- Findings from Reporting Needs Assessment Team
Kathy Crouch presented information on the findings of the team assembled to study unmet reporting needs. After conducting a survey and facilitating several focus groups, the team offered the following recommendations:
--Provide simplified reports
--Provide additional opportunities for practice, help, and training
--Address missing report functionality
--Provide focused communication
Kathy elaborated on each recommendation and reported on what has already taken place to improve the reporting situation. She plans to reconvene a focus group to obtain feedback on some of these actions.
The group discussed reporting products that work with SAP future developments.
- Functional Team Updates
--Budget Preparation
Roxanne McLetchie updated the group on Budget Preparation (BPS) progress. Realization Phase work has begun. The BPS project is behind schedule, due to decision delays, and the team is working hard to catch up on its timeline.
--Campus Management
Michelle Nordin began her report with an explanation of recent problems with some student account statements (estimated aid vs. actual aid). Michelle outlined the steps being taken to correct the statements and communicate with affected students. A proposal is being developed to test and review the account statement process.
The committee received a financial update about work completed and/or ongoing, along with information about upcoming tasks.
Michelle also offered update information on Student Accounting and all aspects of Student Administration, including event planning for Fall 2007, interfaces, enhancements, portal development, configuration, and data conversion.
--Communication
Lana Dearinger reported on several project communication activities. The on-line HR reference manual is nearly complete; Time Management information will be published this week. The documentation then can be refined, updated, and expanded as required. Other communication efforts have focused on the Plant Maintenance blueprint edits, FES communication on Pre-alerts, and the CM timeline. Business contact lists for campus and hospital have been reviewed and updated. Work continues on IRIS web site updates and additions.
--FI
Dale Austin provided the committee with the latest developments on year-end closing issues. His team continues to load grant data and address conversion and missing data issues. Training is complete for the second FES class, and future training will feature a single class (combination of FES_300 and FES_310). The Pre-alert functionality for FES is now in production. Pre-alerts may prompt users to take particular actions or offer informational messages only.
--HR
The team continues with end-user support and improvements and changes to Phase One. Work on the Facilities Salary Recommendation function needed by Physical Plant is nearly finished. The team is also examining the recruitment functionality in SAP. They held a recent off-site retreat to review current efforts and plan for future ones.
--MM
Joe Hines reported on Omnicell, PICIS, Bar Coding in the hospital and Inventory for Plant Maintenance. Except for some non-SAP interface problems with Omnicell, Joe reported good progress in the other focus areas of MM. The blueprint for the inventory process is nearly complete, with review expected by September 15.
--PM
Ben Crutcher distributed an Overview document on Plant Maintenance. Committee members received information about the PM goals and the various blueprint session topics. They also learned about decisions made to date and related requirements. Ben highlighted some of the expected process changes and spoke briefly about the PM timeline.
--Training
The Training Team continues to offer maintenance training for FI, MM, and HR. Team members are busy with development of future training, including the third FES course, CM courses, and the PM curriculum. Along with instruction and development, the team continues with training plan responsibilities and Training Client updates.
Phyllis Nash concluded the meeting by reporting that electronic updates will be provided to the Steering Committee in lieu of formal meetings, due to poor attendance.
The Coordinating Committee meets next on October 10.
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