FST Update: November 18, 2021

 

Gobble Gobble:  Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Attention multitaskers:  you can listen to this update on WFST!

Not much time to read?  Try "Five Things to Know about FST"

FDM Sprint

Schools and units have been working toward a December 31 deadline to have 85% of FDM Mapping complete so that we can have a fairly complete chart for testing moving into 2022. Recognizing that we need a little extra help to get there, the team has enlisted a few additional resources to get us over the line.  Jacob Mair, Elissa Morton, and Katie Walker will co-lead this sprint in partnership with existing functional leaders.  Their tasks include seeking opportunities to create consistency on common, high-priority elements, creating documentation to help units implement the FDM, and optimizing the FDM for the "hard funding" managerial environment.  Read more in the blog.

Adaptive Planning

 UVAFinance's Financial Planning and Analysis team has partnered with the Adaptive Planning team to offer an“Ask Us Anything” form, in the interest of getting all UVA’s future-state budgeting questions and concerns addressed.  Read more in the blog.

Workflow Control and Approvals

The FST team has shared a Workflow Control and Approvals roadmap that our listeners might find interesting.  The map shows what has been completed and what’s coming up in the process.   From January to March of 2022, the team will work directly with each unit to identify how best to fill Workday roles as compared to existing oracle roles while still ensuring separation of duties.  See the roadmap and read more here.

End-to-End Testing

We caught up with Deloitte’s Marnie Fulton, as well as our own Jackie Tucker, to talk about how the end-to-end testing process is going. Both Marnie and Jackie have a wealth of experience with implementations at other higher ed institutions, and they give a good snapshot of where we’re going and how things are going.  We’ll move into User Experience Review in mid-February to confirm that what we’ve learned during end to end testing is applicable in real life use of the system. Read the interview here.

System Remediation

The SRN team is holding technical workshops with stakeholders across UVA, including a journal integration workshop conducted at the end of October.  Future topics include FDM worktag collection guidance for system owners, resources for FDM conversion, and more.  System remediation testing will take place from December of this year through April of next. Read more on the blog.

Community Hub Updates

There is a lot of information about FST and all its various parts out there in the Online Community, and we realize it can be overwhelming.  Did you know that you can create your own customized news streams, along with updates to your inbox, based on just the topics you’re interested in?  Check it out!

Five Things to Know about FST: November 18, 2021

 

1.  A new FDM Sprint began this week.  This sprint, led by Jacob Mair, Elissa Morton, and Katie Walker, will work in conjunction with the FST Functional Team to get us at 85% FDM Mapping completion by December 31, 2021.  Read more on the blog. 

2.  The Adaptive Planning Team and the Office of Financial Planning & Analysis want to hear your questions and concerns about future state budgeting!  Read more and access their "Ask Us Anything" site.

3.  See the new Workflow Control & Approvals roadmap that highlights what's coming up, including work with each unit on filling Workday roles.  See the map and read more on the blog. 

4.  Cycle 2 of end-to-end testing is moving smoothly.  Read a full update on the blog

5.  The System Remediation Network has been busy with workshops and is moving from the build phase to the testing phase as we get ready for go-live in July of 2022.  Read more about what's next on the blog.

New FDM Sprint

The December 31 deadline to have 85% of FDM Mapping complete is quickly approaching. Recognizing that if we’re to meet that deadline and have a fairly complete chart for testing, the team is enlisting additional resources to help us meet the goal and also to help optimize the new chart for managerial reporting. 

Jacob Mair, Elissa Morton, and Katie Walker will co-lead the effort in partnership with existing functional leaders, expanding the team to staff a sprint.

The sprint team’s tasks include seeking opportunities to create consistency on common, high-priority elements, creating documentation to help units implement the FDM, and optimizing the FDM for the "hard funding" managerial environment.  

You'll continue to see updates on this sprint here in the blog.  If you have questions or concerns related to FDM Mapping, please email the team at FDMMapping@virginia.edu, or visit our new Ask Us Anything page!

November 2021 RAPID Decision Updates

At this month's Advisory Group, the FST team provided an update on several upcoming decisions.  Below, we've provided a short explanation of each decision discussed in this month's governance meetings.

• WFCA Workflow Changes: UVA's financial leadership has expressed a desire to shift away from the University's current heavy reliance on detailed post-transaction reconciliation and move towards front-end, real-time transaction approvals. These efforts will reduce time and increase accuracy on the back-end, which may translate to more effort upfront. You can read more about this topic here. 
• Intercompany Transactions: In the future state, University-affiliated Organizations (UAOs) will be set up as companies in Workday for consolidated reporting purposes only. Any operational activity must be handled as an external customer or vendor. No intercompany settlement will be done at month-end. 
• GL Balance Conversion Approach: Possible conversion approach options include converting Oracle GL balance to Workday "as is," converting UBI cash balances to Workday fund balances based on UBI Cash Balance Report, or converting GL balances "as is" at a high level and realigning balances across units' FDM worktags in Workday. The recommendation is to go with the third of these three options. 

You can read more about these specific upcoming decisions here. For more information on all decisions, check out the FST Decision Log.

Workday Financials: Future Support Model

 

Click Image for a Larger View

UVAFinance is working with ITS and HR on how we will manage and support Workday Financials after implementation and stabilization.  We're developing this structure in real-time, and will keep you updated as we go. 

As you see in the graphic above, our approach consists of a cross-functional support team including the Workday Stakeholder Support team reporting to Bill Ashby (AVP for Financial Strategy) and the Workday Systems Support team reporting to Augie Maurelli (AVP for Financial Operations).  These two groups will have an integrated working relationship.  

There will also be an overarching Workday Coordination Group across Finance, HR, and ITS, providing governance that will coordinate the Workday platform across UVA.  As we work to build and staff the two teams, we expect to be recruiting and hiring for a number of critical positions in the Workday Finance Support team as well as in the broader UVAFinance organization.  

More details on these positions and the related recruitment process will be shared in the coming weeks.  Thank you for your continued support to this project, and please be on the lookout for additional information!

SRN: A Tailored Approach

 As the Foundation Data Modelling team provides guidance while also optimizing the new chart for managerial reporting to units, the System Remediation Network team will be providing one-on-one support. Moving from the build phase to the test phase, it is important that units work to test the status of each system.

Scot Thornton, SRN lead, said to achieve this, “change leaders will be provided with the opportunity for personalized support and guidance.” Each unit is unique in some aspects of integration and user acceptance and Scot emphasized in the latest SRN meeting that a tailored approach will be applied. Please reach out to Scot with questions and expect more information to be available.

The following image provides an update on SRN’s status and what to expect next in the process of identifying and implementing changes that are required to successfully integrate systems with Workday Financials.

FST Welcomes New Security Lead, Crystal Tapia

Crystal Tapia

For Crystal Tapia, joining the FST Team meant the opportunity to help implement Workday and to use her skills at a large institution like UVA.

As the UVA FST Security Lead, Crystal will be focusing on Workday security needs. She will primarily be involved in security for Finance but will also help with HCM security as needed. She will be working closely with the UVA Workday Security Team, Kelli O’Dell, and Venkata Nimmalapudi.

Though jumping into a Lead role at this point in the project could prove challenging, Crystal seems more than up to the task. “I’m happy at UVA so far,” Crystal says. “It’s the right amount of challenge and growth I was looking for, and that feels fulfilling.”

She also is thankful to her fellow FST Team members for getting her up to speed. “I appreciate how quickly the FST Team brought me into the fold,” she explains, “and how open people are when I need guidance on how things are done at UVA.”

Outside of work, Crystal enjoys learning new languages, cooking, baking, and singing karaoke. She also loves to travel, which once lead her to work at an event in Japan during cherry blossom season. She even got to wear a traditional Japanese kimono at this event and says that “kimonos are surprisingly complicated to put on.”

Good Things are Worth the Wait: Introducing Brittany Newton from Accounts Payable

Brittany Newton on hiking trip

Brittany Newton joined UVAFinance back in March 2020, the chaotic time when all of us were adjusting to working from home suddenly. Unfortunately, that means we missed introducing her when she first started. However, good things are worth waiting for, and we think the chance to learn about Brittany was definitely worth the wait.

Brittany assists the Accounts Payable department in expense management and payment processing for the University’s vendors.

She was interested in this position because she realized how important it was to have fresh eyes on AP processing. She was also excited about the opportunity to be involved in the implementation of Workday. Starting a new position when the pandemic first began was likely challenging, but Brittany worked through it and has been with UVAFinance for over a year now. And she seems to be liking her role in Accounts Payable.

“I really enjoy working with this team,” Brittany said. “And I am super excited about all the new things coming our way because of Workday implementation.”

When not at work, Brittany is a self-described fitness enthusiast and enjoys trying new fitness-related activities. For example, she is hoping to run a half marathon soon. She has also recently taken up Spenga, which is a spin class combined with HIIT and Yoga.

Brittany is originally from Kansas City, Missouri, and is the only girl out of the six children in her family.

New on Finance Matters: The Benefits of Creative Pursuits

We've got a panel of creative folks from the UVAFinance team in today's episode, talking about the benefits of creative pursuits on them as individuals and also as professionals on the Finance team. 

Join Patty and Brandi as they talk with Jay Gallimore (musician), Matt Bonham (photographer, graphic artist), and Mary Wagamon (artist, writer), and get inspired to pursue your own creativity!

Listen Here!

FY2023 Budget Process Continues: Tuition & Fees

FY 2023 budget season continues to move forward, step by step.  

The budget team and University leadership have continued to meet with student representatives. In addition to early October and November meetings of the Student Tuition and Fees Committees, representatives from UVAFinance also joined Student Council’s General Body on November 16 to discuss tuition, fees, and the UVA budget.

As of November 9, notices of 2022-2024 tuition and fees has been made public and a public comment session is scheduled for December 2 at 3pm. 

More information on the session can be found at the website of UVA’s Board of Visitors at https://bov.virginia.edu/.

The UVA Board of Visitors will consider the tuition and fee proposal for UVA and UVA's College at Wise at meetings of the Finance Committee and Full Board at the BOV meeting on December 10, 2021.

Staying on Course: Workflow Controls & Approvals

 This map details two simultaneous processes for accomplishing our goal of developing a collaborative Workflow Controls and Approvals system.

We will continue to share updated versions of the roadmap so you can see what has been completed and what is coming up next in the process. In December, we plan to share a demonstration of the Account Certification Review Process. 

 Additionally, the functional team will match the defined Workday Roles with existing Oracle Roles and distribute this list as a starting point for collaborative review. From January until March of 2022, we will work directly with each unit in an iterative process to identify how to best fill these roles while ensuring separation of duties. 

We will keep you informed as we move through each step and unit feedback will continue to be essential.

Click image to enlarge

End-to-End Testing Update with Marnie Fulton and Jackie Tucker

 

End-to-end testing officially kicked off on October 4 and the team has moved into Cycle 2 of the process. We talked with Jackie Tucker, Workday Lead in Finance Strategic Transformation, and Marnie Fulton, Senior Manager at Deloitte, working on the FST implementation project. Marnie and Jackie have a wide breadth of experience with implementations at other institutions of higher education and offer good insight on our progress and path forward.

Where are we exactly in the testing process?

We just wrapped up Cycle 1 testing which is essentially the foundation phase. We tested basic user scenarios and captured and repaired defects. This was a four-week process and went well. We are now in Cycle 2 which entails introducing more complexity and testing integrations. This entire process looks at about real-life 5,100 testing scenarios and some of those tests include multiple layers – we want to test each portion to identify any bugs that need to be worked out.

What is most important about testing?

The entire phase is integral to the success of Go Live in July. We want to know exactly what users will encounter in the system and that’s why we’ve leveraged real user stories. We push those stories through multiple scenarios to capture any issues and then correct them. Essentially, we are answering the question: What will our users see? We want to confirm that Workday is functioning for UVA as it was designed to and validate that data was converted correctly. The more we work out now, the smoother it all runs in July.

Does testing inform other parts of implementation?

Absolutely. Testing identifies exactly where we need to make adjustments to help everyone use the system most efficiently. We are finding out exactly how different information looks Workday than it did in Oracle. From there, the training team can integrate that information into their training programs and also develop a clear plan on the timing of training. It also informs the Workflow and Control Approvals area in that, for example, an award approval process may need to route slightly differently. We can see those new processes, identify defects, and correct them, and then work to ensure employees are ready to work with the system. Testing also helps us identify areas where there are change impacts and enables us to provide support to those areas well in advance of Go Live.

How does our testing compare with other universities you have worked with?

We are right on track at UVA with the testing process. As with other universities, UVA is providing enough user experiences to push our testing scenarios along and allow us to test the system as much as we can and correct unexpected or undesired outcomes. So far, we are on pace with validating accounting and addressing any of those issues in time for the next phase.

What's next?

We will continue with the hands-on portion of testing and if we continue to move along smoothly, we’ll move into user experience review in mid-February to confirm that everything we learned in end-to-end testing is applicable in real-life use of the system. This is also a critically important testing phase because it is where we invite a group of actual UVA end-users to test the system for themselves to make sure it is working as designed.

We will also have a test phase next spring that evaluates the impact of the Workday Financials implementation on the existing HCM/Payroll system and test any configuration changes made to HCM to accommodate the “layering on” of Financials. Finally, we will do some performance testing to make sure we will have the system response time that we need and expect.

The community hub is updated each week with the latest testing metrics to keep you all posted on the status of the testing scenarios. Find the Testing Tracker information here: https://communityhub.virginia.edu/docs/DOC-3611

Update on PaymentWorks

At governance meetings this month, representatives from the PaymentWorks Team provided an update on accomplishments made in the first month since PaymentWorks went live with Oracle. 

Here's a look at some of those accomplishments:    

• 2358 invitations sent out. 
• 1068 (45%) suppliers and payees have completed their registration
• 574 signed up for ACH 
• Six ACH/Direct Deposit files composed of 188 unique payments were successfully processed with Bank of America
• 489 active suppliers were invited to register with new payment methods

Meeting attendees also had the opportunity to ask questions. Here are a few of the questions asked, along with answers provided by Korby Griffith, who presented on PaymentWorks at the November Fiscal Administrators Meeting. 

1. Is there any easy way to bookmark the PaymentWorks site? Yes. You can bookmark the site using the bookmark manager in your web browser. You just need to use the specific URL: https://paymentworks.com/login/saml/?idp=uva.

2. Is there a way to make it so when a registrant clicks on the invite link, their email address is auto-filled in? No, and this was an intentional decision made by the PaymentWorks Team. Suppliers need the ability to register with the official email of their business and not necessarily the individual contact's email.  

3. What is the time period for the payee to get approval after they register? 24-48 hours.

4. Were business suppliers automatically transferred to PaymentWorks? No, they were not automatically transferred to PaymentWorks, but they remain active in the system. We are not requiring them to sign up immediately but are inviting them to update their information and take advantage of the ACH option. 

If you have questions not answered above, you can always reach out to the PaymentWorks Team at vendors@virginia.edu. You can also view a recording of the November Fiscal Administrators Meeting here. 

Ask Us Anything about Budget & Adaptive!

FST's Adaptive Planning Team and the Office of Financial Planning & Analysis want to make sure your future state budgeting questions and concerns are answered.  Questions asked in meetings and emails are always welcome, but we want to invite you to share your thoughts on our new  "Ask Us Anything" page, linked here. 

All questions/concerns will be addressed on the UVAFinance website on a Frequently Asked Questions page so we can all learn from one another as we move toward the era of Adaptive 3.0 and Workday Financials.  

All questions will be answered without attribution, and you are welcome to make your inquiries anonymous; however, it may be helpful to share your contact information in case we need clarification to best answer your question. 

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Have questions about FDM? You can also Ask Anything about that!  

Brandon Pierce Joins UVAFinance as Senior Payroll Tax Specialist

 

Brandon Pierce 

For Brandon Pierce, a UVA graduate, the chance to return to the University, even remotely, was an exciting opportunity.

Brandon recently joined UVAFinance as a Senior Payroll Tax Specialist. He will be primarily working under Angela Coleman, Assistant Director of Payroll Services, and will also be assisting the Payroll Services team and the Payroll Operations team with any tax-related issues.

“I love the role so far,” Brandon says. Though working for a public University is different from what Brandon is used to coming from a large corporation. “The organizational setup is entirely different, so it’s a learning process,” he explains. “But it’s nice to be able to expand my        knowledge.”

Outside of work, Brandon likes to get outside and experience new places, particularly new restaurants and breweries. He also loves to hike, run, and golf with his dad. He’s also obsessed with luxury real estate and says, “in another life, I would be a real estate agent selling high-end properties.” He often spends time on Zillow looking at what he describes as “houses I could never afford.”

Continuous Improvement Bright Spot: Not perfect but still good

We share Continuous Improvement Bright Spots here in the blog to recognize teams committed to improvement and to inspire others to do the same.  In previous Bright Spots, we've shared stories of processes made simpler, stakeholders served better, and team members who have reduced administrative burden.  Today's story isn't quite as glamorous, because it's about an improvement that wasn't quite perfect, but that is no less inspiring and important.

The Problem

In the thick of the pandemic, Student Financial Services needed a way to serve students and families while still keeping themselves and students safe (i.e., not crowded physically into a waiting area for in-person help).  The team didn't have time to research and invest in a new software product to allow students to make online appointments -- they needed something immediately as students got ready to go back to class. 

The Improvement

Enter UVAFinance's Scott Adams ("Everybody needs a Scott Adams," comments Sarah Doran of SFS).  Working with the SFS team, Adams decided to take something that already existed, a product called Microsoft Bookings, and created a process that could patch SFS through their rough patch.  

The Benefits

Using Bookings, the SFS team was able to offer students set times for appointments, allowing them to choose the time that worked best for them and keep crowds out of the SFS office.  It wasn't a perfect solution, however:  the team found that students would find their way around waiting for their turn by emailing and calling in the runup to their appointment, getting their issues solved, and subsequently not showing up for their in-person time slot.  

The Bottom Line

The team's use of Bookings allowed the SFS team to try on an appointment solution without committing to something costly.  Using Bookings got them through an unexpected and tough situation, helping them to serve students while keeping everyone safe.  Even though the solution didn't fit perfectly, it bridged a gap and helped them understand what sort of solution would be a perfect fit.  

An important part of Continuous Improvement is being willing to try solutions and modify them based on experience.  We applaud this team for creative thinking, rolling with the punches, and their focus on doing the best they can for their stakeholders!

Cheers to Scott Adams, Jenn Bari, Catie Payne, and the whole SFS team for their CI mindset!

Give to the CVC: It's more important than ever!

The Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign provides an important opportunity to support nonprofit and charitable organizations across the commonwealth – including over 50 here in our own community. 

Since the CVC’s inception, UVA faculty, staff, and others have collectively impacted these organizations and have led all state entities in terms of total giving. Unfortunately, since the pandemic began, many CVC-supported community organizations have seen a drop in giving while the need for their services continues to increase.

Please consider giving through the CVC this year, in any amount. Every gift makes a difference, and the online giving process takes just a few minutes to complete. Most importantly, it allows us an opportunity to live our values and support the greater good right here where we live and work.

Thank you!

Click here to give

Get updates on the topics you're interested in!

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You could get updated every time a resource page is updated, or when certain person posts, or there's news on a specific topic: the possibilities are immense and very customizable!

Check out this informative piece by Community Manager Jessica Rafter and learn how to get updates on just the things you want to know.

Going Paperless with Workday: Considerations from RIM

 Contributed by Caroline Walters

Records & Information Management is responsible for compliance with the Virginia Public Records Act and associated regulations on the management and retention of University records. As UVA transitions to Workday Financials as the system of record for all transactions, attaching supporting documentation to the Workday transactions allows for the reduction in keeping paper and electronic records in the departments. Paperless is the goal, but electronic records are still subject to retention rules.

Did you know?  Following retention rules is the balance between retaining information we need to document transactions and activities, and not keeping information too long. The Virginia Public Records Act is clear that retention time periods are not minimums, and that destroying records regularly and consistently is the goal. Read more on the Records Management Website.

As we replace Oracle with Workday, schools and units may find that they have supplemental systems that that they will keep and some that they will retire. Even if you will no longer use it, the system and its data can't simply be deleted. There are still mandated retention time periods even for the data we aren't transferring to Workday. Please contact Records & Information Management to help you determine what to retain, and to properly document destructions. We are here to help! Records@virginia.edu

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For more information, visit the Records Management Website, or contact them at records@virginia.edu 

Four Excel Tips in Four Minutes

 Contributed by Jack Sherwood 

1. Split up data within a cell 

• Highlight cells you would like to split 
• Go to the “data” tab and select “text to columns” 
• Select “delimited” (this allows you to designate a split based on a character, symbol, or space) 
• Identify your delimiter 
• Click “Next” 6. “Finish” 

2. Bring data together into one cell 

• In a new cell, select the first item to insert (ex. A2) 
• In the cell formula, type &” “& followed by the next cell to insert (ex. A2&” “&B2) 
• Don’t forget the “ “, as this creates a space between the data! 

3. Conditional formatting 

• Select cells to apply highlight to 
• Under the home menu, select conditional formatting 
• Select logic from the dropdown 
• Provide subsequent information about rule 
• “OK” 

4. Transpose data 

• Highlight row/column of interest, right-click, and copy
•  Select row/column where you wish to transpose
•  Right-click, “paste special”
•  At bottom of the module, select transpose 
•  “OK” 

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Want to see a demonstration of these tips?  Check out the recording of the November 3 Fiscal Administrators' Meeting, available here: https://fro.vpfinance.virginia.edu/fiscal-administrator-meetings