Month: February 2016

The Procurement team has been periodically pulling data to compare Concur’s prices with those of other travel sites. They’ve found that in every case, prices for hotels and flights available through Concur are equal to, or cheaper than, rates for those same hotels and flights. Here’s the latest Airline Price Comparison:

Background on Travel & Entertainment

The Travel initiative sought to streamline processes relating to travel booking and expense submission. The initiative paved the way for standardizing processes campus-wide by implementing one travel policy and one travel process for the entire University. A new electronic booking and expense tool, Concur, has reduced travel processing time significantly across campus and is also being used for all monthly p-card reconciliation.

• Paved the way for all of the OE2C initiatives to follow
• Engaged more than 20 vendors to make the Concur and Christopherson/Anthony selections
• More than 150 individuals engaged for vendor demonstrations and feedback
• Studied travel policies from more than 10 universities to understand best practices and re-write the SMU policy
• Countless hours spent testing the Concur system to prepare it for end users

One of the areas on campus that has been able to streamline operations with a Shared Services model is Admission, which now uses a Shared Services system for graduate application  processing. Joe Davis, associate dean of admission, explains how this came about:

1.     Why was there an interest in creating Shared Services for graduate application processing?

Beginning with the 2013 application, we developed a paperless review process for applications within the Undergraduate Admission Office. We first used PeopleSoft, and then transitioned to the new Slate software package. We wanted to take the “best practices” we learned from that process and share those with the graduate schools.  We also wanted to provide efficiencies through centralization that could not be accomplished when each college processed their own graduate applications.

2.  How is the new system being implemented?

We began by building a graduate application in Slate that would be used by both Dedman College and Lyle.  This was launched in August 2015 and started handling applications immediately; in fact, grad students who began in the Spring 2016 term in Lyle were processed using our new Slate system.  Currently we are training Dedman faculty on the review process and they are beginning to make decisions on Fall 2016 applications.    We also used Slate to build a separate review process for Fellowship applications  through the Office of Research and Graduate Studies, led by Jim Quick.  In the past this was also a paper-based process, and now we’ve put that into Slate as well.  This is being used by schools beyond Dedman and Lyle who are also submitting Fellowship nominations.  We will be starting soon with the development phase of adding Meadows, Simmons and Guildhall.  Their application will go live in August 2016. 

3.     What key improvements have you seen so far?

Processing time for applicants has decreased. Students can now receive their admission decisions electronically; this is especially important for the large number of international graduate students we see.  

4.     Do you have any numbers you could share in terms of applications processed?

So far, we’ve processed 1109 applications in Lyle and 799 applications in Dedman College.

The Office of Operational Excellence’s website can now be found here. Please make sure you are a subscriber to receive updates on Operational Excellence (not to exceed more than one update a week) including details on the new Human Resources Initiative focusing on improving processes and updates on Graduate Application Processing. 

The IT Department provided an extensive update to faculty and staff campus-wide on how all requests are being handled  now that the department has implemented a Shared Services model. It explained detailed contact information for obtaining classroom emergency support, reporting issues or requesting assistance, noting that the Help Desk is now fully staffed and is quickly reviewing all incoming support requests. In January, the IT Department also began creating reports for each school on campus summarizing the support provided to the school and sending the reports to the respective deans; it hopes to provide these reports quarterly.

The Office of Operational Excellence also addressed two questions regarding Concur booking fees and how to view approved reports in Concur, and two questions regarding contacts and org charts for the Finance Department now that it has moved to a Shared Services model.

Featured News

An IT Shared Services Update: How to Find Help

Having trouble with email, Word or Adobe? Need classroom support in a hurry? The IT Department gives you the numbers to call. Read more.

FAQs

How does using Concur and CBT result in savings when there is a $26 fee when booking through CBT?

I am an org owner and need to be able to view travel requests and reports that I have previously approved for tracking purposes.  Can I view approved reports in Concur?

Who are my contacts for Shared Services in finance?

How can I find an organizational chart for shared services’ finance initiative?

As SMU continues to work toward its goal of long-term economic vitality, it is not only implementing initiatives begun over the past year under OE2C but new initiatives under the Office of Operational Excellence. A new Human Resources Initiative is now under way that will focus primarily on process improvements and will include a complete staff Compensation Study. Sheri Starkey, associate vice president for Human Resources and chief HR administrator, will serve as project manager. Vice President of Business and Finance Chris Regis serves as the executive sponsor. Throughout the process, contacts from schools and administrative units will be asked for input, feedback and information and to serve as pilot groups.

The HR Initiative’s work will focus on making improvements in five areas, including payroll workflow, recruitment, compensation, classification and performance reviews. The plans for each are as follows:

1. Electronic Forms
   Improve workflow between HR, payroll and hiring departments with electronic forms:
   • Work with OIT and Gideon Taylor Consulting, a national PeopleSoft consulting and custom solutions provider, to implement an electronic Payroll Authorization Form (e-PAF)
2. Recruitment
   Reduce the administrative burden of hiring staff:
   • Fully implement an HR business partner model to reduce the burden of screening applicants and enhance staffing plans.
   • Implement Taleo software (PeopleSoft compatible), which will improve workflow and eliminate most of the current, paper-driven processes.
   • Implement new policy and procedures for managing temporary employees.
3. Compensation Study
   Engage outside consulting agency to conduct a full review of staff compensation structures, processes and comparison to market:
   • Utilize consultation expertise to review and develop recommendations to update policies, compensation structures and procedures.
   • Utilize benchmark data to develop strategies per unit, to address equity and market gaps.
4. Compensation & Classification Systems
   Implement PeopleSoft Compensation Module:
   • Work with OIT to implement the module.
   • Train internal HR staff to adapt workflow enhancements to improve overall position management practices.
   • Use recommendations from the Compensation Study to address salary issues per unit.
5. Performance Review System
   Implement PeopleSoft Performance Management module:
   • Work with OIT to implement the module.
   • Engage key hiring managers to refine implementation strategies.
   • Implement new performance review process and full training plan.

“We are excited to work with the Office of Operational Excellence and our campus stakeholders to launch several continuous improvement projects in the coming year,” said Starkey. “Our goals include simplifying and automating a number of HR-related processes, as well as introducing contemporary work tools and useful reporting measures for senior leaders, supervisors and employees.  We will be working to not only reduce paperwork but also to create more effective and efficient systems that enable us to be strategic and focused on identifying, hiring and retaining the talented staff we need for the future.”

Human Resources Team Members

The Human Resources Initiative team, which will be supplemented by additional HR staff as needed, includes:

Danielle Bickerstaff – HR

Mai Bui-HR

Vicki Bumgarder – Financial Compliance

Pery Doan-IT

Curt Herridge-IT

Ron Lujan-IT

Rhiannon Roark-HR

Marjorie Rush-Payroll

Rebecca Sampson-HR

Betsy Sedeno-IT

Lorea Seidel-HR

Mary Stall-HR

Samantha Tallone-IT