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April 2012

The Administrative Systems eNews is a monthly electronic newsletter for users of Harvard's financial, human resources, and reporting systems.


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Contact us at: admin_systems_enews@harvard.edu or via the HUIT Helpdesk at 6-2001

PeopleSoft 9.1 Upgrade Goes Live on April 23!

Harvard is in the process of upgrading our PeopleSoft Human Resources/Payroll system, with system changes scheduled to take effect on April 23, 2012. Major enhancements are being made to time reporting and approval functionality and business processes. In particular, as part of the upgrade, all time worked by overtime-eligible (non-exempt) staff must be reported and approved each week in order for those staff members to be paid. Also, as part of the upgrade the look of PeopleSoft Self Service will change. Following is an overview of the upcoming changes:

Navigation Changes

PeopleSoft_Navigation

When you first log in to PeopleSoft, your home page will display an Introduction pagelet that provides you with information about the new navigation in the upgraded system.

PeopleSoft_Introduction

One new feature is that recently used pages now appear under the Favorites menu, located at the top left of the page.

PeopleSoft_Recently_Used

Another feature is that when you click on Main Menu in the top navigation bar, breadcrumbs visually display your navigation path and give you access to the contents of subfolders.

PeopleSoft_Breadcrumbs

You will notice that the left navigation menu disappears when you click on the menu selection from the side menu. Here you will click on Self Service and the selections under the menu item expand to fill the whole screen. To return to your home screen you will need to click the HOME link in the top right of the screen.

PDF Paycheck and Advices

After April 23, paychecks and advices will be stored as an Adobe PDF file and will show the year-to-date balances as of the date of the check. Additional information about the new paycheck and advice is available in a 4 page Quick Reference.

PeopleSoft_Paycheck

Changes for Time Reporters

  • All overtime-eligible employees must report the time they work each week in PeopleSoft in order to be paid in a timely manner.
    • Please note that if time is entered on behalf of an employee by a time-keeper, this process did not change.
  • The upgrade will provide "one-stop shopping" for those who report both time and absences online. On one screen, Time Reporters will be able to:

• Report time worked • View absence requests
• Review the approval status of time reported • Request an absence
• View a summary of reported time • View absence balances

Changes for Time Approvers:

  • When the upgrade goes live in April, Time Approvers will be required to approve all reported time on a weekly basis in PeopleSoft.
  • Improvements for Time Approvers include:

• Time and Absences can be approved on the same page (they are not currently integrated) • Reported Time Summary shows time reported, the employee's schedule, and any deviations
• Approvers can approve time anytime during the week (not just Mondays)
• Information can be sorted to easily identify employees with no reported time • Time can be Pushed Back to a Time Reporter with comments

Training

As a reminder, Time Reporter, Time Approver, and Time Adjuster/Administrator training is available now in multiple formats. Online training must be completed by April 23.

  • Depending on your Time and Labor role, complete the appropriate online course(s):
    • Time Reporters: 20-minute online course available at: 9.1 Time Reporter Upgrade Training
    • Time Approvers: 30-minute online course available at: 9.1 Time Approver Upgrade Training; 1-hour WebEx (optional); 1.5 hour hands-on lab (optional).
      • Note: If you are a Time Reporter and a Time Approver, you are expected to take both the Time Reporter and Time Approver trainings.
    • Time Adjusters/Administrators: 30-minute online course available at: 9.1 Time Adjuster/Admin Upgrade Training; 1-hour WebEx (optional); 1.5 hour hands-on lab (optional).
      • Note: If you are a Time Reporter and a Time Adjuster or Administrator, you are expected to take both the Time Reporter and Time Adjuster/Administrator trainings.

In addition to this training, the following documentation will be available in Eureka on April 16.

  • Work Instructions: Detailed Work Instructions will be available for each group impacted by the upgrade, Time Reporters, Time Approvers, and Time Adjusters/Administrators.
  • Quick Reference Guides: A go-live Quick Reference will also be made available for Time Reporters, Time Approvers, and Time Adjusters/Administrators.

Cutover Schedule

To prepare for the April 23rd go-live, PeopleSoft will be unavailable after 5pm on Thursday, April 19th. PeopleSoft will be available at 8am on Monday, April 23rd.

The first time that you access PeopleSoft v9.1 after the upgraded system goes live, you will need to enter the system via HARVie because any bookmarks/favorites that you have saved to access PeopleSoft v8.9 will no longer work. Once you are in PeopleSoft v9.1, new bookmarks/favorites can be saved for easier access.

PeopleSoft_Schedule

Please send your questions/feedback to the project email box at peoplesoftupgrade@harvard.edu, and you will receive a response within three business days.

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PeopleSoft 9.1 Upgrade: Reporting Impact

The PS 9.1 Upgrade is scheduled for production release for both PeopleSoft and the HR Data Warehouse in April 2012. The following outlines changes to CREW HRMS reports that were impacted by the PS 9.1 version upgrade from the current PS 8.9 version. An updated list of HR Data Warehouse (EUL) Objects impacted by the upgrade is attached to this eNews announcement.

CREW HRMS Reports (18 reports required functional changes; 31 required database synchronization)

CREW Report Functional Notes
BNHNWDP017 Retrofit; replace PS_BN_SNAP_PLAN_SV with SBN_PS_BN_SNAP_PLAN_SV
BNHNWEE016 Retrofit; replace PS_BN_SNAP_PLAN_SV with SBN_PS_BN_SNAP_PLAN_SV
BNRHSVC040 Retrofit; replace PS_PA_SVC_TRANS_V with SPN_PS_PA_SVC_TRANS_V
HRACCDP221 Retrofit using new Accomplishment's design.
HRACCDP222 Retrofit using new Accomplishment's design.
HRACCDP229 Report will be end dated; no longer available.
HRCMPDP020 Synchronize report with database and hint change for performance.
HREMRDP037 PHONE_EXTENSION added to report.
HREMREE036 PHONE_EXTENSION added to report.
HRJOBDP007 Retrofit to new ODS view: OHR_ACCOMP_DEG_V
HRJOBEE003 Retrofit to new ODS view: OHR_ACCOMP_DEG_V
HRJOBEE058 Updated report metadata (Business Purpose and Suggested Run Times)
HRTRNDP220 Retrofit; redirect columns (previously existed in STRN_PS_HU_EMPTRNG_COS_V; now added to STRN_PS_TRAINING_V): payment_method, acct_cd, dist_pct, commentshort, fee)amt
HRTRNDP232 Retrofit; redirect columns (previously existed in STRN_PS_HU_EMPTRNG_COS_V; now added to STRN_PS_TRAINING_V): payment_method, acct_cd, dist_pct, commentshort, fee_amt
PNHISEE048 Retrofit; replace PS_PA_SVC_TRANS_V with SPN_PS_PA_SVC_TRANS_V
SCTLGLS044 GROUP_ID will be renamed to TL_GROUP_ID in the database object: SSEC_PS_TL_GRP_SECURITY_V
SCUSRSC046 GROUP_ID will be renamed to TL_GROUP_ID in the database object: SSEC_PS_TL_GRP_SECURITY_V
SCUSRSC078 GROUP_ID will be renamed to TL_GROUP_ID in the database object: SSEC_PS_TL_GRP_SECURITY_V

If you have questions or concerns please contact the HUIT Support Center at 496-2001 or dls@harvard.edu.

Tags: PeopleSoft

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Human Resources Reporting News - CREW Job Costing Report Codes Changing

CREW Report Spotlight - Report code changes effective April 23rd.

HRJOBDP233 Departmental-Job Costing (Salary) will appear as COSALDP240
HRJOBDP236 Departmental-Job Costing will appear as: CONOCDP241

NOTE: The functionality of these Job Level Costing Reports has not changed.

For other questions or concerns please contact the HUIT Helpdesk at 496-2001 or dls@harvard.edu.

Thank you,
Harvard Human Resources (HHR) and Information Technology Teams (HUIT)

Tags: CREW

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Reminder Regarding Web Voucher Decommissioning

A reminder that as of April 15, 2012, University Financial Services' Accounts Payable will no longer be processing vendor payment-related Web Vouchers. Note that this does not affect the current Web Reimbursement process (employee, non-employee expense reimbursement, Harvard Travel Center, and CitiBank Direct pay). Any Web Voucher sent to AP after April 15 will be returned to the requestor asking they resubmit payment using an HCOM Payment Request. Also, any vendor payment Web Voucher that is open, except those included in the Web Reimbursement list above, will be automatically closed in the system. Users can expect to see these fall off of the Committed Funds Report by late April. Users will not need to request a closure of a WV as it will be automatically done by the system.

Please contact AP with any questions at 617-495-8500.

Tags: Web Voucher

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Research Administration Systems Updates

Grants Management Application Suite (GMAS) Updates:

There is a GMAS release coming up over the weekend of April 13th, 2012. Performing this upgrade will allow GMAS to effectively support the (very popular) document repositories. In order to effectively manage this critical system release, GMAS will be down starting at noon on Friday, April 13. GMAS will be available at the start of the business day on Monday, April 16. We have posted a message on the GMAS homepage, but please share this information with colleagues.

Other highlights of the release include:

  • Removal of the additional PIN login during the electronic signature process
  • Added support for system-to-system (S2S) submission of NIH fellowships using the PHS Supplemental Form v1.2
  • The adjustment search in the Letter of Credit (LOC) module has been enhanced

For the complete list of enhancements and bug fixes, visit the Research Administration Systems wiki page (PIN required): https://wiki.harvard.edu/confluence/display/FSS/GMAS+Release+1_31#.

As always, please contact contactgmas@harvard.edu with any questions or concerns.

Harvard Institutional Review Board Electronic Reporting Tool (HIRBERT):

In February 2012, standard operating system patching was completed. Later this year, HIRBERT will be replaced with a new IRB system. As a result, there are no enhancements or bug fixes currently planned for HIRBERT.

Tags: GMAS; HIRBERT

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HUBS Releases & Outages

HUBS will be unavailable on:

  • Saturday May 5th through Sunday May 6th for server maintenance
  • All day Friday May 18th through Saturday May 19th for an enhancement release. Users should note that this outage will actually begin at 10:00pm on May 17th.

There will also be a small release on Friday April 20th and HUBS will be available during the release. This release adds a new CINA report. The popular Budget Analysis Detail report, FRBC027a, has been duplicated in FRBC027g and new quarterly totals have been added with the option to drill down into months:

HUBS_Report

Look for enhancement details about the May release in the next e-News.

If you have any questions about the new CINA Budget Report, please contact hubs@harvard.edu.

Tag: HUBS

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March 2012 CREW Financial, Sponsored, CAPS, and Student Release Items

Category Module Report, View or Object Description Release Actual or *Target Release Date
General Ledger Report GLDTLLR172 Detail Listing and
GLDTLLT174 Detail Listing Lite Reports
Increase column size of the Description 2 column for Accounts Receivables transactions. Comments greater than 100 characters were not being displayed. CREW FIN 3.2.17 3/24/2012

If you have any questions or concerns regarding these changes, please contact the HUIT Support Center at 496-2001 or via email.

Tag: CREW

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Upcoming Releases

FINDINI Release Schedule

A software release to the Oracle Financial Applications, known as a "FINDINI release", is done every two to four months. Each upgrade introduces needed bug fixes, enhancements, and technical upgrades into Harvard's financial systems. Generally, releases are performed on weekends to assure maximum availability during the business week. Most outages occur from 6 pm Friday evening-6 am Monday morning.

The next FINDINI release, 3.2.18, is scheduled for June, 2012. Details will be available in an upcoming e-News.

The Oracle Financial Applications are:

CREW FIN Releases

The Common Reporting Environment for the Warehouse (CREW) is a reporting system that draws data from a variety of sources which are updated on a nightly basis. Users can submit report requests for immediate processing or schedule reports to automatically run on a recurring basis. Types of CREW reports include financial, budget, receivables, HR management, benefits, costing, payroll, pension, security, grants management, and sponsored reports.

The next CREW FIN release, 3.2.18, is scheduled for June, 2012. Details will be available in an upcoming e-News.

HR (PeopleSoft)

PeopleSoft will be upgrading to Version 9.1 on April 23, 2012. See article 1 for information about the impact and training available for the time reporting communities.

CREW HR Release 32

The CREW HR 33.0 Release is tentatively scheduled for April 2012. See article 2 for information about the impact as a result of the PeopleSoft Upgrade and article 3 for information about two Job Costing reports.

CREW Reports

In addition to the CREW Financial and CREW HR releases which correspond with the FINDINI and HR releases listed above, changes and enhancements to new and existing CREW reports are also released the 3rd weekend of each month.

Release Number Dates Notes
8.4 April 2012  

Sponsored Systems Releases

  • GMAS release (1_31) will be release on Friday, April 13, 2012. Please see article 5 for more information.
  • A HIRBERT release was deployed in Feburary 2012. Please see article 5 for more information.

HUBS Releases

The Harvard University Budgeting Sytems (HUBS) is a set of web-based Oracle Hyperion Planning applications used for budget data entry, estimates, annotations, reporting, and submission associated with the annual budget and planning cycles.

There will be a small HUBS release on Friday, April 13 and the next HUBS release is scheduled for May 18-20, 2012. Please see article 6 for more information; details about the May release will be provided in an upcoming issue of e-News.

About the e-News

The Center for Workplace Development publishes this electronic newsletter for users of Harvard University's financial, HR, and reporting systems, policies, and procedures. The e-News is generally published on or around the 15th of each month.

It contains:

  • updates on projects underway to build or improve University administrative systems;
  • information about new University policies, procedures, and forms;
  • reminders about upcoming deadlines and cut-over dates;
  • tips and tricks for working more easily or productively.

We welcome questions and suggestions for improvement from readers. If your questions are of general interest, we will answer them in future issues.

Please send comments, questions, or suggestions for improvement by email to us at: admin_systems_enews@harvard.edu.

For information about subscribing or unsubscribing to the eNews notifications, visit our who gets the eNews page.

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