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July 21, 2008 | In News and activities
The ERP project has passed the 50 percent mark in completed workshops. Workshops are key components of the University-wide collaborative ERP process, bringing together functional experts from University offices, technical experts from Student Information Systems (SIS) and the ERP team to develop an integrated administrative system appropriate for one of the nation’s premier universities.
UNC Functional Experts Guide the ERP Process
The entire decision-making process in the ERP project is driven by functional and technical experts. The project’s governance, comprised of senior representatives from each stream of student systems (admissions, student records, financial aid and student financials) as well as other campus-wide representatives, makes policy and major process decisions. Five advisory groups, with members drawn from all of the schools and organizations on campus, also guide the ERP team as the software is developed.
The ERP team itself is made up of University experts from the affected campus offices who serve as stream leads, functional analysts and technical analysts. The University’s contribution in the ERP project is supplemented by the PeopleSoft expertise provided by Deloitte Consulting.
Workshops = Knowledge Transfer
Throughout the ERP project, functional experts from University offices and technical experts from SIS and Human Resources have participated in workshops, guiding the ERP team in implementing PeopleSoft for the University’s needs. The ERP team facilitates the workshops and provides information on how PeopleSoft works, but decisions about the specific configuration of PeopleSoft are made by University functional and technical experts.
The 50 percent completed mark for workshops was reached in June 2008. Even as workshops continue, design and development work is underway by the technical team. Internal testing will begin in the fall for the first component of the ERP project, Admissions, which will “go live” with a phased rollout from June through August 2009.
Read more in this article from the July 16, 2008, issue of the University Gazette.
July 9, 2008 | In News and activities
The ERP team has been working with the School Contacts Advisory Group to develop guidelines to help schools define areas that may need to be addressed ahead of the Admissions component of ERP implementation. Admissions is the first stream of the ERP project to be implemented (summer 2009).
The joint effort is designed to produce a work plan and change matrix template for schools to use in developing internal plans to prepare for ERP’s Admissions implementation. For both schools and the ERP team, the work plans document upcoming tasks, timelines, testing and training, while the change matrix outlines impact areas, defines the type of change, and denotes roles and responsibilities.
“Our goal in developing these templates is to identify key impacts likely to touch most schools in some way and define how ERP and the schools will work together to prepare for implementation,” said Stephanie Szakal, assistant vice chancellor for enterprise applications and project director. “We are also incorporating flexibility for schools to customize individual plans.”
In the next several weeks, members of the ERP team will be meeting with each school to detail and customize the work plans and change matrix, and provide other support and information as needed.
The ERP team will initiate similar efforts for subsequent implementations of the Student Records, Financial Aid and Student Financials (cashier’s office) components of the ERP project.
This effort is indicative of the ERP team’s commitment to University-wide communication and collaboration throughout the development of the ERP project. ERP will provide the University with a powerful and fully integrated administration infrastructure appropriate for one of the nation’s premier universities.
June 13, 2008 | In News and activities
The University has completed the purchase of the PeopleSoft components for Human Resources (HR) and Finance. Oracle’s PeopleSoft is the software product being used by the ERP project for Student Systems (admissions, financial aid, student records and student financials).
As a result of a proposal from Oracle, the University advanced the timing of the purchase of the HR and Finance modules of PeopleSoft, which will result in significant long-term savings in reduced maintenance costs.
The use of PeopleSoft for Student Systems, HR and Finance will result in a powerful and fully integrated administrative system that contributes to the University’s goal of being the nation’s leading public university.
June 9, 2008 | In News and activities
ImageNow from Perceptive Software has been selected as the University’s new document management system and will be utilized in the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) project. ImageNow provides deep integration with Oracle’s PeopleSoft, the software which was already selected to replace the University’s administrative systems.
With the University’s undergraduate admissions department committed to a paperless process, the ImageNow document management system will be implemented in unison with the admissions software program which is the first ERP system scheduled for deployment.
“ImageNow is broadly used and highly praised by our higher education peers,” said Stephanie Szakal, assistant vice chancellor and ERP project director. “The company has an excellent track record in higher education document management, and we will deploy their best practices in our own processes.”
Among the universities currently using ImageNow are Duke University, the University of Michigan, the University of Minnesota and the University of California Berkeley.
June 5, 2008 | In News and activities
Academic Structure is the basic foundation of PeopleSoft that enables the ERP team to configure PeopleSoft to fit Carolina’s needs at the highest level. Academic Structure will help us apply policy and administer access to students and courses in PeopleSoft. The Academic Structure decision has been approved by the ERP project Sponsors and Stakeholders, and introduced to various ERP advisory groups.
The ERP team has asked its School Contacts Advisory Group to send representatives from schools to one of three upcoming sessions outlining the Academic Structure foundation. The presentations will take place at Greenlaw 431; the schedule is:
* Tuesday, June 17, 12:30pm to 2pm
* Wednesday, June 18, 12:30pm to 2pm
* Friday, June 20, 12:30 pm to 2pm
Each of these three sessions will include 30 minutes for Q&A.
For more information, contact ERP Communications.
