While still a work in progress, ConnectCarolina continues to improve steadily. In May, the ConnectCarolina team, a collaborative group made up of ITS staff members and representatives from UNC-Chapel Hill’s Finance & Administration department, announced the newest updates made to the system. As the campus heads toward year-end, many of these enhancements focused on reporting, grants management and managing labor costs.
InfoPorte gains new year-end reports
ConnectCarolina releases finance, personnel and other reports through InfoPorte. On May 18, an InfoPorte update included many new reports pertaining to year-end action items and grants management. In addition to this update video, ConnectCarolina has published an InfoPorte update, which explains the new reports and upgrades.
Change will ease multi-year grants handling
With respect to grants management, ConnectCarolina has worked, through ITS and the Office of Sponsored Research (OSR), to improve the way that grant spending is processed and authorized. In the long term, ConnectCarolina will control grant spending based on the appropriate active budget period, rather than controlling it by a project’s end date. This will improve the ConnectCarolina experience for audiences handling some multi-year grants. A short-term solution in March extended project-end dates for more than 630 projects.
More process improvements coming to labor charges
In the future, Connect Carolina will continue to improve certain processes for labor charges. A new report in InfoPorte will help manage labor costs through the fiscal year, while the team develops more robust reporting solutions. The team is also working on a long-term tool that will allow labor charges to move retroactively.
ConnectCarolina constantly changes, thanks to feedback from users on campus. To stay up-to-date with new releases, visit http://ccinfo.unc.edu. For help and support along the way, contact the ITS Help Desk at http://help.unc.edu or 919-962-HELP.
