ISP News
September 12, 2000

Will Phase 1 of the Integrated Systems Project Affect Me?
July 2, 2001, is the "Go Live" date for the financials phase of the Integrated Systems Project, a fact that will impact some of us more than others. The following table will tell you if and how your work will be affected by the project. If it is, rest assured that you will receive ample training to do your work effectively in the new environment.

Something Cool - Oracle Tutor Gives Leg Up on Training
Ever wonder how all those step-by-step procedures and flow charts are created by which we all will be trained to do our work in the new integrated system? It's by combination of a clever Oracle product called Tutor and a creative group of ISP team members called Instructional Designers.
     Tutor comes packaged with documented procedures for all of the Oracle business practices included in the applications purchased by the University. As the teams customize those business practices, the instructional designers tailor the step-by-step instructions to reflect those changes. All changes are then automatically incorporated into flow charts that provide a visual representation of the steps. Any new procedures documented by the instructional designers also are automatically converted into flow charts.
     "Once we tailor the procedures, Tutor generates student guides, both in print and on-line," says James Potter, ISP training manager. "And since the content will be centrally maintained, any changes will be universally available immediately."
     Two aspects of Tutor make it of special value to end users, according to Potter:
•Tutor is responsibility-based, so it groups procedures for all the tasks related to a given responsibility.
•If the user gets "stuck" mid-task, he/she can call up a visual flow chart of the entire procedure, click on the specific task, and see step-by-step instructions.

     "This tool is terrific in terms of saving time and helping us generate consistent and thorough training documents, as well as print and on-line help materials," asserts Potter. "It is a user-friendly version of the infamous gray financial procedures manual."

ISP Advisors Spearhead Two Major Efforts
There is no way a project of the magnitude of the Integrated Systems Project can happen without the support and cooperation of hundreds - even thousands - of people throughout the University. At the front line of those people who are spending an increasing amount of their time helping the University prepare itself for phase 1 go live are the 23 ISP advisors who make sure the interests of every unit throughout the institution are represented and reflected in the final product.
     Two of their greatest efforts will take place in the next couple months, and they will be turning to their support networks in all the units to help them.

Mapping FAS Codes to the Oracle System
There are approximately 12,000 codes in the current Financial Accounting System (FAS) that must be converted into PTAEOs for the Oracle system. Fortunately, some of those FAS codes are inactive, but even those have to be identified so they can be culled.
     "In most cases, there will be a one to one relationship between the existing code and its replacement in the Oracle system," says Bill Randolph, ISP project director. "This is particularly true for grants and contracts, gifts, and endowments. Where there is an opportunity to redesign the account structure, e.g., for state funds, there may be instances in which one FAS code translates into several Award/Project combinations, or several FAS codes translate into fewer Award/Project combinations. Our advisors will work with the ISP team and their unit administrators to make these decisions."

Future Responsibilities
Beginning in October, ISP advisors will be given a list of the new Oracle responsibilities and the tasks that fall within each of those responsibilities. They will then work with their unit administrators to identify which individuals in their units will be assigned which responsibilities in the new Oracle environment.
     "This effort will be aided significantly by the recent work of the advisors to complete matrices of who is performing what financial tasks in the current system," says Leah Goswell, ISP associate director and lead of the Human Resources Management team. "The assignment of responsibilities is a critical step in setting up the Oracle system and preparing for training. In Oracle, your assigned responsibilities determine what you have access to in the system and what transactions you are authorized to perform."

We are clearly getting down to the "nitty-gritty" now, and we are grateful to the ISP advisors and their network of supporters who are carrying the load in these areas while continuing to provide counsel in other areas of the project. Please click here to learn who comprises this important group of individuals.

Budgeting - Once for Practice
There is definitely a learning curve when it comes to shifting gears between institutional budgeting using FAS versus using Awards and Projects in Oracle. As a result, the ISP Executive Committee has decided to use the FY '01-'02 budget as an opportunity for a trial run. The FY '01-'02 budget will be prepared, one more time, using the combination of FAS and BART (the current University budget system). However, at the same time it is being prepared in FAS, it will be prepared using the appropriate combinations of Awards and Projects in Oracle.
     "This is the only time we will do this in duplicate fashion," says Colette Sheehy, U. Va. vice president of management and budget and member of the ISP Executive Committee. "In addition to serving as a good learning exercise, this method will create an important link between University budgets prior to FY '01-'02 and after."

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