Five things to know about FST: January 14, 2020

 

1. In December 2020, UVA got its first look at UVA data in Workday Financials by way of 17 Customer Confirmation Sessions (CCS) attended by representatives from 93% of UVA campus areas. Attendees previewed the applications and shared their feedback; another round of CCS is planned for Spring 2021. See more on the CCS in the Online Community.
2. During January, FST Governance Groups will be sharing feedback on the following upcoming decisions: requisition user access, data warehouse trend reporting pre- and post-Workday go-live, per diem policy, workflow control and approval requirements, invoice matching redesign, and use of WebWire. See more information in the FST Decision Log
3. The FST project team will be socializing the FDM – the foundation data model – to university-wide representatives, starting in January of 2021.
4. The Adaptive Team is working on the budget process redesign, pivoting from the 2.0 version of Adaptive Planning that was rolled out to all of UVA last year to the 3.0 version that will integrate with workday and the new FDM.
5. Besides the implementation of Workday Financials (set to go-live on July 1, 2022), FST consists of four parts. See them on the FST website here!

New email for administrative support in UVAFinance

In their quest to deliver the best possible service, the Business Services Group has transitioned to working in Salesforce (read more about UVAFinance and Salesforce in the blog).

The only change for you is that effective today, you can email all requests for assistance from their staff to vpf-support@virginia.edu instead of emailing them individually.

This transition allows BSG to collaborate and delegate between team members in a way they haven’t been able to before, resulting in faster and more effective service to you.

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Visit BSG on the web:  https://bsg.vpfinance.virginia.edu/ 

Seeing the Future Clearly: Optical Character Recognition for Invoice Automation

As part of the Finance Strategic Transformation (FST) project's continuous improvement efforts, the spend team has recommended UVA implement the Jaggaer Optical Character Recognition (OCR) product called Digital Mail Room. OCR technology recognizes text in scanned documents, such as invoices, or images and turns it into text data readable by other software.

Adopting usage of an OCR tool would decrease the manual entry of invoices. For example, in fiscal year (FY) 2020, UVA employees manually keyed roughly 55,000 purchase order invoices. Automating the process would reduce the manual efforts of those across Grounds currently keying data and potentially reduce errors. 

When evaluating options, usability factored highly in the decision-making criteria for potential OCR vendors. Jaggaer Digital Mail Room ranked tied for number one in terms of ease of use for end users. An added benefit of Digital Mail Room is that it will work well with Workday Financials' standard interface to enable automated communication between systems; this means invoice information will transfer from Digital Mail Room to Workday smoothly with little added integration preparation.

The RAPID decision whether to act on this recommendation has gone through the review and input process and will likely be finalized soon. If adopted, as expected, Jaggaer Digital Mail Room may be implemented prior to Workday Financials or would go-live with Workday on July 1, 2022.      

For information about project decisions, see the FST Decision Log. 

Annual T&E Card Training this February

Annual T&E card training begins on February 1, 2021. We look forward to providing this training to give cardholders the most current information on T&E Card policies and procedures.

If you are no longer using your T&E card, please follow the link to cancel your card: https://travelandexpense.procurement.virginia.edu/te-card/te-card-change-request

If you will be on leave in February, please contact us to prevent your card from being canceled for not completing annual training.

Forward With the Foundation Data Model

As we dive into 2021, the Foundation Data Model (FDM) continues to move towards finalization. 

The Finance Strategic Transformation (FST) functional team anticipates having a solid base with cost center structure in place in February. In Workday, cost center is akin to the legacy Oracle terminology "Organization" (see Workday Words for definitions and legacy term correlations). Changes to cost center will still be possible based on the feedback of school/unit partners as they review the setup for their areas. Sharing information about the FDM and getting people used to the future approach will occur over the next several months. 

A priority in the new year is mapping. As we prepare to transition from our current Chart of Accounts (COA) in Oracle to the FDM in Workday Financials, translating PTAO/General Ledger strings to the new worktag approach is on everyone's minds. The FST team remains focused on providing a mapping tool that will help clarify this process as partners across Grounds determine how their information will be captured appropriately with the functionality within Workday. The timing to implement the mapping tool will be delayed a bit, due to the resource the team hoped to use not being able to do what we expected. Mapping work will still occur in preparation of finding a tool that will meet UVA's needs. 

For more info about what's coming for the FDM in 2021, see the timeline below (click to enlarge image). 

Want to stay informed about all things FDM? Check out the FST Info Station for tips on how to easily stay in the know. 

Wellness Resources

 

Contemplative Sciences Center

Anthony DeMauro, Associate Director of Dalai Lama Fellows at CSC, has curated a special Contemplation and Racial Justice Playlist on the Insight Timer app that is especially relevant during this January’s annual celebration of civil rights, racial justice, and the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

More information on the Contemplation and Racial Justice Playlist is available on our website.

If you’re new to Insight Timer, check CSC’s resource page.

For a list of events during UVA's 2021 Community MLK Celebration, visit https://mlk.virginia.edu/.

COVID-Related News

Employees on Grounds now available for saliva testing. University employees who are working on Grounds will be eligible for voluntary asymptomatic testing through UVA’s saliva testing program beginning on Monday, January 11, 2021.   Read more on UVAToday.

Other Wellness Offerings

Common Grounds Healing Arts Virtual Yoga Offerings:  https://www.commongroundcville.org/charlottesville-yoga/class-series/

Boost Your Motivation to Reduce COVID Energy Drain
Jan 13, 12 PM & Jan 26, 3:30 PM
Presented by FEAP
Find other FEAP sponsored events HERE.


Virtual Offerings

Hoos Well Virtual Resources

IM-Rec Virtual Recreation

Range of quality programs, services & venues that support all dimensions of wellness through sport, fitness & recreation.

FEAP Virtual Resources

Collection of resources to support mental & emotional wellness.

WW (formerly Weight Watchers)

Digital subscriptions and virtual workshops are available at a discounted price. You may also be eligible for 50% reimbursement.

Wellbeats

Employees on UVA Health Plan have access to hundreds of on-demand fitness and nutrition classes via the web or mobile app. To create your account, click the "Login" button, type your UVA email address and enter the password HoosWell.

eM Life

Online mindfulness platform to promote health, happiness, stress management and self- care.

UVA Walking Paths
(not virtual)

Interactive walking paths throughout the university. Use the interactive map on your smart phone or print a PDF.

Customer Confirmation Sessions Recap

As of the end of last year, we finished with the first round of Customer Confirmation Sessions (CCS).  The FST team is now refining our first configuration of the Workday tenant for UVA based on stakeholder feedback.  This spring, we'll have another iteration of the tenant ready for another round of CCS.  

See the graphic below for a "by the numbers" recap of the first round of CCS.  

Click image for a larger view.

You can also view the slide decks from all of the CCS sessions in the Online Community:  https://communityhub.virginia.edu/community/uva-finance-transformation/blog/2020/12/04/customer-confirmation-session-dec-2020-slide-decks

Plans are currently in place to deepen engagement with the  content of the first round of CCS, including some video content and other opportunities to broaden exposure across UVA to our Workday Financials tenant. 

Thank you to all who attended a Customer Confirmation Session and shared your feedback!  

In addition to the overall satisfaction expressed by attendees in a follow-up survey, our presenters were also happy with the sessions.  Listen in to three of them (Josh Breeden, Elissa Morton, and Addie Coe) in the video below.

Lights, Camera, Conversion Lead Action: FST Welcomes Ashok Jain

Just before winter break, Ashok Jain joined the finance transformation team as the Conversion Lead. Jain has 14 years of Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) experience and has worked on many implementation projects.

“I am very excited to join UVA,” Jain says, “and will work towards successful Workday implementation.”

Prior to joining UVA, Jain worked as a software engineering manager for in Optum Service, Inc. for roughly nine years. In that role, he implemented Oracle EBS for various Optum acquisitions. With him, Jain brings a deep breadth of technical proficiency in in Oracle SQL/PLSQL, reports, and forms as well as experience with modules such as Oracle General Ledger, Accounts Payables, Accounts Receivables, Purchasing, Order Management, Inventory, and Advanced Supply Chain Planning.

Jain says, “I am quick learner and have learned various other technologies.” His work on the FST project will benefit from Jain’s ability to learn quickly as he helps manage the transition from Oracle EBS to Workday Financials.

For Jain, thankfully it’s not all work and no play.

“In my leisure time I love to watch movies and spend time with my family,” he says.  

FST Governance Groups Start 2021 with RAPID Decisions

 

At the end of last year, the FST team introduced a few upcoming choices requiring stakeholder input.

The process for gathering input on these choices (also known as the "I" in RAPID ) began this week at the first FST Advisory Group Meeting of 2021. Nicole Ferretti, FST's Functional Team Lead, presented the following six topics at the meeting:

• Should user access to create a requisition stay restricted or be extended to all users? 
• What is the plan for the conversion of historical data outside of Workday?
• Will UVA require all Workday Expenses users to leverage Per Diem for travel? 
• As UVA considers transformation away from Recon@, it will need to start shifting towards front-end controls sufficient for OSP's audit purposes. To that end, what workflow controls and approval requirements does UVA need? 
• Will UVA revise and redesign their matching policy for invoices before payment?
• Should UVA discontinue the use of WebWire?

Attendees then had the opportunity to ask questions and discuss the potential impacts of these topics. This discussion was extremely important as it will influence the final decisions affecting the future state of finance at UVA. 

This process will continue at the Steering Committee Meeting on January 20, 2021. 

If you'd like a more detailed explanation of the topics presented this month, you can check out slides from Advisory Group here. You can also check in with your department/unit's Change Leader (Advisory Group Representative) for more information. Also, don't forget to stay up-to-date with current FST decisions by checking out the Decision Log!

Hoos Seen This? Forrest Swope in UVAToday

 

Cool stuff around the University that you might've missed

Forrest Swope of Business Intelligence and the FST project team was featured in UVAToday as one of the great minds behind the UVA Covid Tracker.  Check it out!

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Have you seen something cool at UVA that might be useful or interesting to your colleagues? Send it to bv8h@virginia.edu and maybe we can share it in the blog!

Lean Class Schedule through July 2021

Click for a larger view - more 
info on the Certificate Program
and Lean Class Offerings

We are pleased to announce the UVAFinance Lean class schedule through July 2021. A second series of classes will be scheduled later this year. Whether you are seeking to learn the basics about lean, or wanting to advance your lean skills, we’ve got you covered!

We also invite you to enroll in the UVAFinance Lean Certificate Program. The Certificate Program provides a comprehensive curriculum of Lean training opportunities that build from introductory to advanced level understanding of lean principles, terminology and tools. Participants who complete the program will earn a Certificate of Completion.

The suggested course order and prerequisites are listed below:

1. Lean Fluency –- prerequisite for Lean Projects & Lean Labs
2. Lean In Daily Work
3. Lean Projects – prerequisite for Lean Labs (all 4)
4. Lean Labs

See the attached flyer for more information about the Certificate Program and Lean class offerings.

All the classes below will be held virtually via Zoom. It is recommended that you enroll in all four Lean Labs in the same month.

Class	Date	Time
Lean Projects	1/21/21	10 – 12 p.m.
Lean Labs: Data Collection & Analysis	2/16/21	9 – 12 p.m.
Lean Labs: Change Management	2/18/21	10:30 – 12 p.m.
Lean Labs: Gemba and Kaizen	2/23/21	10 – 12 p.m.
Lean Labs: Root Cause Analysis	2/25/21	1 – 4 p.m.
Lean Fluency	3/3/21	9 – 12 p.m.
Lean in Daily Work	3/23/21	10:30 - 12 p.m.
Lean Projects	5/19/21	10 - 12 p.m.
Lean Labs: Data Collection & Analysis	7/13/21	9 – 12 p.m.
Lean Labs: Change Management	7/14/21	1 – 2:30 p.m.
Lean Labs: Gemba and Kaizen	7/20/21	10 – 12 p.m.
Lean Labs: Root Cause Analysis	7/22/21	9 – 12 p.m.

We look forward to seeing you in class! Please email us at foc-training@virginia.edu with any questions.

The 2019-20 Annual Financial Report is available

 UVAFinance is pleased to announce the availability of the 2019-20 Annual Financial Report.  

Access the report here.

Previous year's reports available on the EVP-COO site.

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Production of the Annual Financial Report is a great continuous improvement story.  Read more on the blog.

Haven't visited the Online Shoutout Board? You're missing out!

 

The UVAFinance Online Shoutout board is hopping!  Visit the board here and tell your colleagues thanks for the good work they do!  

We use Padlet to host our Online Shoutout Board; it's easy to use, but if you need a quick walkthrough, click the video above.  You might just find that sharing kudos becomes addictive!

RIM Spring Training Schedule Announced

The Records & Information Management spring training courses are open for enrollment. All courses will be offered as live webinars via Zoom.

Join us for:

• 
  Paperless Office: Scanning Guidelines on January 21 or April 13.
• URMA Demo on February 9 (focus on research records) or May 11.
• Email Management on February 24 or May 27.
• Office 365: Automating Retention on March 11 or June 9.
• Shared Drive Clean-Up on March 24 or June 22.

If you haven’t previously completed an introductory records course, complete the 30-minute on-demand course Records & Information Management Basics now!

Contact records@virginia.edu if you have any questions.  More info available at https://recordsmanagement.virginia.edu/  

So Long, But Not Goodbye: SFS moves out of UVAFinance

On January 1, Student Financial Services officially moved from its long time organizational home in UVAFinance to the Vice Provost for Enrollment. 

SFS joins UREG and Undergraduate Admission in this transition, reporting now to the University’s first-ever VPE, Steve Farmer. 

But don’t worry! There are no plans for SFS to leave Carruthers Hall at this time, so as it becomes safe again for us to work in greater numbers in the building, expect to see your SFS colleagues walking the halls. And given the work SFS does, they will remain close trusted partners with UVAFinance in the years to come.