantity by the Campus Community and, also, may be able to negotiate better terms.
The Procurement Department will be communi-cating this change to the Campus Community and ensuring the alternative methods of pay-ment are understood. For more informa-tion on purchasing alternatives, please go to:
New Mosaic Trainer…..
The Mosaic Training Team is pleased to introduce our latest addition:
IT Training Specialist Catherine Zavala.
Catherine has been with the Workshop and Training Team since its inception, and has been a part of computing services at the University since 1998. Music fans out there might recognize her as a former member of Tucson band The Mollys, which won the Tucson Area Music Award for Best Ethnic Band every year from 1993-2001.
Catherine will be the lead instruc-tional designer for PeopleSoft Human Resources and will head up our training effort for Time and Labor along with Employee Self- Service.
KFS
The training team has trained approxi-mately 90 people on KFS basics in six two-part workshops. All of the attendees are volunteers who are helping out the implementation by working as testers on the new version of KFS. KFS classes for campus in general will start up closer to when the system goes live.
OBI
Ninety-six people have attended nine Oracle Business Intelligence Introduction, Part One workshops. Oracle Business Intelligence Introduction, Part One is a basic introductory hands-on session. It’s a great introduction to the system for anyone, and it may be sufficient for those who will just be accessing a pre-built dashboard and creating basic ad hoc requests. Attendees in the workshop create simple ad hoc requests in OBI, including formatting and filtering. Those requests can be saved and placed on a dashboard.
Attendees do not need to have any previous experience with OBI; however, they should be familiar with the basic concepts of report writing, to include filtering, sorting, and formatting data. Oracle Business Intelligence Introduction, Part Two pilots in mid-February. This workshop is intended for users who will be creating more sophisticated requests and dashboards for themselves and for others. Attendees will build requests that incorporate some of the views and features not covered in Part One, including pivot tables, prompts, and request scheduling. Attendees will also refine the formatting of a dashboard and dis-cuss basic principles of good dashboard design.
Please note! The OBI Intro workshops focus on how to use OBI. They do not cover data structure. As informa-tion becomes avail-able on data structure, we will be developing workshops that do. Watch this space for more information!
Later this year, the train-ing team also plans to start offering hour and a half brown-bag sessions on advanced topics in OBI. These sessions will be open to anyone who has completed the Intro- duction workshops.
Users who are interested in being notified when training is available can join the MosaicAnnounce listserv on the Mosaic Web site www.mosaic.arizona.edu to receive announcements when online and live train-ing becomes available. You can register for these workshops at http://uits.arizona.edu/workshops
Mosaic Project Training
Update
KFS Basics Workshop Comments
“
Excellent basics course. Good understanding of
the material, and kept peoples interest.”
“Great class - good pace with subject matter.”
“It is wonderful to see the flexibility and user
friendly environment.”
OBI Workshop Comments
“Great Class! Thanks”
“I’m glad I attended this workshop. Thanks.”
“Great program and excellent instructor.”
“Very impressed by the systems and the
instructor. Good Job!”
