'Preferred name'--big win for University

Oracle had exciting news at their PeopleSoft Higher Education User conference in March. They announced that they will deliver an update to PeopleSoft so the preferred name of students appears on class and grade rosters. This means that when the University goes live with PeopleSoft Campus Solutions 9.0 in February 2015, faculty will have class rosters and grade rosters that accurately reflect how their students want to be addressed. It's a huge win for our entire institution.

The University of Minnesota played a big part in this effort. The ESUP Student Records team built a national coalition around this issue thanks to the help of Product Advisory Group members Max Herman (ASR-IT) and Carla Boyd (Duluth). This included writing the "white paper" Oracle is using for their development.

What's in a name?
The University of Minnesota's enterprise system (PeopleSoft) uses the legal name of students, faculty, and staff throughout the system. Sometimes this is a requirement for law or regulation, but in many cases it is not. The University has long-been a part of the national conversation around the desire to use a preferred name (as identified by the individual) for instances not covered by law or regulation, as doing so promotes an inclusive and welcoming environment for a diverse population.

Making it happen
ESUP was an opportunity for the University to take the lead in this national conversation. As a result, a coalition of higher-ed institutions formed to urge Oracle to address this issue and develop a solution that could be provided to all institutions.

Oracle's announcement at their conference is exciting news, but since the delivery timeframe of this fix is unknown, the ESUP team is moving forward with developing modifications to the system to ensure that when we go live next spring, faculty will see the names their students prefer on their class and grade rosters.

Weekly Update and Key Messages for the Week of 11/12/12

• The program and project directors want to thank the hundreds of subject-matter experts, end-users, and stakeholders from across the University of Minnesota system who have participated in the first few weeks of ESUP sessions.
• Project directors report that participants have been engaged, open to change, and embracing of the principle of reducing system customization.
• All five campuses have been well-represented, and despite occasional technical challenges, thus far everyone seems willing to take the time to do this right.
• Thank you, colleagues, for your time and effort so far!

• Last Wednesday, much of the ESUP Program repository on Google Drive were removed from view, disrupting access and work for a number of ESUP team members.
• The problem may have been triggered by a team member who had moved the ESUP Program folder to “My Drive,” then later decided to remove it from their personal drive.
• This action in itself should not have caused the more significant access problems that resulted, and the University has opened a ticket with Google to investigate these issues.
• Until the remaining repository folders and files are recovered and we understand exactly what happened, please do not remove the folder “ESUP Program” from your personal “My Drive.”

• Access to the ESUP Program repository on Google Drive is managed by the work stream project directors.
• If you are using Google but do not have access to the repository, please contact your project director.
• If you cannot use Google mail because of the nature of your work at the University, please let your project director know -- we need to know the scope of this problem so we can provide alternative access.
• Please do not rely on personal Gmail accounts to access ESUP folders and files.

• The ESUP Consolidated Calendar is now available online by clicking Calendar on the ESUP blog at upgrade.umn.edu.
• This calendar features all scheduled sessions across all work streams (primarily Student and HRMS at this point), plus blackout dates and other key events.
• For more information about these sessions, please contact the appropriate work stream project director.
• If you are a part of the University of Minnesota community and are unable to view these calendars, please email us at esup@umn.edu to report the issue.

• Approximately 180 people attended the University of Minnesota Duluth’s ESUP Kickoff Brown-Bag last Wednesday, Nov. 7, in Kirby Ballroom on UMD’s campus. 
• For more information, check out this brief overview of the event, including presentations.
• We hope to schedule similar forums on the other campuses in the next several weeks, and are looking into scheduling additional forums on the Twin Cities campus, as well.

• The Student work stream held its ESUP project kick-off on Thursday, Nov. 8. 
• More than 80 people, representing all five campuses, attended either in-person or online. 
• The purpose of the event was to create a shared understanding of project operations, project roles, and next steps for everyone involved with the project.
• The presentation can be found at z.umn.edu/studentkickoff. 
• The videos are not embedded in this version, but can be viewed using the following links:
• Bob McMaster: mediamill.cla.umn.edu/mediamill/html5/176355 
• Sue Van Voorhis: mediamill.cla.umn.edu/mediamill/html5/176361
• The Student work stream has also launched an informational web page with additional work stream-specific information at z.umn.edu/esupstudent.

• The current ESUP team roster, including both University of Minnesota (UMN) and CedarCrestone (CCI) team members, is now available online.
• This listing will continue to be updated regularly as the team composition changes.
• Please introduce yourself to those team members you don’t know when you have the chance!

UMD Holds ESUP Campus Kickoff

UMD ESUP 2014: Together Everyone Achieves More

Approximately 180 people attended the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) ESUP Campus Kickoff Brown-Bag on Wednesday, Nov. 7, in the Kirby Ballroom. Chancellor Lendley Black offered opening remarks, in which he anticipated the transformative impact of the effort – as well as the challenging work ahead.

“We are here to celebrate the Enterprise Systems Upgrade Program and the incredible impact it is going to have on our HR, Finance, and Student operations,” Black said. “We are taking a team approach, and the vice chancellors and myself are all committed to the process. … We are behind you and supporting the staff the whole way.”

Program Director Andy Hill offered an overview of ESUP, including the scope, rationale, and governance structure. Sue Bosell (Finance), Linda Kinnear (HRMS), Carla Boyd (Student), and Steve Patterson (IT) provided a more detailed look at the ways in which UMD has engaged in the program and opportunities for end-user involvement. The presentations were followed by a brief Q&A with all the presenters.

• UMD ESUP Kickoff Overview Presentation (PDF)
• UMD ESUP Kickoff TEAM Presentation (PDF)

Key Messages for the Week of 11/05/12

• ESUP work continues to gain momentum across all work streams, and weekly work stream status meetings are underway to keep the program on track and on schedule.

• HRMS Fit-Gap Validation Sessions begin this week.
• The purpose of these sessions is to validate and build upon the fit-gap analyses conducted previously by Oracle.
• For more information about these sessions, check the Google Calendar “ESUP - HRMS Meetings” or contact the HRMS project directors.

• University of Minnesota Duluth will hold an ESUP Campus Kickoff Brown-Bag on Wednesday, Nov. 7, from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Kirby Ballroom.
• The kickoff will include a brief welcome from UMD’s senior leadership; an overview of the Enterprise Systems Upgrade Program (ESUP) from Program Director Andy Hill; and a more detailed look at the impact of ESUP at UMD and the role of UMD stakeholders in the initiative -- as well as an opportunity for questions and answers.
• For more information, please contact Sue Bosell on the UMD campus.
• We hope to schedule similar forums on the other campuses in the next several weeks, and are looking into scheduling additional forums on the Twin Cities campus, as well.

• The portal project is now starting project initiation phase and will be working on a project charter and other foundation processes.

• Please welcome Tricia Conway (UMN) as our latest addition to the Program Management Office.