Date: June 26, 2014 To: Ashok Roy, UA Vice President for Finance
Contents
1. Some of these issues were raised during the development of the modules and others have been raised since the pilot program began Although each university has had the opportunity to be represented on the TEM Committee we feel campus based member feedback was not always considered as part of the implementation plan The pilot program although available for all to access was tested in very limited groups on a fairly slow timeline since training material and scheduled trainings were in development over the same time period Regardless the pilot program has been extremely informative upon more rigorous campus based testing Now that feedback has been solicited we are asking for specific actions to address this feedback Additionally if decisions were made early on to limit user access or minimize customizations to this product it now may be time to consider appropriate adjustments related to system access for those that process or audit travel and employ custom functionality to best fit the processing requirements for UA travel In order to improve the level of service we provide our employees when they travel on university business we believe it is important that we as a system continuously look to improve our processes whenever and wherever possible whether that opportunity comes before a new tool is implemented or after it is rolled out We ask for a status report and or commitment to address each of these issues by August 1 2014 DocuSign2. Envelope ID FC467F9B C88C 4770 8B47 CEF6EB5EACOB TEM Recommendations June 26 2014 Logins and Security Accessing TEM should be easy We were pleased to learn through your J une 20 email that OIT is working with Statewide SW Financial Systems on a solution to implement single sign on functionality For the reasons outlined below we would encourage SW Financial Systems to work with OIT to implement single sign on for TEM and for all future systems that will be widely used by staff across the system before the systems are rolled out to users e Currently users can login to TEM using their UAOnline credentials UA username Users must then log in to Banner Workflow for approvals using a different set of credentials Even though use of the UA username and password may be used to log in to UAOnline this feature is not enabled in TEM Furthermore many travel approvers do not use Banner for any other aspect of their job and are unfamiliar with the system so this login requires an additional request for Banner query access followed by a separate username password to track Action requested Change to single sign on using UA username and password e To route a travel request for additional approval e g when a trip is funded by a different department primary approvers must know the funding approver s Banner ID There is no central directory for Banner IDs equivalent to edir for UA usernames so users need to track down the approver s B
3. DocuSign Envelope ID FC467F9B C88C 4770 8B47 CEF6EB5EACOB UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA XISOUTHEAST UNIVERSITY of ALASKA D a ANCHORAGE CaP engage ad MINGE Date June 26 2014 To Ashok Roy UA Vice President for Finance amp Administration From Brian Rogers UAF Chancellor 2 2 Tom Case UAA Chancellor 7 s John Pugh UAS T E eee mais Pat Pitney UAF Vice Chancettorfor Administrative Services ae Bill Spindle UAA Vice Chancellor for Administrative ServiCes titi Spindle Michael Ciri UAS Vice Chancellor for Administrative Service p iat Ca 0B4C9C36D92C426 CC Patrick Gamble University of Alaska President Karl Kowalski UA Chief Information Technology Officer Re Critical Improvements for Travel Expense Module TEM While the Travel Expense Module TEM piloted last fall has brought faster reimbursements for travelers and has the potential to streamline travel administration across the UA system we have concerns about several aspects of the program We feel this is an opportunity to address these items in the initial stages of rollout in order to allow for increased functionality employee system access that matches the business needs and improved training In your J une 20 email to Chancellor Rogers you addressed some of those concerns However we would appreciate the opportunity to discuss these and others in more detail at President s Cabinet so that we can further improve the TEM process and future software implementations
4. anner ID before they can submit their travel requests It is our understanding with the next Banner Finance upgrade Workflow routing becomes easier however the timeline on this upgrade is at least one year out which is not in alignment with the current business needs Consider improving the approval process via email or mobile device options Action requested Change to single sign on using UA username and password Consider enabling email or mobile device approval options e Banner Workflow passwords expire on a different cycle than other passwords and without notification In addition only designated campus staff have the capability to reset Banner passwords Most travelers using Banner Workflow for only travel approvals are unlikely to know who the campus contacts are making password updates onerous for these users Even if single sign on is implemented we recommend giving OIT the capability to change Banner passwords The OIT Support Center 450 8300 is staffed for this regular function utilizes appropriate security standards and is available 24 7 Action requested Change to single sign on using UA username and password If single sign on is not adopted extend password expiration to the 400 day standard with email notification to users prior to expiration Allow OIT Support Center to reset Banner passwords e TEM login and Workflow login do not use secure HTTP protocol Action requested Similar to the login for Banner UAOnline a
5. currently no queries reports built in TOAD to pull data from the system Grant funded international and other special travel reporting will need some special attention TEM should be aligned to enable fiscal management Tracking reporting on the use of EasyBiz miles should also be considered Key TEM performance metrics dashboards to manage the travel process related to system use improvement are also of interest i e number of TAs TERs processed time to process destinations of UA travelers time to reimburse Until reporting tools are built by SW Financial Systems with access to data in TEM that will empower campus staff to write and pull information reporting on specific travel expenditures after FY15 will be more difficult As travel related expenses are often highly scrutinized and will additionally be monitored by the State of Alaska in FY15 reporting in this area is critical Action requested Create TOAD reporting queries and tools for use with new TEM account codes and information including special travel reporting needs Appropriate access to TEM data in order to write reports queries is also necessary Create management tools dashboards to track travel workflow process improvements and display system return on investment ROI Minor Issues e While TEM has reduced the processing time for travel reimbursements it does not streamline the travel process for travelers or the travel coordinators delegates Instead it requires mo
6. e traveler or the traveler s delegate inquires about its status Action requested Implement automatic email reminders to approvers and delegates when an item has been in their Workflow queue for more than 48 hours If a proxy or delegate for an approver simply opens an item in Workflow that item no longer appears in the primary approver s queue If the proxy has taken action on the item it makes sense that it no longer appears in the primary approver s Workflow However if no action has been taken items should remain visible in the approvers queue until they have been submitted either by the proxy or the original approver Action requested Items must remain visible in the approver s queue until they have been submitted Budget If a fund org has insufficient funds is in NSF status the travel authorization TA cannot be completed without having the user change the funding at each line item in the travel request there is no option to do a global funding change once any travel lines have been entered Action requested A change in practice for NSF application may make this more efficient or there may be options within TEM to allow for NSF overrides if global funding changes are not possible Administrative Access for Travel Auditors Administrative flexibility to make changes and rights to make administrative exceptions is a requirement Travel auditors at the individual universities have no higher level administrator acces
7. nd other UA systems login should be through secure HTTP protocols Document Attachments We understand per your J une 20 email that SW Financial Systems has purchased the OnBase document management TEM module and Is investigating the necessary steps to implement This will allow a user to upload documents receipts into the TEM system Enabling uploads from mobile devices is also requested as part of this effort While we are disappointed that this need was not recognized and addressed before TEM was employed we appreciate that you are investigating it now We urge you to make this a priority to streamline the TEM approval process for users We encourage rigorous testing from travelers and travel coordinators in addition to the TEM Committee to ensure the solution addresses the expected business need Page 2 of 4 DocuSign Envelope ID FC467F9B C88C 4770 8B47 CEF6EB5EACOB TEM Recommendations June 26 2014 Action requested Implement OnBase integration with Banner TEM so that travelers delegates can attach travel documents receipts to authorized request and expense reports including uploads from mobile devices Email Notification and Tracking Approvers receive only one email notifying them of an item in their Workflow queue As many travel approvers do not use Workflow for any other reason and may not log in to Workflow for several days if not more if they miss the email the authorization may sit for days without action or until th
8. re data entry up front and more adjustments in the expense report process Delegates are typically the travel coordinators most fluent in travel processing and regulations This group has no ability to make edits or corrections to a submitted request Empowering this group to make adjustments route or change approvals and receive email notifications is critical to program success and must be granted e Adynamic online TEM user manual is needed Current training material is available but is not user friendly e TEM does not allow for non employee travel Those processes must run outside of the electronic system e Forms associated with volunteer fieldwork communication plans and spouse dependent travel are not integrated with TEM Risk areas could be added as a disclaimer or as a series of check boxes so additional forms outside of the electronic process can be streamlined e Travel delegates and approvers do not have the option to print a copy of the expense report from TEM if one is not provided with the backup documentation e The universities have requested additional reporting capability in TEM to incorporate the use and tracking of EasyBiz there is currently no method to account for travel using EasyBiz miles in TEM Dash boarding tools to display key travel related metrics would also add value to the system e Automated per diem calculations should work well and should be easily done as part of this system Currently travelers mu
9. s to the system to serve as a campus based trouble shooting resource UAF s representative on the TEM system wide implementation team Geoff J acobs has requested this access but the request was denied by SW Financial Systems Administrator access would allow travel auditors to see and assist with all travel within TEM profiles routing authorizations and expense reports and manage grant approver delegate access To our knowledge Laura Katucki is the only person with this access While Laura has been quick to respond to account setup requests and other questions this is a single point of failure and at least the lead travel auditor at each university should have this access as well This would also lighten the workload put on the Financial Systems office Action requested Grant administrator access to the travel auditors at each university Allow delegates and travel auditors the ability to trouble shoot make corrections to and route documents Reporting One of the advantages of the transition to TEM was the more robust reporting that would be possible due to an updated account code structure and additional data that would be captured e g dollars spent with specific airlines hotels and rental car vendors However TEM reporting is limited due to the very same change in the account code structure and the fact that there are Page 3 of 4 DocuSign Envelope ID FC467F9B C88C 4770 8B47 CEF6EB5EACOB TEM Recommendations June 26 2014
10. st manually change the last day of per diem to the home city Per diem should automatically calculate based on the home city Multi city travel and associated automated per diem should also be enabled e TEM isnot a booking tool it merely allows for a different mechanism to input the travel expenses into the system If UA were to use a travel booking system that might simplify the process as well as provide some savings by steering travelers to the most cost effective travel options Page 4 of 4
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