684 out of 1,770 users of the Integrated System responded to the 2006 IS User Survey; 146 submitted comments. “Overall, we are seeing increased satisfaction with the system,” says Virginia Evans, Assistant Vice President for ISDS. “This year, users rated it a 3.76 (out of 5), compared to 3.48 in 2004. There are still problem areas that we need to address, and we will use the survey responses to help direct our usability priorities. The survey did tell us that, where we made improvements over the last year (e.g., long running reports, increased availability for HR users), people have noticed and responded positively.”

Categories of topics raised by users in their survey comments may be viewed on the IS web site. A detailed analysis of the survey responses, including comparisons with 2004 and 2005 responses also is available on the IS web site.

A number of issues raised by survey respondents are already on the ISDS radar. As progress is made with each, it will be communicated to system users. These issues include:

• Provide ability to select Cash Balance Report in Discoverer for an entire organization, or multiple projects at a time (see Current Usability Task Force Projects)(due end of year)
• Correct encumbrances for 9-month employees(see Correct Labor Encumbrances Ready to Roll) (due end of August)
• Have ODS available after 5:00 p.m.
• Improve PI reports (see Current Usability Task Force Projects)
  • Stage 1: improve format (due by September)
  • Stage 2: clean up labor encumbrance data (due in September)
  • Stage 3: show project-to-date for the sponsor’s budget period (TBD, pending Oracle enhancement)
• Provide training for entering cost transfers between accounts
• Provide an updated list of report names and their purpose
• Explore issue of getting “kicked out” of system (see FAQ)
• Explore slow run times during timekeeper entry periods
• Explore search options for HowDoI? on-line training documentation
• Provide a payroll reconciliation Discoverer report that shows the total hours submitted and paid, along with the pay rate and amount paid per employee assignment (see Current Usability Task Force Projects)(due end of June)
• Add expenditure item date to Expenditure Detail non-grant format

ISDS responses to other comments made by system users can be found in the Hints and Tips in this issue of IS Exchange.

Once again, “it is gratifying to see that 58% of respondents saw improvement in the system over the past year (only 7% disagreed),” says Evans. “And several of the comments made note of improvements as well. That is one of the most significant statistics for us. As we have for the past two years, we will be using the results of this year’s survey to stay focused on the issues that have the greatest impact on users.”