Readiness Survey Help Units Prepare for The Upgrade

A new readiness survey will help University communities prepare for The Upgrade. Piloted by the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) and the Office of Human Resources (OHR), the survey is an easy-to-use checklist for preparation, and delivers helpful data on unit readiness.

The survey can be used as-is with data recorded into Qualtrics for analysis, or units can customize the survey and conduct their own assessments. The survey will be distributed to units in mid-February.

Readiness Surveys Show Progress and Gaps

The pilot surveys achieved very strong participation, with a 90% response rate in CLA, and a 55% response rate in OHR, despite the latter pilot being conducted over the two weeks that included the holiday break. Responses showed that University employees are making steady progress in preparing for The Upgrade, but more preparation is needed.

Here are a few of the findings from the OHR pilot, which was sent to HR Leads, HR Stars, and OHR Employee Relation Consultants:

Pilot Survey Findings: Strengths

• Respondents are aware of training and how to prepare
• Respondents are comfortable with time and absence management changes
• Respondents are aware of changes to payroll accounting

Pilot Survey Findings: Opportunities

• Supervising faculty need training on how to approve and delegate time and absences in the upgraded system
• Faculty need to be ready to handle student registration questions

If you have questions about the survey, contact Norm Schultz at schu3371@umn.edu.

ESUP Update 9-23-13 to 10-7-13

ESUP Executives clarify pathway to new Program Director
We are excited to announce Dennis Wenzel joined the University today as Program Director for ESUP (click here to read the official announcement and Dennis’s CV). Click here to read more.

Q & A with ESUP’s new program director
Dennis Wenzel joined ESUP as the new program director on Monday, September 16, 2013. He hit the ground running, keeping busy with status meetings and team introductions. Despite his packed schedule, we grabbed a minute to sit with Dennis to learn more about who he is and his background. Click here to read more.

Finance work stream explores new features
The Finance work stream has been exploring new features available in PeopleSoft version 9.2. Among the available new features are various work centers for transaction preparers and approvers. Work centers are available for some data entry functions in the financial system but not all. Click here for more information.

Quick hits and reminders from across the work streams

• The HRMS Payroll Accounting team and the Finance work team are partnering to find streamlined solutions for the University community. Watch upgrade.umn.edu over the next couple of weeks for articles on payroll accounting, appointment data, and more. This is collaboration at its best!
• The Portal team completed its first rough draft usability day and began engagements to show the rough draft and get feedback from the U community.
• Nearly 1,600 people completed the second ESUP stakeholder survey which closed last week. Thank you to those of you who took the time to give us your feedback!

Subscribe to the ESUP Blog!
Get each new blog post delivered to your inbox by entering your email address in the Subscribe by Email window at upgrade.umn.edu and following the instructions. Once your subscription is activated, you will receive an email alerting you to new ESUP posts late in the afternoon the day they are published. If there is no post, you receive no email -- simple as that!

Survey is now closed - thanks for your feedback!

Survey Said!!! - We sent the second stakeholder assessment survey to nearly 5,000 people across the System campuses on September 12 and we want to thank those who have responded.

The purpose of the survey is to gather new information, compare the results to the first survey sent in December 2012, and gain a better understanding of stakeholder awareness, engagement, and areas of concern to move forward most effectively.

As a reminder, the survey is anonymous and we encourage ESUP consultants to complete it as well. So, if you received an email inviting you to take the survey, please fill it out as soon as possible.

The survey is now closed. Thanks again for your feedback!

ESUP Executives clarify pathway to new Program Director

We are excited to announce Dennis Wenzel joined the University today as Program Director for ESUP (click here to read the official announcement and Dennis’s CV). Over the next few weeks ESUP will introduce Dennis to the program team and University stakeholders. However, before introducing Dennis, the Program wants to remain transparent and recap the activities of the past five weeks.

On August 9th, the ESUP Executive Oversight Committee (EOC) announced its plan to hire a new program director for ESUP. (Here is a Q & A about this decision,  posted on the ESUP blog on August 21.)

On August 21, the EOC announced it had engaged the services of Aeritae Consulting Group to help them with the hire in two specific areas: 

• provide an assessment of ESUP and based on the results from that assessment, 
• identify skill sets, roles, and responsibilities for the new position.

The independent assessment included a series of interviews with members from ESUP’s governance structures, program and project directors, OIT, and work stream members as identified by their project directors. Aeritae delivered their preliminary assessment results on September 10, which included positive reviews of the program as a whole while identifying smaller areas of concern, which is to be expected in a program of this size.  

On September 12, the Program Leadership Team met with the EOC members in an open and candid conversation. In this meeting, the EOC announced the selection of Dennis Wenzel as the new program director, answered questions, and heard concerns and feedback from the program leadership. 

Dean Elde spoke candidly about the challenges an executive team faces in governing a program by committee. These leaders are the final decision-makers in their areas of responsibility, but in a program as broad and important as ESUP, they have been challenged to provide appropriate oversight when there is overlap between those areas. 

The conversation restated that the executives have, and will continue to, take their oversight responsibilities very seriously. They continue to have full confidence and trust in the program. The EOC understands the hard work going into ESUP, and while they know there are formidable demands ahead, they expect the teams will move forward with the excellent work underway. The role of current program directors was not clarified, though the executives restated their strong appreciation for the excellent work that Andrew Hill and Rebecca Collings have done and expressed hope they would continue on the program. 

Finally, the ESUP Executive Oversight Committee expressed confidence the process over the past months has helped them find alignment, and that a new program director will be able to leverage that executive understanding into smooth sailing for program staff.

ESUP surveys to gather stakeholder feedback

ESUP staff are constantly evaluating and adjusting their work based on feedback and data. Consistent with this practice, the Program is sending its second stakeholder assessment survey to nearly 5,000 people across the system campuses this week. The purpose of the survey is to gather new information, compare the results to the first survey sent in December 2012, and gain a better understanding of stakeholder awareness, engagement, and areas of concern to move the Program forward most effectively.

The first stakeholder assessment survey established a baseline of information for the Program to help guide strategy and direct specific actions. For example, the first survey revealed 74 percent of stakeholders are involved in multiple work streams, and while 81 percent believe they will receive appropriate training, nearly 20 percent have concerns. To respond to this information, Program staff are ensuring stakeholders receive targeted communications across the work streams and timely, comprehensive information about training.

When the survey closes, ESUP team members look forward to using the data to evaluate and modify their plans where necessary. However, they can only analyze results if recipients take a moment to provide feedback. So please, take a few moments and complete the survey when it arrives in your email inbox!

ESUP Update 9/9/2013 - 9/22/13

Portal leadership team retreat
Members of the Portal Leadership Team gathered on August 19, 2013, in Folwell Hall for a half-day retreat to launch a content governance process and to energize the team for the release of the rough draft this fall. Click here for more information.

ESUP fosters University reporting and data management collaboration
Through ESUP, a strong partnership has formed between the Program’s Reporting and Data Management (RDM) work stream and the Enterprise Data Management and Reporting (EDMR) initiative. Together, RDM and EDMR are addressing important reporting and data-related capabilities for the University over the short and long-term. Click here to read more.

ESUP student workers get real life experience
This summer, four student workers helped keep the ESUP team moving forward. While two have moved on, two will remain throughout the school year. Program Director Andy Hill said of the student workers, “We really appreciate having the opportunity to give real life work experience to our students.” Click here for more information.

Quick hits and reminders from across the work streams

• ESUP would like to congratulate Dean Robert Elde, chair of the Executive Oversight Committee, on his recently-announced retirement at the end of the academic year. We look forward to continuing our work with Dean Elde and supporting him during this transition.


• In the past week, the HRMS work stream held two OHR Brown Bag events and a second collaboration session with the Finance and Reporting and Data Management work streams on the recommended approach to restructuring appointment data. A total of 67 people from across the HR community attended the Brown Bags in person and online. More than 50 people participated in the collaborations session, which ended with general endorsement of the recommended approach to simplifying and streamlining core HR data and processes.


• Survey Said!!! - ESUP is sending its second stakeholder assessment survey to nearly 5,000 people across the System campuses this week. The purpose of the survey is to gather new information, compare the results to the first survey sent in December 2012, and gain a better understanding of stakeholder awareness, engagement, and areas of concern to move forward most effectively. If you receive an invitation to take the survey, please complete it as soon as possible.


• Jennifer McCord and Max Thacker from CCI led four training sessions for the Student work stream on how to create WorkCenters in PeopleSoft. These sessions concluded the last week in August and were attended by 41 people. The Student work stream has had fewer IDP sessions due to the busy start of term, though work has continued in earnest and the team is on track to complete IDP by the end of October.


• On the road again… Members of ESUP’s leadership team will be returning to the system campuses this fall. They will meet with campus leadership and hold listening sessions with the staff who are helping make this program a success. Plans are underway for the Duluth and Rochester campuses with trips to Crookston and Morris anticipated for later this fall.

Subscribe to the ESUP Blog!
Get each new blog post delivered to your inbox by entering your email address in the Subscribe by Email window at upgrade.umn.edu and following the instructions. Once your subscription is activated, you will receive an email alerting you to new ESUP posts late in the afternoon the day they are published. If there is no post, you receive no email -- simple as that!