University Business - July 2010 - (Page 58)

HUMAN RESOURCES by other vendors are not fully compatible and typically require staff training. Her office recently added two new electronic forms developed by Gideon Taylor: an I-9, or immigration form; and a personnel action form, used to change employment status. Then administrators shopped in-house—purchasing a new system called RosterTech, developed by the university’s technology commercialization office, that streamlines course registration, training, and record keeping. Future wishes include automating benefit enrollment forms, she adds. “We’ve got to streamline and stop all of this laborintensive stuff.” Other institutions rank user-friendliness over compatibility. In 2006, Oklahoma City Community College began using PeopleAdmin as its applicant tracking software with its ERP [by Datatel] instead of Datatel’s new module. “It wasn’t important for us to choose a [compatible system],” explains Larry Robertson, director of compensation and HR systems at OCCC, which supports 1,100 employees. “[PeopleAdmin] was more user-friendly. We’ve now gone to a web version, which is a much better interface.” Datatel is working with PeopleAdmin to create an interface to its ERP. Robertson hopes to see it before year’s end, since it could help in launching a new workflow process involving a personnel action form created in-house. With a simpler interface, he says, employees only need to click “submit” to electronically move the form on to the next employee for approval. Plans are underway to implement SAP BusinessObjects to automate reporting functions and create a portal so employees can access workflow items. HR leaders worked with Datatel to create web-based time entry, an automated payroll system for nonexempt employees, saving staff nearly four workdays each month and slashing the time for new employees to receive their first paycheck almost in half, from roughly seven weeks to four weeks. Duke HR administrators have slashed expenses since implementing a web-based 58 | July/August 2010 SAP employee self-service module two years ago, says Todd Orr, assistant vice president of administrative systems. Employees can, for example, view pay stubs or change their direct deposit information. With the module supporting open enrollment, he says the school saves $200,000 In the future, faculty and employee evaluations will be offered in real time. annually by not having to outsource. HR is also benefiting from a program it already owns. Duke’s IT department built iForms for SAP’s new HR module, Human Capital Management. iForms helps manage faculty appointments, tenure, and promotions. “By building on top of what SAP delivered to meet our particular needs,” says Orr, the department was able to eliminate three legacy systems not integrated with the SAP system. Great expeCtatiOns HR administrators should watch for new industry software or additional HR modules that help manage faculty contacts, process grants and research contracts, and oversee talent management, says Dave Becker, vice president of product management and strategy for finance and HR solutions at SunGard Higher Edu- Resources Datatel, www.datatel.com edu1world, www.edu1world.org Gideon Taylor, http://gideontaylor.com Oracle’s Peoplesoft, www.oracle. com/us/products/applications/ peoplesoft-enterprise PeopleAdmin, www.peopleadmin.com SAP, www.sap.com SunGard Higher Education, www.sungardhe.com SunGard’s Banner HR, www.sungardhe.com/hr cation. The company recently launched The Commons, an online customer community to be released as part of its HRIS baseline product. Built on the edu1world platform—a global web network for higher education professionals—it can be used to discuss and share best practices, tips for modifying ERPs, or tricks for product enhancements, Becker says. As for trends he is seeing, some HR departments have begun re-evaluating the features of their current systems. “They’re literally taking out their implementation guide, blowing the dust off the cover, and seeing how their business needs of today can be addressed by the system’s features,” he says. “A lot of HR directors are new— they just don’t know what they have.” Up until now, HR departments haven’t taken advantage of system upgrades or modules, says Malcolm Woodfield, director of global business development in the higher education and research industry business unit at SAP. He has noticed customers seeing if the functionality of their back-office systems can be extended to the front office. “It’s not a question of developing or adding solutions, but doing more with what they have,” he notes. One example is The University of Mississippi, which is using SAP’s ERP HCM module to help monitor faculty research, teaching, activities, and performance. He says schools are now extending talent management beyond administrators or employees to teaching staff. In the future, Woodfield believes the focus will move toward front-office applications and real-time access to data. Faculty and employee evaluations will be offered in real time rather than as an annual transaction. Even sensitive personnel data may be accessed via cloud-based technology once it becomes more secure. “Increasingly, HR systems won’t be purely transactional, but more about value, efficiency, and productivity,” he says. “[Universities] are looking for more than simply the ability to hire and pay people … [they’re looking] for ways to make the most of their investment in human capital.” universitybusiness.com http://www.datatel.com http://www.edu1world.org http://www.gideontaylor.com http://www.oracle.com/us/products/applications/peoplesoft-enterprise http://www.oracle.com/us/products/applications/peoplesoft-enterprise http://www.peopleadmin.com http://www.sap.com http://www.sungardhe.com http://www.sungardhe.com/hr http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - July 2010

Univertsity Business - July 2010
Contents
Editor’s Note
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Behind the News
Sense of Place
Community Colleges
Viewpoint
Money Matters
Annual Directory of Higher Education Consultants
Human Resources
Models of Efficiency
Lecture Capture: Policy and Strategy
Projecting New AV
Land Mines Ahead
End Note

University Business - July 2010