 Many of you have been eager to learn more about the status of our various projects and initiatives, especially regarding the upgrade to Oracle’s PeopleSoft Enterprise Financial and Supply Chain Management 8.9. With development well underway, I am very pleased to share with you that the project is on schedule to meet its May 1st, 2006 go-live date. In the interim, the Financials Support Services (FSS) team has been working toward several key initiatives to support and enhance UCF Financials:
- Launching end-user training: End-user training in the new PeopleSoft Financial and Supply Chain Management 8.9 system will be available in both instructor-led and online WebCT formats. FSS has upgraded the training material to cover new functionality and any changed business processes. There has also been a significant push for users to get trained in the new system, with incentives ranging from free popcorn for the first 100 people to register, to complimentary readiness recognition keepsakes for the first 250 people to complete their training. Eleven (11) new courses are available in the online, WebCT format. To maintain their current security access in UCF Financials, existing users who create and/or approve purchase requisitions must complete their Financials training by May 1, 2006. Instructor-led training is underway and is scheduled for completion during the week of April 21 st.
- Preparing for go-live: With the go-live date of May 1 st fast approaching, FSS has been actively promoting the upgrade across campus by giving on-campus presentations, distributing upgrade-related marketing material, and hosting stakeholder meetings. The FSS Web site redesign is also underway and is also scheduled to debut on May 1 st, 2006.
- Representing UCF at large: Six proposals submitted by FSS team members were accepted for presentation at the March 2006 Alliance conference, held this year in Nashville, Tennessee. Previously known as the Higher Education User Group (HEUG) conference, Alliance was renamed this year to formally recognize the inclusion of several other user groups. My own proposal, “Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Winning Communication Strategies,” was accepted, along with those of the following FSS team members, who either presented or co-presented:
- nVision 101 – Mastering the Art of nVision for Generating Financial Reports – Reggie Besana, Varsha Das, and Kristal Jackson
- Automating and Enhancing the Budget and Regular Journal Upload – Reggie Besana, and Varsha Das
- Automating Department and Project Setup – Varsha Das, and Reggie Besana
- Application Messaging Integration in Financials – Kristal Jackson, and Dorann Mullins
- Birds of a Feather Training Track Discussion – Mark Wray, and Becky Vilsack
Also at this year’s Alliance conference Mark Wray and I, co-chairs of the Training and End-User Support track, helped to solicit and grade more than 40 submissions, and ultimately helped to select the 26 presentations that were offered for this track. For the Alliance 2007 conference in Orlando, I will serve as Track Chair, with Mark again aiding as Assistant Track Chair.
On behalf of the FSS team, I want to thank everyone who has contributed to the design and development of the UCF Financials 8.9 upgrade. We deeply appreciate your insight and team work, which has been vital as we strive to provide UCF a world-class financial accounting system. As we embark on the last phase of this upgrade, I ask for your continued support and valuable feedback.
Project Manager
Associate Controller, UCF Finance & Accounting
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