Phase 1 of new financial systems project goes live

Phase 1 of new financial systems project goes liveJune 03, 2004Alyssa Vleck

On May 10, Phase I of Syracuse University’s new Reach for Information, Strive for Excellence (SUnRISE) financial systems project went live, with select purchasing and payables, general ledger, and sponsored accounting reports becoming accessible via a new Web enterprise portal called MySlice. The MySlice portal will, in the future, provide a common access point to all University-wide administrative systems.

Phase I of the project also includes a redesign of the chart of accounts (COA). A project team has been developing the new COA and contacting budget managers across campus to discuss the changes. The majority of the contacts occurred by the end of May and the new COA will be used for the first time in the Fiscal Year 2006-07 budget process, with the new PeopleSoft Financials system. This system will replace the mainframe general ledger system and related financial systems in July 2005 as part of the project’s second phase.

Existing financial reports will remain available until their eventual removal and replacement by new reports based on the new COA. The Computing and Media Services (CMS) Data Warehouse Group and the SUnRISE Training and Communications Team will announce specifics regarding this phased removal at a later date.

In order to access and use the Web-based reports, financial reporting users need to attend two lecture-and-demonstration training courses provided by the SUnRISE Project Team and CMS. Optional hands-on sessions, which provide users with the opportunity to walk through the new system with assistance from SUnRISE experts, are also being offered. The training consists of two core components: Introduction to the Web portal and introduction to Web-based financial reports. The training has been underway since April and will continue over the coming months.

The Training and Communications Team is sending training invitations to targeted financial services users, employing a targeted training approach to match course content with end-user interest, skill and needs. Spring Training, held in April and May, was targeted toward high access and high frequency users. Summer Camp, scheduled for June-August, is targeted toward medium to low frequency users. Back to School Basics, scheduled for September-December, will accommodate all skill sets and is targeted toward new personnel and those employees who would like a refresher course.

Further announcements about training and the future of the SUnRISE project will be made by the Training and Communications Team. For more information visit http://bfasweb.syr.edu/sunrise or e-mail sunrise@syr.edu.