Key administrative processes at Emory are supported
by two PeopleSoft software application suites: PeopleSoft Human
Resources Management System (HRMS) consisting of human resources,
benefits and payroll for the University and most Emory Healthcare
entities; and PeopleSoft Student Administration (SA) consisting
of admissions, financial aid, student records and student financials.
(OPUS, Emory’s student module, provides students with the
ability to register and enroll for classes online; access and view
grades, financial aid and bills online; and view and change demographic
data.)
Both of these software systems are being upgraded to the latest
vendor release, PeopleSoft 8. The new HRMS system went live on June
16; the new SA system will go live on June 24. Many staff in the
Information Technology Division (ITD), as well as in departments
across campus, have worked on these major upgrades over the past
year while continuing to support the current environment.
“This effort was truly cross-functional involving human resources,
finance, payroll, ITD and netcom professionals,” said Byron
Nash, PeopleSoft HRMS manager for ITD. “It’s a significant
achievement made possible through their dedication to providing
well-managed benefit plans and accurate payrolls for Emory University
and Healthcare staff. Without everyone’s involvement, it would
have been impossible to complete.”
Why upgrade? Maintaining vendor support for the software is the
primary reason (another was to streamline processes and further
reduce batch and paper processes). PeopleSoft support for current
releases expires in July and August, and Emory is dependent upon
the vendor for regulatory changes such as federal tax updates and
financial aid regulatory releases to maintain compliance with governing
authorities.
Federal tax updates are critical for payroll processing; financial
aid regulatory releases are essential for awarding and disbursing
Title IV money. In addition, vendor support includes ongoing telephone
support, application updates, fixes and upgrades, as well as continual
gains in functionality and technology.
PeopleSoft 8 is a major architectural change: The system is completely
web-based, no longer requiring software to be installed on each
user’s desktop computer. Nearly all of its functionality is
available through a browser, meaning access is available not only
from campus but from around the world.
The new architecture will help position Emory for increased capabilities
in employee self-service functions for benefits, demographic information
and payroll records management. To support PeopleSoft 8, a new multitiered
infrastructure has been implemented, featuring robust hardware,
increased redundancy and replication, and enhanced security.
“General users of PeopleSoft 8 won’t have to install
client software on their desktop computers anymore,” said
Mahbuba Ferdousi, lead database administrator for ITD. “All
servers and machines will be behind a firewall, making data more
secure, and the new gig network switches and lines will get data
to users faster than ever.”
During the initial implementations from 1999 to 2001, both the HRMS
and SA systems required extensive modifications and customization
to meet Emory requirements (more so for SA since Emory was a charter
institution implementing the immature and underdeveloped system).
With the recent upgrades, the implementation team took the opportunity
to reduce the number of Emory customizations and use standard PeopleSoft
code whenever possible. This should help lower the total cost of
ownership for future upgrades.
Future PeopleSoft projects should enable the University to use the
new web-based architecture to provide increased administrative functionality
for faculty, staff and students. Overall, the goal is to use these
administrative systems to improve Emory’s overall operational
efficiency.
|