UBI October Featured Users Chosen

"We're all learning, and we're all teaching."

Beth Grimm, Finance Generalist, Department of Medicine

Diane Wendelken, Senior Budget Analyst, School of Engineering and
Applied Science

Diane Wendelken is not afraid of change.  “As soon as you find something better and
quicker, it’s worth the exploration time to make it a habit,” she says.

As one of two recently-recognized “Featured Users” of the
University Business Intelligence system, Wendelken has embraced the new
reporting environment without looking back. 

Wendelken uses UBI frequently in her role and has enjoyed
its increased functionality and its speed, as compared to Discoverer, the
reporting program being phased out.

“I hardly ever go back to Discoverer for reports,” she says.
“It takes too long.”

 Shilpa Narayan from the Managerial Reporting Project

presents Beth Grimm with a "goodie bag."

Beth Grimm, also a Featured User for October, agrees that
UBI’s speed is impressive, in more ways than one: “The new system is quick, but
also, when I have encountered any problems, the response I get is very quick,
too.”

Grimm, whose work involves in-depth reporting on grant
balances and expenses, remembers a time a few years ago when she found a broken
report in Discoverer:  she reported it,
but heard nothing back.  When UBI came
along and she ran the same report, there was still a glitch.  The difference that time was that once she
reported it to the UBI team, “it was fixed within a week.”

Grimm and Wendelken were chosen as Featured Users not only
because of their proactivity and willingness to help test new modules, but
also, for their commitment to helping others in their respective areas learn
the tool and feel comfortable with it.

Both say they work quite a bit with other users to help them
dig into the system to run the reports they need.

“I like people to be able to be independent and do their
jobs well,” says Grimm.  “UBI has more
potential than Discoverer ever did; it’s just a matter of people taking some
time to learn.”

Wendelken agrees. 
“Once people realize how easy it is and what the advantages are, they
love it,” she says, adding that users should always be willing to ask questions
within the UBI Community and to experienced users like herself and Grimm.

“Being helpful and encouraging is all part of what I do,”
says Grimm.  “I’m happy to help.  We’re all learning, and we can all teach one
another, too.”

Narayan and Diane Wendelken discuss some

 new UBI developments

Advice from Our
Featured Users on Working with UBI:

• ·       
  Don’t wait until Discoverer goes away to start
  learning.  Get familiar with reports in
  UBI now – don’t procrastinate! (Grimm)


• ·       
  Run UBI next door to Discoverer.  You’ll see how much faster it is, and you and
  also see the same numbers and feel confident. (Wendelken)


• ·       
  Don’t be hesitant to try new things.  There’s lots of community support and people
  to help. (Grimm)


• ·       
  Just get in the system and play with it, one
  report at a time, 15 minutes a day. (Grimm)


• ·       
  Don’t labor alone when you don’t understand
  something within the system:  reach out
  for help! (Wendelken)

Congratulations, Beth
and Diane!  Thank you for being awesome
UBI Community Members!

For more information on UBI Training, the UBI Community, and
a full timeline for the project, visit ubi.virginia.edu