Easily Download All Job Aids for Financial and HR Training & Education

Downloading all the job aids for a course, or a dropdown category:

Handy “all-in-one” PDFs have been added for each course with multiple job aids. Look for this link toward the bottom of each course description or drop-down category. Simply click on the link to begin downloading these materials.

Sample location of a link to download all the job aids for a course

Sample location of a link to download all the job aids for a dropdown category

You can also easily download all of the job aids for Financial and H.R. education and training sections. Look for the link at the top of the tab. Clicking on the link will initiate the download of a .zip file.

Sample location of a link to download all the job aids for the Human Resource Systems tab

A Guide to Planning for the Cutover of the Upgraded Human Resources System

As we move closer to our April 20 Go Live date, when the Human Resources Management System (HRMS) transitions from PeopleSoft 8.9 to 9.2, several crucial events and deadlines may cause some disruption in normal business activities. Most importantly, the transition means that PeopleSoft and related systems will be unavailable or view-only from April 9 through April 19.

To help you plan for the cutover period, here are the most important dates and events for your human resources work. More detail is on the HRMS Tools and Resources web page under “HRMS Cutover Resources.”      

BEFORE THE CUTOVER (Now through April 5)

Send in all benefits forms as early as possible. From March 27 to April 7, send benefits forms (such as enrollment, ORP/457, severance agreements, phased retirement agreements, releases, etc.) as soon as you get them.

Make sure your staff with security roles are trained by Friday, April 3. Anyone who needs security access in PeopleSoft 9.2 must take required training by this date to ensure access for Go Live.

Post job openings by Friday, April 3. The last day to post new job openings is Friday, April 3. Job requisitions can’t be submitted again until April 20.

All units should be ready to finish payroll by Tuesday, April 7. Pay Entry will close at 4:00 p.m. on that day. Payroll Services will close payroll on April 8. Any paysheet updates must be received by 3:00 p.m. on April 8.

DURING THE CUTOVER (April 6-19)

Most PeopleSoft and related systems will be unavailable or view-only from April 9 through April 19. Deadlines may vary by business process. For human resource business processes, submit information in plenty of time to meet these deadlines:

• The last day to enter Position Management requests is Monday, April 6.
• The last day to enter job data is Tuesday, April 7, including new hires, additional pay, position requests, and HRMS corrections.
• The last day to enter benefits enrollments is Tuesday, April 7. Employees can still enroll or register family status changes by paper during the cutover; these will be entered into the new 9.2 system beginning Monday, April 20.
• The last day to enter paper time off requests is Sunday, April 5.
• Pay Entry will be open April 17-21. All job data entry and pay entry for the period ending April 19 is 5:00 p.m. on the 21st. Payroll Services will close payroll on April 24. All paysheet updates must be received by 10:00 a.m. on Friday, April 24.

GO LIVE (April 20)

On Monday, April 20, the upgraded PeopleSoft 9.2 system will be up and running! On the first day of Go Live, data entry resumes for all business processes suspended during the cutover, including:  

• New hires, additional pay, position management, and other job data
• Requisitions for new job openings
• Time and labor
• Time-off requests (including absences requested during the cutover, April 6-19)
• Benefits enrollments and family status changes (including those requested during the cutover)

Employees begin reporting hours and requesting time off electronically on Monday, April 20. Make sure your staff understands the new procedures and has taken the online training. (Go to The Upgrade Training and Education web page, click on Human Resource Systems, then click on “Time Reporting” and “Absence Reporting.” In the left-hand column, under “Training for:” look for the courses that apply to your role as employee, manager, supervisor, etc.)

POST-GO LIVE (After April 20)

COBRA notices will be issued by central Employee Benefits, instead of by units, starting Friday, May 1.

The first pay period using electronic time and absence is April 20–May 3.

The last day to fill or close job openings in the old PeopleAdmin system is Tuesday, June 30. Hiring managers will not be able to see or access old job requisition information after that date. Hiring and job requisitions will be done exclusively in the new Recruiting Solutions system.

The New MyU for Faculty

Take a look at new features and changes for faculty in the new MyU. These include streamlined access to teaching and advising information, consolidated grade entry, the Reporting Center, and MyU tabs for research and faculty career information, all available when the Upgrade goes live April 20th.

Learn more at http://upgrade.umn.edu/faculty/index.html

Video coming soon: "New MyU for Employees."

Changes to Parent/Guest Access to student accounts

The Upgrade will include a new Parent/Guest Access system. This new system will be easier to access, transactions will be easier for parents to complete, and One Stop counselors will have the same view as the user, making questions and issues easier to resolve.

The current system will be taken offline at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 8. When the Upgrade is complete (scheduled for April 20), the new Parent/Guest Access system will be available.

What’s changing?

There are two important changes for Parent/Guest Access:

• Students will share grade information by granting access to their unofficial transcript.
• Parent/Guest Access will be system-wide. That means if a student has attended more than one University of Minnesota campus, the access to the student record will include information from all campuses attended.

What do I need to do now?

• Students should review the access they currently have set up. This is the access that will be converted to the new Parent/Guest Access system during the Upgrade - with one exception:
• If you are a student who has provided access to grades but not holds, be aware that your parent/guest will not have access to grades after go-live. If you grant access to holds now, they will have access to your unofficial transcript after the Upgrade is complete. 
• If you are a student (or the parent of a student) who has initiated the Parent/Guest Access process, be sure it is completed before April 8 at 4:30 p.m. (if not, the student will need to start over in the new system).

What do I need to do when the Upgrade is complete?

• Students are encouraged to review their shared information settings. To do this, go to myu.umn.edu > My Info > Parent/Guest Access > Share My Information. 
• Parents should review and confirm their access. To do this, go to myu.umn.edu > Key Links > Parent/Guest Access.

Background

Parent/Guest Access must be granted by the student in order for a parent or guest to access the details or to view and make payments for the student’s account. Students can grant access (allowing parents/guests full access to view the student account and complete online billing and payment) or view-only access to things such as class schedule, financial aid, holds, and unofficial transcripts. No level of access allows the parent or guest to request an official transcript, register for classes, respond to the eFAAN, or update student personal information.

Resources

For students 

How to authorize access

For parents and guests 

How to complete Parent/Guest Access
How to view/pay your student’s bill (coming soon)
How to access your student’s record coming soon)

MyU Preview: U Finance Tab

MyU Preview is a series giving a peek into pages within the new MyU. Keep in mind that MyU content is in development and some things will be updated between now and Go Live.

Staff with access to EFS will see the U Finance tab. This tab provides direct access and information to many finance functions. It’s here where one can also find quick links to access the EFS workcenters. Click image to enlarge.

Previously:

• MyU Homepage (revised)
• Research Tab
• Faculty Career Tab
• Academics Tab 
• My Finances Tab
• HR Tabs
• Purchasing Tab
• Reporting Center

Partnership Strengthens Upgrade Accessibility for People with Disabilities

When The Upgrade launches on April 20, a new MyU will provide additional self-service functions for students, staff, and faculty. The Disability Resource Center (DRC) and The Upgrade staff have established an innovative partnership and brought on additional resources to make these systems as accessible as possible for people with disabilities who use adaptive technologies (AT).

While MyU will be accessible to people who use AT, some of the new and expanded self-service processes will not yet be ready for AT at launch time (see the list of processes ready for AT). The University is committed to bridging this gap to move toward full accessibility.

If you have not yet requested that we turn on the accessible format for you, and would like to have it when the upgraded systems launch, contact Scott Marshall now. After launch, email or call 1HELP to turn the accessible format on or off.

All students, staff, and faculty can receive support during The Upgrade from their regular contact centers:

1. Students with questions about registration, financial aid, billing, payment, student records, and veterans benefits, should contact their campus One Stop office:
• Twin Cities: 612-624-1111 or onestop@umn.edu
• Crookston: Registrar’s Office at 218-281-8548 or umcreg@umn.edu; Business Office (billing/payment) at
  218-281-8330 or umcbo@umn.edu; Financial Aid Office at 218-281-6510 or umc-fa@umn.edu
• Morris: 320-589-6046 or ummonestop@morris.umn.edu
• Duluth: 218-726-8000 or umdhelp@d.umn.edu
• Rochester: 507-258-8069 or umr1stop@r.umn.edu
2. University staff and faculty with HR process questions should contact ohr@umn.edu or 1-800-756-2363

Stay up-to-date on accessibility at the Disability Resource Center's Upgrade accessibility page, the Upgrade blog, or email Scott Marshall to receive accessibility-related emails.

Changes to key student records reports

After the Upgrade a new, centralized MyU Reporting Center will be the hub for your student systems report needs. It will contain links to reports that are being carried forward from UM Reports, UM Analytics and PeopleSoft.  Read the Transitioning to UM Reports blog post to help you prepare for the new MyU Reporting Center.

What’s changing with key student record reports?

The Upgrade will change the appearance, functionality, and location of the tools and reports that you’ve become accustomed to accessing through UM Reports, UM Analytics or PeopleSoft 8.9. Some are being retired and others are being replaced by real-time data in PeopleSoft pages. Review the information below to prepare for changes to key student record reports.

Academic Record

• The UM Report - Academic Record will be replaced by PeopleSoft pages with real-time data that covers the same information. After the Upgrade, this information will be found through the new MyU → Click “Key Links” → select Reporting Center → Student Services → Student Records.
• To get to an assigned advisee’s Student Center page, where you can view and print “unofficial transcripts,” start in the new MyU → click Key Links tab → select Advisor Center → click on “View Student Details” next to an advisee’s name and ID → select “Transcript: View Unofficial” from the “Other Academics” drop-down menu.
• Any current staff member who has view access to PeopleSoft Student Records can access the PeopleSoft Student Services Center page, which contains the information replacing the UM Report - Academic Record.

Graduate Education Student Profile

• The Graduate Education Student Profile will be replaced by PeopleSoft pages with real-time data that covers the same information. 
• After the Upgrade, this information will be found through the new MyU → Click “Key Links” → select Reporting Center → Student Services → Student Records. This will include:
• General info
• Service indicators
• Addresses
• Transfer credit information
• Academics 

How to print an unofficial transcript

• Only advisors will be able to print an unofficial transcript through the advisee’s Student Center page in the Advisor Center. All other staff will need to navigate to the Request Transcript Report page in PeopleSoft.
• To view and print an “unofficial transcript” (i.e. the PDF version of an Academic Record report), inside an advisee’s Student Center page, under the Academics tab, click the drop-down menu and select “Transcript: View Unofficial” and click the double arrows to proceed. A prompt window will open, select “Request Unofficial Transcript” then view report. It will open as a printable PDF.

Course List and Class Rosters

• After the Upgrade, the Class List report will be replaced by a PeopleSoft page with real-time data. Staff members will access this information through the new MyU → Click “Key Links” → select Reporting Center → Student Services → Enrollment.
• For faculty, instructors, and their assigned proxies, the class list and roster information should be accessed through the Teaching tab of the new MyU. This opens a list of courses, which you can click through to get to the Faculty Center and access class rosters (through the class roster icon, looks like a group of people, or tab). This will be the only way to access class roster photos (if available).
• This information can be downloaded to Excel by clicking on the table icon with the red arrow, or printed by clicking the “Printer Friendly Version” link at the bottom of the page. 
• To learn more about the Faculty Center’s my schedule, class roster and grade roster pages, view the PeopleSoft Faculty Center guide.

Probation/Suspension

• The Probation/Suspension and Probation Holds reports will be replaced by a PeopleSoft page with real-time data.
• After the Upgrade, this information will be found through the new MyU → Click “Key Links” → select Reporting Center → Student Services → Student Records. 
• Additionally, students will have the ability to see if they are in good academic standing, values will include:
• Good - Good Standing
• PRB1 - Probation Level 1
• PRB2 - Probation Level 2 (Can have multiple terms Prob Level 2) 
• DISM - Dismissal/Suspension
• PRAD - Probation after dismissal/suspension
• PRBH - History of Probation

Leave of Absence

The Leave of Absence report is being retired. This information can be provided to you upon request. Please contact Ingrid Nuttall with questions or concerns.

The New MyU for Students

Take a peek at how you’ll register, view financial aid, pay bills and more in the new MyU, available when the Upgrade goes live at the end of April 2015.

 

Learn more at upgrade.umn.edu/student.

Videos coming soon: "New MyU for Faculty" and "New MyU for Employees."

Faculty Go-To Spotlight: Lisa Hubinger

This spotlight is on Faculty Go-To Advance Team member Lisa Hubinger, Graduate Program Coordinator for the College of Veterinary Medicine. Advance Team members are unit-specific people who have volunteered to receive advance materials and information to help their colleagues during The Upgrade transition.

Why did you volunteer to be an advance team member?
I realized early on that I better pay a lot of attention to The Upgrade. In the College of Veterinary Medicine, all graduate students are handled out of our office, so I became very aware of how much the systems changes will impact our staff, students and faculty.

How are you preparing?
I read everything. I participate in meetings. I have taken all the training and watched all the sneak peek videos, which are great. They are short and informative. I really like that the information is all online so I can go back to it whenever I need.

What are some of the biggest challenges?
There are several. Faculty are always busy, so many of them don’t have time to fully prepare in advance. This is why it’s good that educational information is available just-in-time and online. That’s also why it’s good to have Advance Team members ready to provide live help.

Another challenge is that we don’t really know exactly what the upgraded systems will be like until they go live. There’s only so much planning we can do, so let’s just get The Upgrade implemented!

Finally, most people don’t really like change, so we will probably hear about that. For me, I just want to be knowledgeable, helpful and provide a sense of calm to people who have trouble adjusting to change. We will get through this by working together!

Purchasing during cutover

Plan ahead - make April purchases now

People will not be able to record purchasing transactions in the financial system during the cutover period of The Upgrade. For the upgrade to Finance, EFS transaction processing must cease on April 8. Specific deadlines for transaction processing are here: http://controller.umn.edu/upgradecutover. 

All faculty and staff with purchasing responsibilities must work together to review their area’s business needs and calendar for the entire month of April to ensure you have ordered the any equipment, adequate supplies, and needed services ahead of time. Order before the April 8 deadline, and have enough on hand to last through April 22 to be safe (April 22 is a few days after the planned April 20 Go Live for The Upgrade).

The good news: the University's Purchasing Card (PCard) can be used to buy things during the cutover period. 

If emergency purchasing needs arise during cutover and the supplier does not accept PCards, contact Purchasing Services at 612-624-2828.

Since approvers need time to review and complete the purchase process, make your orders in advance (orders must be fully processed in EFS on April 8; your unit may have more specific directions for you so please check with your local finance staff). 

How to prepare

During cutover for The Upgrade the financial system will be unavailable for ordering. Here are questions every department should ask:

• U Market: Do we have enough office or lab supplies to last through the period? Shoppers will be able to shop within U Market during the cutover period but no carts can be pulled into EFS until after Go Live. Requisition preparers in EFS cannot pull carts into EFS until Go Live on April 20.
• Equipment: Is there a need for new equipment in April? Can we get it ordered before April 9 or can it wait until after April 20?
• Professional Services: Will all approvals be obtained before the contract’s start date, if it falls between April 9 and 20?
• POs: Should a PO or blanket order be created for suppliers that will not accept a PCard OR for purchases that do not comply with the PCard policy? 
• Purchases $50,000+: Has Purchasing Services been contacted for orders requiring a bid? Do any existing POs that total $50,000 or greater need additional dollars added to them?
• PCard: Does someone in the department have an active PCard to use in case of an emergency?
• Payments: Does the department need to pay any PO suppliers during the cutover period? (In which case, get payment transactions entered into EFS by the deadline. The University will ensure all scheduled payments that have been fully processed in EFS are made to vendors in a timely manner.)
• Speakers and entertainers: If you have a speaker or entertainer scheduled to appear between April 9 and April 20, work with your unit finance staff to ensure payment terms are known and payment transactions entered into the system by the deadline. If the speaker or performer agreement states that the University must provide payment on the date of the appearance, you will need to take steps to produce the check prior to any payment processing deadline.
• Patients, research, or lab animals: Take action to ensure critical supplies like patient care items, oxygen, dry ice, or food and bedding for lab animals are on hand.

Transitioning From UM Reports

The Upgrade will usher in a new Reporting Center that consolidates UM Reports, UM Analytics, and PeopleSoft reports. Features include improved search function, real-time data, ability to "like" favorite reports, and links to reporting tools.

The Readiness Assessment recently revealed that people still have questions about the new Reporting Center related to previously saved Favorites and Bookmarks. Review these training resources, the detailed information about changes to reports, and the following FAQs.

Will the UM Reports Homepage be available after The Upgrade?

No, the Reporting Center will replace the UM Reports homepage as part of The Upgrade.

Will my UM Reports favorites transfer to the Reporting Center?

No, the UM Reports links you saved and used prior to The Upgrade will not carry forward into the new system. To prepare, follow these steps:

1. Login to UM Reports (www.umreports.umn.edu)
2. Scroll to the bottom of the home page
3. Under "Reports" click on each triangle to expand the categories
4. Print the page or copy all report titles listed
5. After Go-Live, use this list to create your new list of favorites in the Reporting Center

Will I have the same security access as I did in UM Reports?

Yes, your security will be the same. A feature of the Reporting Center is that you can now see the links to all reports even if you don’t have access so that you know what other reports are available.

The Upgrade: Designed by You, for You

According to the University’s Training and Usability Services team, The PeopleSoft Upgrade program went to great lengths to engage staff, faculty, and students in the design of the upgraded systems.

“Most projects have one or two usability evaluations with less than 10 users per session,” explained Nick Rosencrans, User Experience Analyst. “In contrast, The Upgrade held 11 usability evaluations with more than 150 people during a two-year period.”

Colleagues participate in
Design Thinking Workshops

That’s in addition to early focus groups, design workshops, and hundreds of user acceptance testing sessions. Why such a focus on engaging users? The Upgrade team applied lessons learned from previous efforts, and, as a result, determined that engaging users was critical to launching user-friendly systems that would be successfully adopted.

It started in summer 2012 with focus groups that led to design-thinking workshops. Each time users got together, they explored the possibilities: what would it be like for the U to have a single unified system? Using early prototypes, staff, faculty, and students delivered great insight into how they would like to use the MyU portal, the messaging, reporting tools, and more.

Samples of brainstorm exercises from Design Thinking Workshops

Frequently Asked Questions: Impacts of the Upgrade for Student systems

The Student workstream is maintaining an FAQ on the impacts of the Upgrade on Student systems. It covers questions related to registration, student account billing, financial aid, admissions, and more.

Some examples:

• When will the registration web application be turned off? 
• Will students be able to get copies of their transcripts? 
• When is the last time students can pay tuition and fees online? 
• Can students get/print copies of their 1098-T form during the cutover period? 
• When is the last disbursement date [for financial aid]? 
• How will the orientation sign-up process be affected by the cutover? 
• Will students still be admitted during the cutover? 
• When is the last time that staff can add or remove service indicators?

Read the entire FAQ.

Information is being updated with more details as they are known. Questions and answers will be added as needed. If you have a question not answered by the FAQ, send an email to upgrade@umn.edu. 

PCard / My Wallet and the Upgrade

As part of the Upgrade we are changing where PCard reconciliation happens in the system. We are not changing what the PCard can be used for or who might hold a PCard. People will still buy things with their card, retain/image their receipts, provide business justifications for each purchase, account for the activity, and review/approve the reconciled activity in our financial system.

What is new for PCard cardholders? Cardholders will be able to access their transactions after the Upgrade via the new MyU > Purchasing tab > My Wallet. All cardholders will receive access to My Wallet automatically. An optional, brief training video is available for cardholders here: http://z.umn.edu/mywallet. 

What can cardholders do in the new My Wallet after the Upgrade? 

• View details of transactions made with their cards
• Provide business justifications (view job aid here)
• Attach images of receipts

Cardholders should check in with their department's finance staff to see how things will work in their area, as each college will determine which process will work best for them, having cardholders:

• Use My Wallet to provide justifications and attach images
• Use My Wallet to provide justifications only & turn in paper receipts
• Continue today's process of turning in everything via paper process

Options for obtaining cardholder signatures (check with your unit finance person to see how it will work in your college):

• Cardholder can sign each individual receipt; if cardholder signs each receipt, no additional signatures are needed from the cardholder later in the process
• Cardholder can sign a "page" of receipts to be scanned into the system
• Cardholder can sign a report at the end of the process, similar to today's process

The purpose of the cardholder’s signature is to document that they’ve seen the receipt and acknowledge they are responsible for the charge and that it is for University business. Physical or electronic “signature stamps” are not acceptable unless the cardholder personally applies the stamp.

HR Stars, Help Desk Staff Participate in Incident Management, Service Training

More than 100 HR Stars and Help Desk staff members recently attended in-depth incident management and customer service training sessions to help prepare for The Upgrade. The training sessions were organized by the Office of Human Resources and the Office of Budget and Finance and were led by Polly Ligon O’Grady of Ready Ink Communications, a training and communications consulting firm.

Susan Diekman (Communications Director, OHR) presents to a room full of attendees.

During The Upgrade Incident Management System and You training, participants reviewed possible questions and participated in a simulation to learn how to analyze and escalate issues that arise. As part of the Managing Issues and Calming Concerns training, those attending reviewed best practices for customer service and communicating in stressful situations. The session included several opportunities for role-playing to practice principles learned.

Participants listen to expert presentations and participate in customer service role-playing.

Feedback from the participants was that the sessions were extremely helpful in their preparations for The Upgrade, as well as for their roles in supporting colleagues across the University.

As part of the training, participants received comprehensive binders with Upgrade information that they can use as a reference, or to share with colleagues. The binders included frequently asked questions and answers, a summary of online training courses available by role, key messages about each HRMS PeopleSoft module, and other information.