Month: May 2015

The OE2C Finance Initiative, led by Project Manager Ernie Barry and made up of three sub-teams, began with the purpose of evaluating and exploring opportunities for improving efficiency and effectiveness within the finance function across campus.

The Budget sub-team, led by Clint Gilchrist, evaluated the current budget model and processes at SMU. The team interviewed 13 of our peer universities to benchmark and take advantage of lessons learned and best practices in budgeting. With input, help and feedback from many leaders across campus, the team developed a recommendation that was further refined in a workshop with the deans and vice presidents. The recommendation, which will be presented to the OE2C Steering Committee in the coming weeks, focuses on transparency, data and providing leaders with the ability to plan long term. The Budget Office will carry out implementation of an approved recommendation.

The Data & Analytics sub-team, led by Marc Peterson, evaluated the use of data and information in decision-making at SMU. After developing a comprehensive catalog of University decisions, the team interviewed nine financial officers, four department heads in the Finance area and three assistant deans to better understand the data and information gaps. Through these interviews, it was determined that, though exceptional amounts of data exist, they are difficult to access and excessive amounts of time are required to turn the data into usable information. In the coming weeks the team will be working to build sample dashboards that provide relevant information to decision-makers across campus.

The Service Delivery sub-team, led by Roland Webb, spent the past few months gathering and analyzing data to fully understand the size and breadth of the finance organization at SMU. The team began by developing a catalog of finance activities performed at SMU. Using that catalog, they developed and administered a survey that was completed by finance leaders across campus. The survey results confirmed that SMU finance work is 90 percent transactional and enabled the team to begin exploring efficiency improvement opportunities, including several quick wins that will go to the Steering Committee in the near future. One survey finding showed that an exorbitant amount of time is spent on journal entries. In the coming weeks the team will evaluate efficiency, reduction and redesign opportunities to minimize the need for journal entries across campus.

SMU’s new paperless and more user-friendly online process for booking and reporting travel expenses goes live June 20. Here are key points to know for the transition from our old paper travel report process to the new Concur system:

• Continue to book with Colwick Travel and report expenses using the paper travel report process through June 19. Beginning June 20, travel must be booked though the Concur system and our new travel management company Christopherson Business Travel.
• Using Colwick Travel to book and charge airfare is no longer available after June 19. Travelers should request a University-issued SMU Card or use a personal card to book air after that date.
• If airfare is charged through Colwick Travel prior to June 20, but the trip occurs after June 20 – submit two separate reports for the trip:
  · Airfare charged through Colwick Travel is reported using the old paper travel report process to clear the University-paid           purchase.
  · Out-of-pocket expenses and expenses on a traveler’s University-issued card are reported using Concur.
• All out-of-pocket expense reimbursements beginning June 20 are reported using Concur, including for trips taken prior to June 20.
• If a traveler holds a University-issued card for travel and their trip overlaps June 20, please contact the Concur travel administrator at x2800 for instructions on how to report travel expenses.
• Training dates are set for June 8, 9, 18, and 19. Instructions to register for a training session will be announced soon.

Questions? travel@smu.edu or travel.smu.edu

Through Operational Excellence for the Second Century (OE2C), we have launched several initiatives to improve all aspects of the purchasing process for end-users, approvers and administrators.  To help facilitate an effective transition, we have been working with members of the SMU faculty, staff and administration to ensure that each part of the purchasing process is addressed with the objective of decreasing costs and improving function.

 As part of that process, effective June 1, in order to streamline our reimbursement process, the University is transitioning over to direct deposit for all faculty and staff employees who request reimbursement through Accounts Payable.  This includes both travel and non-travel expense reimbursements.

Why Direct Deposit?

• Faster, cleaner, less handling, and less costly.
• No more paper checks and inconvenient manual deposits to your bank.
• Deposited directly into your account.

What’s Next?

 The transition to direct deposit is mandatory. Employees who currently receive checks for expense reimbursements and expect to continue to be reimbursed are encouraged to provide Accounts Payable with their direct deposit information before the end of May to minimize delays with reimbursements on or after June 1.  The direct deposit form, including instructions, can be accessed at:

Direct Deposit Authorization (PDF)

 Employees who are not currently being reimbursed for recent expenses, but who are likely to require reimbursement in the future, should submit the AP Direct Deposit form to Accounts Payable when they request a vendor number for reimbursement.

“I appreciate having a voice in this process; it means a lot.”

This feedback from one SMU staff member epitomizes the reason SMU staff and faculty members have organized and led dozens of focus groups as well as distributed and analyzed hundreds of surveys in the past few weeks. The initiative team is in the process of determining how SMU can deliver highly effective and highly efficient IT services moving forward.

The IT Initiative team has sought to learn specifically about which IT-related systems and processes are perceived to be working best at SMU while also determining where obstacles are experienced. The goal is to retain or enhance existing best practices while looking forward to development and implementation of the most effective and efficient technologies possible..

Organized under three broad umbrellas, the OE2C IT Initiative has achieved a number of wide-ranging goals:

• Operational Computing (Team Lead: Jason Warner, Meadows)
  • Conducted 20 focus groups with staff and students to prepare a 57-page document detailing focus group findings (view summary of findings here)
  • Surveyed all IT staff on campus and determined that there are about 150 full-time IT staff members serving the campus today
  • Began outlining the future IT service needs across campus

• Academic Computing (Team Lead: Thomas Hagstrom, Dedman College)
  • Received 270 responses to a faculty survey seeking to understand IT needs for course development, teaching, and research
  • Conducted faculty meetings in each school of the University to discuss faculty and student IT-related teaching and research needs (view summary of findings here)

• Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP (Team Lead: Ron Lujan, OIT)
  • Met with key users and stakeholders to understand strengths and shortcomings of our current PeopleSoft system
  • Held vendor demos of cloud-based ERP systems Workday and Oracle Fusion
  • Sought feedback from other universities about transitioning to the cloud or how to use PeopleSoft with few customizations

As we transition into designing the future of IT at SMU, we continue to welcome input and feedback via the OE2C comment box. Please select “IT” from the dropdown menu.

A decision five years ago by SMU’s Central University Libraries to create a central supply repository led to what is now considered a campus model for purchasing.

The move to use one central purchaser – who has extensive knowledge of products, prices and vendors — basically came down to implementing best business practices, says Dean Gillian McCombs, director of CUL.

By tightening controls and streamlining the process of ordering supplies for each of the libraries, “we knew that dollar savings would naturally occur,” Dean McCombs says, “and thereby allow us to optimize our very small operational budget.”

CUL oversees five of SMU’s eight university libraries, including DeGolyer Library, Fondren Library Center, Hamon Arts Library, Fort Burgwin Library at SMU-in-Taos and the SMU-in-Plano Library.

Before the central supply repository was implemented, various staff from each library would order supplies individually.

Now, staff members submit a request for supplies, which is approved by a member of the CUL Leadership Team (composed of the dean, assistant deans and departmental directors) and then submitted to the CUL’s central purchaser, says Donna Cotter, CUL’s director of finance and special projects.

“Supplies are ordered from the preferred vendor or at the cheapest price,” Cotter says. “Our purchaser has the most knowledge of products, whereas an employee who only orders occasionally could spend considerable time searching for the right product at the right price.”

The CUL Leadership Team’s approval of supplies prior to ordering eliminates unnecessary and/or maverick spending. Some frequently ordered items are kept on hand in small supply to give the libraries faster access to them, Cotter says.

Transitioning to using the central supply repository has turned out well for CUL employees. Staff members know the ordering policy and are comfortable with the process, Dean McCombs and Cotter say.

Initially, there may have been some hesitation and reluctance from staff to submit orders for specialized supplies – an example being archival storage supplies, Cotter says.

But “our purchaser makes every effort to provide products that are requested, and many times, she can find the same quality products at a lower price,” she adds.