Business Matters September 2016
Quarterly Business Forum
The next Business Forum is scheduled for Tuesday, November 8 from 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm in Baker University Center 240. The meeting will be broadcast via Adobe Connect and can be accessed here: November Business Forum Broadcast. Please mark your calendars.
Questions? Contact Finance and Administration Communication & Training at finhr@ohio.edu.
September Customer Service Training Full
Due to high demand, the Creating a Customer Service Culture training sessions planned for September are full. Another opportunity to register for this training will be offered in the coming year. A customer service culture represents shared values across the entire organization and the design of Creating a Customer Service Culture includes successes in customer service across a variety of OHIO departments. Creating a Customer Service Culture will cover customer service basics that are cultural standards and how OHIO successfully supports a customer service culture.
Questions? Contact Communication and Training at finhr@ohio.edu.
HR Offers Student Onboarding Sessions
This is a reminder that HR will host a series of open sessions for the completion of new student hire paperwork in the effort to improve the student employee onboarding process. These sessions will provide centralized support during the student hiring rush at the beginning of Fall Semester. No appointment is necessary for these sessions and they will operate on a first come, first served basis. Students may be directed to complete their paperwork at their convenience at a time that works best for their schedule.
Hiring managers should refer to the student hiring web page for guidance regarding what information should be given to students to prepare them to complete their paperwork at these sessions.
| Date | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, September 7 | 9:00 am - 4:00 pm | Baker University Center 237 |
| Thursday, September 8 | 9:00 am - 4:00 pm | Baker University Center 237 |
| Friday, September 9 | 9:00 am - 4:00 pm | Baker University Center 333 |
| Monday, September 12 | 9:00 am - 4:00 pm | Baker University Center 237 |
| Tuesday, September 13 | 9:00 am - 4:00 pm | Baker University Center 237 |
| Wednesday, September 14 | 9:00 am - 4:00 pm | Baker University Center 237 |
Questions? Contact UHR at uhr@ohio.edu or 740-593-1636.
Access Suspended to Benefits in MPI
Employees will be temporarily unable to view their current benefits online via the Oracle My Personal Information (MPI) - Self Service Benefits option starting August 30, while Human Resources works on reconfiguring the Self Service Benefits portal. Access is scheduled to be restored the week of September 12. Human Resources will alert campus once access is restored.
Enhancements are underway for the Self Service Benefits option of MPI that was used to conduct the annual Benefits Open Enrollment in April. This enhancement will enable employees to make midyear changes to their benefits in the event of a qualifying family status change and will support online benefits enrollment for new employees. These enhancements will be available when MPI access is restored the week of September 12. Instructions for utilizing MPI to change and elect benefits will be announced at that time.
Outside of the annual open enrollment period, employees can only make changes to their benefits if a qualifying event occurs. Review the Qualifying Life Events web page for details regarding qualifying events.
Questions? Contact Benefits at benefits@ohio.edu or 740-593-1636.
P2P Supplier Fair
Procure to Pay Services will host their first annual Supplier Fair on Wednesday, September 7, 2016 from 10:00 am - 3:00 pm. Come meet many of the University’s preferred suppliers and learn about the advantages and valuable solutions these businesses offer Ohio University. The “County Fair” themed event, to be held in the Baker University Center Ballroom, will offer giveaways, refreshments and drawings, along with appearances by Rufus the Bobcat, Ohio University cheerleaders and coaches. Participating OHIO employees may enter to win two domestic roundtrip airline tickets. All are welcome, but only OHIO employees may win. Registration is not required. Please bring your OHIO ID card for entry.
Procure to Pay Services provides expertise in sourcing and purchasing needs to Ohio University faculty and staff, while helping to reduce risk and ensuring compliance with Ohio Revised Code, other statutes and University policies.
Questions? Contact Finance Customer Care at financecustomercare@ohio.edu or 740-597-6446.
Concur User Enhancements
Concur’s latest User Interface enhancements include changes to Search and Flight Results, Hotel Details and others.
- The Flight Results section now includes details like the identification of stopover airports, a new Select button that replaces the old Quote button, and other indicators.
- The Fare Matrix section now includes important information about each option, including company policy compliance, refund information, checked bags, and more. Leg-by-leg fare options are available, along with indication of whether a branded fare is within policy or not.
- The Flight Details section now includes easy-to-scan flight details in a new expandable header.
- The Hotel Details section now includes icons that identify potential policy issues and approval requirements.
Questions? Contact Finance Customer Care at financecustomercare@ohio.edu or 740-597-6446.
Opening P2P Dynamic Forms
The following P2P dynamic (fillable) forms, found at the Procure to Pay Forms web page, open best in the Internet Explorer browser:
- BobcatBUY Access Request Form
- Contract- Comprehensive IC Agreement Form
- Contract - Honorarium Agreement Form
- Contract - Independent Contractor Agreement EZ Form
- Contract Routing & Approval Form
- Purchasing Card Application/Request for Update
- OHIO Substitute W-9 (former Payment Compliance Form)
Users may need to download the most recent version of Adobe Acrobat XI Professional. This is a free download from your computer’s start menu.
- Navigate to All Programs or All Apps
- Select Microsoft System Center 2012 R2
- Select Configuration Manager
- Select Software Center
- Select Find additional application from the Application Catalog
- Select Adobe Acrobat XI Professional
- Select Install
- Enter Ohio ID and Password
After install is complete, the forms should open.
Questions? Contact Finance Customer Care at financecustomercare@ohio.edu or 740-597-6446.
Purchasing Card Notifications
The Purchasing Card Notifications of past due expenses to each individual cardholder were turned back on September 1. As a reminder, all Concur expenses must be pulled into a report, submitted, and approved within 15 days from the date of the expense to avoid card suspension.
Questions? Contact Finance Customer Care at financecustomercare@ohio.edu or 740-597-6446.
Budget Updates
FY16 Fund Balance Key Dates
- August 22: Templates submitted by planning units
- September 9: Responsibility Center Fund Balances loaded
- Late September: Feedback provided to Allocated Cost units regarding Reallocation requests
FY17 Budget
The FY17 Budget was loaded in July, and is available in July financial reports.
FY18 Budget Planning
The fall forecasting cycle for FY18 planning will begin in September with a staged roll-out of planning tools, templates and materials. An overview of the FY18 planning timeline was presented at the August Budget Partner Group meeting, and will be outlined in greater detail during the staged roll-out of materials. An FY18 Budget Planning kickoff/training meeting(s) will be scheduled for September/October.
Questions? Connect with your Budget Planning & Analysis contact or email budgetplanning@ohio.edu.
Financial System Enhancements – Campus Support Activities & Reporting
Redesigning the University’s financial chart of accounts is the first building block, one of several initiatives, to improve financial systems across the institution. The Financial System Enhancements (FSE) project represents the combination of these initiatives, including the Chart of Accounts Redesign (COA), an updated Financial Approvers tool and the new Oracle Grants Accounting Module. Each of these building blocks will be supported with thorough training and detailed reporting capabilities.
Preliminary reporting dashboards were reviewed during the month of August with the Chart of Accounts Partner Group (COAPG) and with the groups that attended the Oracle Grants Accounting Demo sessions scheduled in August. There were two dashboards that were previewed with the groups – the General Ledger Funds Available View and the Restricted Funds Available View. Plans are being made to review the dashboards with a larger group of customers during the month of September.
Object code values and descriptions will be reviewed with the COAPG in September and released to campus for broader review and comment during the month of September.
Mapping efforts continue in accordance with the plan to populate new chart values into an environment that will allow campus to review chart of account setup decisions and make changes as they feel necessary. Mapping will continue to be a work in progress for the duration of the project as units add, modify, or inactivate values in the existing chart of accounts.
Campus Support Activities
The FSE Awareness Sessions occurred through August 18 with over 200 participants across campus. The purpose of these sessions was to increase user understanding of the FSE project timeline and goals, the COA segment structure, the new Oracle Grants Accounting Module, and the approach with Financial Approvers. Awareness Sessions also provided an overview of the communication and training support that users can expect. In an ongoing effort to understand the granular impact across campus related to the upcoming Financial System Enhancements, you are invited to complete this short Financial System Enhancements Pulse Evaluation to gauge the level of comfort, knowledge and impact of the FSE project. This is also a great opportunity to share feedback regarding the FSE Awareness sessions. This information will be used to help understand the impacted users and guide training and communication throughout the duration of the project.
There will be a series of Readiness Sessions in the fall prior to training sessions scheduled for January-March. The topics covered during the Readiness Sessions will be more detailed than those covered in the Awareness Sessions and there will be an opportunity to review user tools developed in support of the project.
A User Impact Analysis is also being conducted with each Planning Unit to understand the unique impacts with each Planning Unit and to map users to appropriate training. Via the project’s Change Network, each Planning Unit has representation to collaborate with Finance and Administration to help the unit through the transition to the new systems and processes. For a list of Change Network Members or for additional project-related updates including newly-added FAQs, please visit the Chart of Accounts website.
Questions or feedback? Contact the Chart of Accounts Project Team at coa@ohio.edu.