While some campus
activities may move into low gear during the summer, Administrative ReDesign
(ARD) work will be revving up -- and the rubber will meet the road as teams
of staff work to streamline our business processes and then match these processes
with the capabilities of PeopleSoft technology.
In three broad areas -- financial services, student services and
human resources -- teams will be working to redesign for improved
business processes. Doing business with a new vendor, payroll
procedures, processing a student's financial aid application, and the
admissions process are some of the areas that will be under the
microscope.
Leanne Marden, associate project director of ARD/PeopleSoft,
explains the work this way: "Right now, if you need to pay a bill,
there are many steps to go through. Along with our implementation
partners, Anderson Consulting, we are working on creating ideal
processes for how to do the University's business in the future. That
means putting aside how we do that work now, and thinking in terms of
how we can accomplish our work ideally. Once such a process has been
created, it gets reviewed and approved, and then is matched up to the
capacity of PeopleSoft," she says.
If PeopleSoft cannot provide all the utility needed, a "fitgap"
analysis will look at whether we need to modify the process or if
supplementing with other software will help us reach our goal.
For this summer, planning for PeopleSoft implementation is the key
to progress in campus administrative redesign. Marden explains the
need for this kind of planning and preparation: "PeopleSoft is a
powerful and flexible technology which involves a great deal of
planning before we can use it. It's not like installing WordPerfect
on your pc and running with it," she says.
In financial services, reviews of processes for general ledger, budget, billing, and accounts receivable and payable are being undertaken. Human Resources will look at its procedures for payroll, time and labor, and benefits. In Student Services, admissions, advising, registration, student billing, and financial aid procedures will be reviewed.