Finance Transformation Updates

Want to listen to this update instead of reading it?  Tune into today's WFST Radio Broadcast!

View the Project Timeline

As you know,  we’re going live in July of 2022, and that the project team has been working to recast the project timeline so that our stakeholders know what to expect at each stage of the newly-extended project timeline. We have a simple version of this timeline available on the FST website for your viewing pleasure.

The timeline illustrates each basic stage of the project from right now, in the architect phase, through configure and prototype later this fall, and the testing and validation of the system that occurs throughout 2021 and early 2022, until Workday Financials goes live in July of 2022, after which we enter into a period of support and stabilization.

System Remediation

System remediation refers to all the ways we’ll need to adjust the current systems that work with Oracle so that they will work with Workday Financials. Stakeholders may remember a survey last fall that asked for their help identifying these finance systems. You can see the responses we collected in the online community.

The FST team will identify system change impacts resulting from the implementation of Workday Financials, and will then help system owners make the necessary changes to their systems. We’re putting together a Community of Practice for System Remediation using the contacts supplied as a part of that survey.  

FDM Moving Forward 

After over 100 hours invested in 75 meetings, recommendations for the Workday Financials Worktags that UVA will use in the build of our first instance of Workday (our tenant) have been identified. The Foundation Data Model, which is the new word for “Chart of Accounts” will be set up in the first tenant of UVA Workday Financials using that first round of worktags.  During the upcoming configuration and prototype phase later this year, end-users will have the opportunity to interact with the FDM in our tenant and see how it works with UVA data. 

Personas

Work is continuing on developing the personas and user stories that the team will employ to make sure that Workday suits the needs of those at UVA who will use it.  The personas the FST team are using will not determine security access. Who has what access to which features will be discussed in greater detail at a later stage in implementation. 

ISP News

The FST Internal Service Providers Team has been hard at work with schools and units, documenting the exchange of goods and services and how Oracle currently handles billing for ISP activity. Based on current data, there are over 100 revenue-generating activities the team will consider in preparation to transition to Workday.  Workday is designed to handle ISP transactions effectively. The ISP team’s goals are to understand current operations fully and to collaborate with schools and units to ensure the ISP functionality and configuration in Workday will meet their needs.

Adaptive Planning Update

UVA schools and units used Adaptive Planning (Workday's planning and budgeting tool) to submit their revised FY 21 budgets as of Monday, July 20, and those budgets are currently being reviewed for any revisions that will need to take place before the BOV meeting this fall.  Revising budgets in adaptive meant that schools and units are now familiar with tool functionality and the greater level of detail it offers for budgeting so that once we begin the FY22 budgeting process later this year, they’ll have some practice in. The AI team will provide ongoing support to schools and units as we move along, as will the training team in FST.

Foundation Data Model Moves Forward

After 100+ hours invested in 75 meetings about the Foundation Data Model (FDM), recommendations for the Workday Financials worktags UVA will use have been identified. Representatives from many schools and units contributed their expertise and feedback as a part of this process.

For the first UVA Workday Financials tenant build, the FDM will be set up using the identified worktags. Keep in mind, though, that this does not mean the FDM is completely locked in. During the upcoming configuration and prototype phase later this year, end users will have the opportunity to interact with the FDM in our tenant and see how it works with

UVA data. User feedback will be essential to inform changes to the UVA tenant’s configuration prior to its next iteration. Additionally, the FDM is intended to evolve after implementation based on UVA’s needs.

While planning, the FDM data governance team considered reporting needs (statutory, state, and managerial). They also needed to ensure consistency of data from Oracle to Workday and flexibility for future budget and reporting needs. The team feels confident that the new system will be able to handle the bulk of managerial reporting, using the Workday Financials budget module and Adaptive Planning (formerly called Adaptive Insights) to bridge any gaps. As part of their research, the team benchmarked against other higher education institutions that use Workday Financials as well.

Company and Fund worktags will be required, as will Cost Center, Program, and Function for expense and revenue transactions. Fund and Function, primarily needed for statutory and state reporting, will default so users don’t need to enter those worktags. The design includes additional managerial worktags (e.g., Program, Project, Activity, Location, and Assignee) to accommodate managerial reporting needs. UVA will have a dual driver system, with the first driver being Gift/Grant/Designated and the second being Program. Driver worktags drive the value of other worktags. For example, once a user chooses Gift, Grant, or Designated, it will automatically determine the Fund tag. In the case of grants, the option exists to default Cost Center and Program off of the Grant worktag as well. Using Designated/Gift/Grant to default Fund allows for potentially simplifying fund structure and reducing the number of funds in Workday for simpler mapping to state funds.

The good news is that the recommended FDM is similar in concept to the current Oracle setup. The similarity reduces change management needs and enables easier mapping of the current Oracle chart of accounts to the Workday FDM.

For more information about the UVA FDM, see the July 15 Steering Committee slide deck (starting at slide 12) and visit the FDM Community Page for details about worktag definitions and other resources.

Foundation Data Model Moves Forward

After 100+ hours invested in 75 meetings about the Foundation Data Model (FDM), recommendations for the Workday Financials worktags UVA will use have been identified. Representatives from many schools and units contributed their expertise and feedback as a part of this process.

For the first UVA Workday Financials tenant build, the FDM will be set up using the identified worktags. Keep in mind, though, that this does not mean the FDM is completely locked in. During the upcoming configuration and prototype phase later this year, end users will have the opportunity to interact with the FDM in our tenant and see how it works with UVA data. User feedback will be essential to inform changes to the UVA tenant’s configuration prior to its next iteration. Additionally, the FDM is intended to evolve after implementation based on UVA’s needs.

While planning, the FDM data governance team considered reporting needs (statutory, state, and managerial). They also needed to ensure consistency of data from Oracle to Workday and flexibility for future budget and reporting needs. The team feels confident that the new system will be able to handle the bulk of managerial reporting, using the Workday Financials budget module and Adaptive Planning (formerly called Adaptive Insights) to bridge any gaps. As part of their research, the team benchmarked against other higher education institutions that use Workday Financials as well.

Company and Fund worktags will be required, as will Cost Center, Program, and Function for expense and revenue transactions. Fund and Function, primarily needed for statutory and state reporting, will default so users don’t need to enter those worktags. The design includes additional managerial worktags (e.g., Program, Project, Activity, Location, and Assignee) to accommodate managerial reporting needs. UVA will have a dual driver system, with the first driver being Gift/Grant/Designated and the second being Program. Driver worktags drive the value of other worktags. For example, once a user chooses Gift, Grant, or Designated, it will automatically determine the Fund tag. In the case of grants, the option exists to default Cost Center and Program off of the Grant worktag as well. Using Designated/Gift/Grant to default Fund allows for potentially simplifying fund structure and reducing the number of funds in Workday for simpler mapping to state funds.

The good news is that the recommended FDM is similar in concept to the current Oracle setup. The similarity reduces change management needs and enables easier mapping of the current Oracle chart of accounts to the Workday FDM.

For more information about the UVA FDM, see the July 15 Steering Committee slide deck (starting at slide 12) and visit the FDM Community Pagefor details about worktag definitions and other resources.

Your Feedback Requested: Vice President and Chief Student Affairs Officer

The University is seeking someone accomplished, student-centered, and creative to be the next Vice President and Chief Student Affairs Officer.

This position will report to the President and the EVP/Provost and will work with them to manage the Division of Student Affairs. Additionally, the person in this position will have the opportunity to work with both undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and other University leaders to create a supportive learning environment for students.

The Vice President will also be responsible for managing The Office of the Dean of Students (including Residence Life), The Department of Student Health (including Counseling and Psychological Services), The Office of African-American Affairs, and The University Career Center. The Vice President’s central administrative office also provides finance, human resource, facilities, communication, and IT support for the Division’s units.

You can learn more about this opportunity here. 

To apply, forward materials to vpstudentaffairs@virginia.edu. UVA’s Executive Search Group, an internal search firm within the Office of the President, is assisting in the recruitment of the next Vice President for Student Affairs. Please direct confidential inquiries and nominations to Nalini Turner, Managing Director, UVA Executive Search at naliniturner@virginia.edu.

The Executive Search Group Needs Your Advice

If you would like to provide input on this position and its role within our community, please go to this link and fill out a brief survey. Also, please feel free to share this survey with others in your department.

Your Feedback Requested: Vice President and Chief Student Affairs Officer

The University is seeking someone accomplished, student-centered, and creative to be the next Vice President and Chief Student Affairs Officer.

This position will report to the President and the EVP/Provost and will work with them to manage the Division of Student Affairs. Additionally, the person in this position will have the opportunity to work with both undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and other University leaders to create a supportive learning environment for students.

The Vice President will also be responsible for managing The Office of the Dean of Students (including Residence Life), The Department of Student Health (including Counseling and Psychological Services), The Office of African-American Affairs, and The University Career Center. The Vice President’s central administrative office also provides finance, human resource, facilities, communication, and IT support for the Division’s units.

You can learn more about this opportunity here. 

To apply, forward materials to vpstudentaffairs@virginia.edu. UVA’s Executive Search Group, an internal search firm within the Office of the President, is assisting in the recruitment of the next Vice President for Student Affairs. Please direct confidential inquiries and nominations to Nalini Turner, Managing Director, UVA Executive Search at naliniturner@virginia.edu.

The Executive Search Group Needs Your Advice

If you would like to provide input on this position and its role within our community, please go to this link and fill out a brief survey. Also, please feel free to share this survey with others in your department.

More on Personas

If you saw this blog post on personas and user stories, you’ll know that personas are created characters based on actual end-users (in our case, UVA employees) who will be using the newly implemented system (Workday). A different user persona is created for each type of employee that will be interacting with Workday, and the FST team will keep these personas in mind while building the Workday tenant to ensure the different needs of UVA employees are met.

During this month’s Steering Committee Meeting, FST shared a bit more information regarding how the team is using personas.

For example, it’s important to keep in mind that one employee can have multiple personas depending on what information you need to access. These multiple possible personas will help the functional team think of transformation opportunities as they build the system. 

Also of note, the personas the FST team are using will not determine security access. Personas are only used for the moment as a guide toward improving the system. Who has access to what features will be discussed in greater detail at a later stage in implementation.

More on Personas

If you saw this blog post on personas and user stories, you’ll know that personas are created characters based on actual end-users (in our case, UVA employees) who will be using the newly implemented system (Workday). A different user persona is created for each type of employee that will be interacting with Workday, and the FST team will keep these personas in mind while building the Workday tenant to ensure the different needs of UVA employees are met.

During this month’s Steering Committee Meeting, FST shared a bit more information regarding how the team is using personas.

For example, it’s important to keep in mind that one employee can have multiple personas depending on what information you need to access. These multiple possible personas will help the functional team think of transformation opportunities as they build the system.

Also of note, the personas the FST team are using will not determine security access. Personas are only used for the moment as a guide toward improving the system. Who has access to what features will be discussed in greater detail at a later stage in implementation.

What's the latest with Adaptive Planning (formerly known as Adaptive Insights), Workday Financials' budgeting tool?

As of July 20, all schools and units at UVA have submitted two scenarios of budget revisions with updated centrally provided assumptions for FY21 in Workday Adaptive Planning. Budgets are currently being prepared for EVP and executive review, and schools and units may be asked for revisions ahead of the August 10 deadline for submission of materials to the BOV. On September 11, the BOV will receive UVA's post-COVID revised budget.

This process has featured a lot of learning while doing, with support provided throughout the budget revision process from the Adaptive Insights team, FST training team, Provost Office, and the OFP&A team. As schools and units learned to use planning input sheets and reports, they grew their understanding of Adaptive functionalities and were enabled to plan and understand their budgets in greater detail.

This hands-on learning experience with the FY21 revised budget provides a great foundation for the FY22 Budget Development. The team looks forward to continuing to work with everyone this fall.

Visit the Adaptive Resource page on the FST website.

Preparation to Transition Internal Service Provider Activities to Workday Financials

The FST Internal Service Providers (ISP) team has been gathering information about ISP transactions by reviewing activity in Oracle and starting to partner with schools and units. ISPs create an internal service document to record the exchange of goods/services between schools and units. Currently, UVA business units have been reassigning costs in Oracle to cover billing for ISP activity. As part of the finance transformation, billing will be brought into Workday Financials. Based on current data, there are 100+ revenue generating activities the team will consider the handling of in preparation to transition to Workday. 

Fortunately, Workday is designed to handle ISP transactions effectively. The provider of the goods/services generates transactions that go through an approval process before posting as an expense to the unit receiving the goods/services. The approval process is still being worked on to gather input from both the service providers and charging schools/units. The ISP team’s goals are to understand current operations fully, collaborate with schools/units to ensure the ISP functionality and configuration will meet their needs, and provide the schools/units being charged with more information about transactions from ISPs.

Stakeholder collaboration is essential to transitioning ISP activity successfully into Workday. In early July, the ISP team partnered with the FST training team to provide school/unit representatives with a Workday ISP demo via Workday Learning. The 35-minute demo helps stakeholders prepare for upcoming sessions with the ISP team and should be completed by this Friday, July 24. 

Coming up next, school and unit stakeholders will participate in Q&A and requirement gathering sessions. Over eight days, one-hour sessions will be held with three stakeholder groups per session. These sessions will be scheduled during the end of this month and into August. 

The ISP team will also facilitate deep-dive conversations with units with more complex ISP needs, such as Facilities Management, Business Operations, VP of Research, and ITS. Throughout these conversations, the ISP team will gather information about configuration needs and wants, which will inform decisions made during the configuration of UVA’s Workday Financials tenant.

Check out the list of ISPs here on the Community to confirm your school/unit’s key operational areas are included. Comment there with additions, questions, or to let us know if other stakeholders need to be engaged. To suggest additional stakeholders, you may also email financetransformation@virginia.edu.

Preparation to Transition Internal Service Provider Activities to Workday Financials

The FST Internal Service Providers (ISP) team has been gathering information about ISP transactions by reviewing activity in Oracle and starting to partner with schools and units. ISPs create an internal service document to record the exchange of goods/services between schools and units. Currently, UVA business units have been reassigning costs in Oracle to cover billing for ISP activity. As part of the finance transformation, billing will be brought into Workday Financials. Based on current data, there are 100+ revenue generating activities the team will consider the handling of in preparation to transition to Workday. 

Fortunately, Workday is designed to handle ISP transactions effectively. The provider of the goods/services generates transactions that go through an approval process before posting as an expense to the unit receiving the goods/services. The approval process is still being worked on to gather input from both the service providers and charging schools/units. The ISP team’s goals are to understand current operations fully, collaborate with schools/units to ensure the ISP functionality and configuration will meet their needs, and provide the schools/units being charged with more information about transactions from ISPs.

Stakeholder collaboration is essential to transitioning ISP activity successfully into Workday. In early July, the ISP team partnered with the FST training team to provide school/unit representatives with a Workday ISP demo via Workday Learning. The 35-minute demo helps stakeholders prepare for upcoming sessions with the ISP team and should be completed by this Friday, July 24. 

Coming up next, school and unit stakeholders will participate in Q&A and requirement gathering sessions. Over eight days, one-hour sessions will be held with three stakeholder groups per session. These sessions will be scheduled during the end of this month and into August. 

The ISP team will also facilitate deep-dive conversations with units with more complex ISP needs, such as Facilities Management, Business Operations, VP of Research, and ITS. Throughout these conversations, the ISP team will gather information about configuration needs and wants, which will inform decisions made during the configuration of UVA’s Workday Financials tenant.

Check out the list of ISPs here on the Community to confirm your school/unit’s key operational areas are included. Comment there with additions, questions, or to let us know if other stakeholders need to be engaged. To suggest additional stakeholders, you may also email financetransformation@virginia.edu.

FST: System Remediation

 

System remediation is the process of identifying and implementing changes that are required to non-Workday systems in order to successfully integrate with Workday Financials or consume new financial data following the transition from Oracle. Plainly said, system remediation refers to all the ways we’ll need to change current systems that work with Oracle (via UBI or ODS) so that they will work with Workday Financials.

What happens during system remediation? Let’s take a look!

STEP ONE: Identify the systems, large and small, that may be impacted by the implementation of Workday Financials.

First, we have to know what systems are out there across the UVA Community that will be affected by Workday Financials. 

Last fall, the FST team distributed a survey to over 320 recipients across 100 departments to gather information about finance-related systems across Grounds. The purpose of the survey was to develop an inventory of the systems (whether central or departmental) that may potentially be impacted by the Workday financials implementation.

Examples of systems that may potentially be impacted: 

• those that currently send AP invoices, cost transfers, or other transaction files to Oracle 
• those that extract volumes of financial data from the data warehouse or UBI
• those that use ODS to extract and load into local financial systems.

We shared the survey with the Advisory Group in April 2020 to ask for their help in ensuring that we have captured all potentially impacted systems. The survey results reside in the Online Community and have been updated continually. 

STEP TWO: Identify the key system impacts introduced by the transition from Oracle to Workday Financials.

Second, we need to get a solid idea of how current processes and structures will change as a part of the switch to Workday Financials.

As a part of the Architect phase, the FST team is designing the new business processes and technical architecture that will be implemented with Workday Financials, as well as identifying change impacts (including the key impacts to systems that may use, send, receive, or otherwise integrate with our current financial systems).

Emerging examples of system change impacts include:

Foundational Changes:

• COA is changing to the Financial Data Model (FDM)
• Org Hierarchy is changing to Cost Center Hierarchy
• New roles (formerly known as Oracle Responsibilities) will be created 

Technical Changes:

• Journal entry file format will change
• Supplier invoice file format will change
• The source for extracting financial transactions or financial data will change

Process Changes: 

• The ISP Transaction process will change
• The Journal upload process (EDI) will change

STEP THREE: Assess the system-specific impacts to non-Workday central and departmental systems, and begin planning the work to remediate those systems.

This is where we’ll blend the information from the survey with the new processes and architecture being designed as a part of the Workday implementation. 

Beginning with the Configure & Prototype phase and extending through the Test phase, the FST Team will provide system owners with the information needed to assess the impact of these changes on their systems, and will provide a variety of tools and resources to help support units as they move forward to make any required changes to their systems.

Examples of resources to be provided:

• Detailed documentation on the FDM and Cost Center hierarchy (as well as other hierarchies)
• Detailed file format and documentation for submitting and extracting transactions
• A COA to FDM Mapping Tool to convert legacy accounting strings
• An FDM Validator Tool to ensure that segments are valid

Project support will be delivered through an ongoing Community of Practice for impacted system owners and other key system contacts for sharing information, tools, documentation, and best practices for system remediation. The project will also provide support for navigating through the testing process and for obtaining information from the various project teams as needed, and a Community Hub or site where information will be published for direct and easy access. 

The System Remediation Community of Practice will convene this fall, using the contacts we identified through the finance system inventory. We expect and hope that this initial group will expand as we continue to capture additional departmental system information. 

Please review the supplemental system survey results on the Online Community and let us know if you see anything missing, or have additional information.

As we move into System Remediation, remember that the FST team has your back: You will not be alone during this process!

UVAFinance Inclusive Excellence Updates

Contributed by Patty Marbury

As part of our new Diversity Equity Inclusion (DEI) Learning, Development, and Support Program, we are rolling out several opportunities for expanding knowledge, discussing critical topics, and broadening experiences. Books, videos, movies, and articles provide an invaluable perspective and a basis for critical discussions.

First Sprint Discussion  

On Thursday, July 16, about 50 UVAFinance colleagues participated in the first of our “UVAFinance Talks” sprint discussions. We’re calling them “sprint” discussions from Jim Ryan’s suggestion that efforts toward racial equity at UVA is “more of a sprint than a marathon.” These “sprints," which we’re going to have every other week, offer the opportunity for safe and productive conversations. 

The first discussion was based on episode 2 of the video series, Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man, by Emmanuel Acho. Episode 2 is a short, but informative, video with Matthew McConaughey, where they discuss “White Allergies” among other topics. These discussions are completely optional, but we hope that you will make time to join them. Please work with your manger to see if this can fit within your work schedule as you would any professional development activity.

Please complete this short survey about the sprint discussion: https://virginia.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_74B5lMNFGc0yT6R

The sprint discussions are open to all UVAFinance employees. If you are interested in setting up discussions in your area, please contact Patty Marbury or ToShun Campbell and they would be happy to share best tips for productive conversations and ideas for topics.

Monthly Book Discussion

We are also hosting a monthly Inclusive Excellence discussion on a book, movie, or documentary. First up is “Master of the Mountain: Thomas Jefferson and His Slaves” by Henry Wiencek, which we will discuss Thursday, August 20 at 2:00. To join this discussion, register in Workday Learning. We will provide a copy to the first 4 registrants. After the discussion, these books will be available for all to check out from the UVAFinance library. These discussions are open to all UVA employees.

To help pick the next IE book and video selections, complete this survey to rank your interest in discussing the following books and videos and provide your own recommended resources.

For Further Reading

How to be Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi

White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin D'Angelo

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

Waking Up White (and Finding Myself in the Story of Race) by Debby Irving

Blind Spot: Hidden Biases of Good People by Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald

The Person You Mean to Be by Dolly Chugh

Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad

The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon

For Further Viewing

Selma

13th

Just Mercy

The Hate U Give

12 Years a Slave

If Beale Street Could Talk

Fruitvale Station

When They See Us


For more information or to share suggestions and feedback, feel free to Patty Marbury.

We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Uncharted Territory: Sharing Resources During the Coronavirus Response

Resources & Updates from UVAHR

Talent Management

The UVA Talent Management Team will be hosting a manager training series as a continuation of our Leading Through Disruption Webinar under the moniker: “Leading Through Disruption: Managing Remotely… It’s The New Normal.” This 15-minute micro-training series will offer short sessions Monday through Thursday and each day will focus on a different topic about leading through disruption. To sign up for any or all of our sessions visit our course schedule.

Leading Through Disruption: Managing Remotely  

Return to Grounds

All Academic Division faculty and staff are required to complete a “Return to Grounds” training module prior to the start of the Fall 2020 Semester. This module explains basic safety standards and behavioral expectations. At the end, you will be required to acknowledge that you have reviewed the content and agree to abide by the safety standards as outlined.

There is also a supplemental module available to managers that provides additional details necessary to support your team. We strongly encourage managers to review this video as well.

In the Return to Grounds Weekly Updates newsletter sent Thursday, July 9, UVAHR included a summary of the information sent to Academic Division managers. This content is available on the HR Website and contains important updates on preparations for returning to Grounds for all members of the UVA community. 

Request for work accommodations or modifications

Individual circumstances make some members of the University community more vulnerable than others to the effects of COVID-19, and UVA will make every effort to grant requests for reasonable accommodations or modifications from faculty, staff, and graduate teaching assistants. For information, see the UVA HR Return to Grounds website.

Resources from FEAP

Resources for individuals, managers, and parents:

FEAP has collected and created a wide variety of resources in support of your mental and emotional self. We encourage you to explore our libraries:  https://uvafeap.com/services/virtual-resources/?utm_source=feap_newsletter&utm_medium=News&utm_campaign=July_2020

Upcoming Sessions and Events

Support sessions for employees and managers, plus sessions on healthy relationships, the positive impact of helping others, and more!  See all events here:  https://uvafeap.com/events/?utm_source=feap_newsletter&utm_medium=News&utm_campaign=July_2020&j=650210&sfmc_sub=7188180&l=35_HTML&u=10267085&mid=100014523&jb=3

UVA Marketplace Updates

Procurement & Supplier Diversity Services (PSDS) is pleased to announce enhancements to your UVA Marketplace experience beginning Monday, July 20.

We've developed a complete overview of the Marketplace enhancements.

Here are some highlights you’ll notice:

• A cleaner look and feel for the checkout and purchase order screens
• Increased search features for Requisitions, Purchase Orders (POs), and Invoices
• Access to the new Contracts search experience

What won’t be changing, of course, are the essential functions of the UVA Marketplace: how you purchase, and the way your purchases are recorded into the Integrated System.

For any questions or concerns, please reach out to the Procurement Systems Team (Adeline Coe, Jonathan Agop, and Ashley Davis) at prs-sci@virginia.edu.

 

Judy McDaniel retires from UVAFinance

UVAFinance congratulates Judy McDaniel on her retirement and thanks her for her longstanding commitment to UVA. McDaniel has given the University over 44 years of excellent service.  For the last 17 years, she has been the Bank Reconciliation Accountant for our local bank accounts as part of the former Comptroller’s Office, now Financial Reporting & Operations. 

McDaniel's official retirement date was July 19th, 2020. While we are sad to see her go, we wish her the very best in her well-deserved retirement.

 

Recent Software Changes So Just What Did We Do…and Why?

From your friendly UVAFinance LSPs

Zoom

We changed how the software was installed on your computer from executable file (EXE) to Microsoft Installer (MSI). 

But why? With this change the LSPs can now use Zoom for remote control of your computer and put in the administrator password when prompted. It did not change how the software works. 

Office

We have moved from Office 2016 to Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365). 

But why? This change will allow users to stay current will the most up-to-date versions of Office products without LSP intervention. You still have the application installed on your device that can be used when your device is not online. Why not Office 2019? Office 365 includes all the features that are included in Office 2019 today, plus more, and more will be added in the future.

Microsoft 365 brings together apps like Word and Excel with cloud services such as OneDrive, Teams, and Outlook. You also have multiple copies of Office available to you in Microsoft 365 (one license covers 5 computers and 5 mobile devices per user). These licenses cover you if you are using a personal PC or mobile device for UVA work purposes only.

Some users were concerned that we were moving solely to Outlook for Web Access (OWA). This is not the case. You still have a complete Outlook client on your computer but can always use OWA to access your email from any computer.

To see what’s new in Microsoft 365. Scroll down to see what's new in your favorite Office app.

For more information about what you can do with Microsoft 365 check out these quick Office apps training videos.

Continuous Improvement Corner: Changing the Status Quo

Contributed by Angela Knobloch

Challenging the status quo is a critical component of continuous improvement. It starts with recognizing that the way something has “always be done” may not be the best approach for the future, even if it made perfect sense for “x” years.

Here are three ways to challenge the status quo:

1. Invite different perspectives – ask others what they think
2. Ask more questions – try using “what if?” in your next meeting
3. Be ready to help the change – be open-minded to ideas

Want to learn more:  Visit the Continuous Improvement Community

FST Update

Want to listen to this update instead of reading it?  Check out WFST Radio's July 9 broadcast!

What's happening now and what comes next

Workday Financials is set to go live in June 2022, a yearlong extension from our original timeline.  We are currently in the Architect stage of Phase 3.  The  detailed requirements that came from the architect sessions are being used to build the first instance of UVA’s Workday tenant – our instance of Workday financials.

In the mid to late fall, end-users will begin interactive walkthrough sessions with that the first tenant – this is an opportunity for people who will be using Workday Financials to “kick the tires” of the first system build.  End users will give feedback on any issues they see, and share opportunities to enhance the system.  You’ll hear this referred to often as “user validation.”

There will be at least two rounds of designing the system and validating the system – and maybe three rounds, if the timing works out – throughout late 2020 and all of 2021 as we head toward the June 2022 go-live date.

We’ll be posting updated timelines all over the FST communications channels in the coming days to keep you on track.   

Personas

In order to build the best initial version of our tenant of Workday Financials, one of the tasks
the FST team is working through is developing personas that allow them to understand how staff in given roles might be impacted by the Workday Financials Implementation.  These personas will help the team anticipate and defuse problems and concerns, and also to identify opportunities for process improvement, as well as technology improvements, and messages that need to be communicated. When we talk about personas, we are NOT talking about security roles, but rather examples of representative users from all across Grounds that will help us see through their eyes as we build the first tenant.

Internal Service Providers

Another current area of work is focused on our Internal Service Providers, or ISPs.  UVA has internal billing activities for business units across Grounds, most of which are reassigning costs in Oracle.  This billing will have to be brought into Workday Financials.  Workday has dedicated functionality for Internal Service Provider activities with the revenue-generating area processing transactions to be routed through the workflow for approval before an expense posts to the applicable cost center or other FDM values.  

There are over 100 different potential revenue-generating activities that need to be considered as part of transitioning to Workday Financials.  A dedicated ISP team within the project team is beginning to meet with school and unit stakeholders to gather functional requirements for that first tenant build.  Their goal is to understand current state operations and ensure that Workday’s ISP functionality meets school and unit needs. See more in Community Hub.

Adaptive Planning (Adaptive Insights)

Workday’s recent decision to rename the Adaptive Insights budgeting tool “Adaptive Planning” means that you’ll hear our budget tool referred to by both names.  Adaptive is being used by UVA schools and units right now to revise their FY21 budgets.  The robust capabilities of Adaptive should provide everyone with improved tools to make informed decisions.

If you’re working in Adaptive, the project team is here to support school and unit partners in this process by providing resources and holding office hours to help with the process.  Check the Adaptive Resources page on the FST website. 

New on the FST Website

We’ve pulled together a decision log that documents all project decisions, along with explanations of the decision-making structure and all the hows and whos of decision making.  They’re definitely worth a look so you can understand how things are happening on the project.

We’re also updating our WorkdayWords dictionary with new terms submitted by the UVA Community for definition.  If you have a term you think needs to be defined, whether it’s a workday term or a term we currently use, please shoot us a line.  If you think it needs defining, odds are good someone else does, too.

We’ve also updated our governance lookup feature on the web since there have been some changes to the governance structure lately.  You can use this feature to easily locate who in your area is representing you in project governance groups. 

Updates are ongoing on the Frequently Asked Questions page.  We have new questions from Fiscal Administrator's Meetings and other stakeholder groups, and we're steadily answering them.  

More updates in this blog article.

FST Update

Want to listen to this update instead of reading it?  Check out WFST Radio's July 9 broadcast!

What's happening now and what comes next

Workday Financials is set to go live in June 2022, a yearlong extension from our original timeline.  We are currently in the Architect stage of Phase 3.  The  detailed requirements that came from the architect sessions are being used to build the first instance of UVA’s Workday tenant – our instance of Workday financials.

In the mid to late fall, end-users will begin interactive walkthrough sessions with that the first tenant – this is an opportunity for people who will be using Workday Financials to “kick the tires” of the first system build.  End users will give feedback on any issues they see, and share opportunities to enhance the system.  You’ll hear this referred to often as “user validation.”

There will be at least two rounds of designing the system and validating the system – and maybe three rounds, if the timing works out – throughout late 2020 and all of 2021 as we head toward the June 2022 go-live date.

We’ll be posting updated timelines all over the FST communications channels in the coming days to keep you on track.   

Personas

In order to build the best initial version of our tenant of Workday Financials, one of the tasks the FST team is working through is developing personas that allow them to understand how staff in given roles might be impacted by the Workday Financials Implementation.  These personas will help the team anticipate and defuse problems and concerns, and also to identify opportunities for process improvement, as well as technology improvements, and messages that need to be communicated. When we talk about personas, we are NOT talking about security roles, but rather examples of representative users from all across Grounds that will help us see through their eyes as we build the first tenant.

Internal Service Providers

Another current area of work is focused on our Internal Service Providers, or ISPs.  UVA has internal billing activities for business units across Grounds, most of which are reassigning costs in Oracle.  This billing will have to be brought into Workday Financials.  Workday has dedicated functionality for Internal Service Provider activities with the revenue-generating area processing transactions to be routed through the workflow for approval before an expense posts to the applicable cost center or other FDM values.  

There are over 100 different potential revenue-generating activities that need to be considered as part of transitioning to Workday Financials.  A dedicated ISP team within the project team is beginning to meet with school and unit stakeholders to gather functional requirements for that first tenant build.  Their goal is to understand current state operations and ensure that Workday’s ISP functionality meets school and unit needs. See more in Community Hub.

Adaptive Planning (Adaptive Insights)

Workday’s recent decision to rename the Adaptive Insights budgeting tool “Adaptive Planning” means that you’ll hear our budget tool referred to by both names.  Adaptive is being used by UVA schools and units right now to revise their FY21 budgets.  The robust capabilities of Adaptive should provide everyone with improved tools to make informed decisions.

 If you’re working in Adaptive, the project team is here to support school and unit partners in this process by providing resources and holding office hours to help with the process.  Check the Adaptive Resources page on the FST website. 

New on the FST Website

We’ve pulled together a decision log that documents all project decisions, along with explanations of the decision-making structure and all the hows and whos of decision making.  They’re definitely worth a look so you can understand how things are happening on the project.

We’re also updating our WorkdayWords dictionary with new terms submitted by the UVA Community for definition.  If you have a term you think needs to be defined, whether it’s a workday term or a term we currently use, please shoot us a line.  If you think it needs defining, odds are good someone else does, too.

We’ve also updated our governance lookup feature on the web since there have been some changes to the governance structure lately.  You can use this feature to easily locate who in your area is representing you in project governance groups. 

Updates are ongoing on the Frequently Asked Questions page.  We have new questions from Fiscal Administrator's Meetings and other stakeholder groups, and we're steadily answering them.  

More updates in this blog article.

From Melody's Desk: July 9, 2020

Dear Team,

In 2016 UVAFinance developed five core values through conversations and discussions across the organization. Earlier this year, we surveyed the UVAFinance team – which has had a number of changes since 2016 – to see if we still hold the same values important. 100 people responded to the survey, and I’d like to share their feedback with you and unveil the resulting changes to our values.

The Survey

First, we asked UVAFinance team members how important each core value is in your daily work. Overwhelmingly, respondents saw providing service excellence (at 94%) and impeccable information (at 91%) as important. Being a collaborative partner (at 86%) and having valued and high performing teams (at 80%) were also confirmed as being important.

Next, we asked which value you would choose to eliminate if you had to. These results were consistent with the responses to the first question:

Lastly, we offered an opportunity to add a new value. More than a quarter of respondents (27%) replied that no new values were needed, but the rest of our respondents had some ideas. The larger the text in the graphic below indicates the frequency that potential new value was offered:

Resulting Changes

At the end of May, I shared these results with the UVAFinance extended leadership team, requesting feedback on how we should modify our core values. After engaging break-out sessions, we determined that we could re-frame “innovative action” to better capture our goals of continuous improvement and transformation. 

I also recognized that a slight modification to “valued, high performing team” will better reflect recent dialogue and the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusivity issues. Therefore, our new UVAFinance values are (drum roll, please….):

By the end of the summer, you will hear more about these values, as we develop consistent definitions and identify specific behaviors for each core value. This will enable us to hold a common understanding and expectation of exactly how we all work and represent UVAFinance with these values.

Thank you for your thoughtful responses to the survey. As always, if you have questions or concerns, please reach out.

Stay healthy, masked, and socially distant!

Inclusive Excellence and Racial Equity: University-wide updates

The  Racial Equity Task Force (Kevin McDonald, Ian Solomon, Barbara Brown Wilson) has been assembled. This effort will be aligned with Inclusive Excellence, with the objective of cataloguing all prior and current demands and developing a prioritized action list by the end of the summer. 

The task force has launched a robust website that includes a list of demands and prior documents that they are studying, an opportunity to Share Your Ideas, and a place to sign up for email updates. The task force will be holding and attending many group meetings (faculty and staff senate, for example) and will also hold a Public Listening and Idea Session on July 10th at 2pm. Register here. 

As mentioned above, the Inclusive Excellence efforts will be tightly aligned with recommendations coming from the Racial Equity Task Force. The University’s IE framework will be expanded to add a sixth dimension of Repair & Reconciliation, to the existing five dimensions (Access + Success, Climate + Intergroup Relations, Education + Scholarship, Infrastructure + Investment, Community + Partnership). 

UVAFinance has a working committee for anyone interested in participating in these efforts locally. We will be partnering with the institutional efforts and developing a local plan that will include specific, measurable goals for the next year.  More details available here. 

Inclusive Excellence and Racial Equity: UVAFinance update

The UVAFinance leadership team and the Inclusive Excellence working committee has been having in depth discussions and have come up with several next steps for carrying out UVA's work on racial equity at a local level. 

First Steps – By July 31^st

1. Adopt UVAFinance guidelines on informal promotions and interim placements during a period of a hiring freeze. (Watch for more details on this soon.)

2. Partner with the EVP/COO leadership team, HR, and Diversity & Equity on Diversity Equity Inclusion (DEI) strategies.

3. Develop a DEI Learning, Development, and Support Program, including the following to begin:

a. Host regular discussion groups about books, documentaries, movies, TED talks, and podcasts on racial equity and other DEI topics. We will begin with the book “Master of the Mountain: Thomas Jefferson and His Slaves” by Henry Wiencek. To choose selections for future meetings, we will send out an email or survey to gauge interest in other resources.

b. Develop a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Learning Program. To begin, we will include LinkedIn Learning online courses available in Workday.

c. Increase awareness of existing employee affinity groups including the Black Employee Resource Group (BERG), the LGBTQ committee, and the Military Service Veteran networking group. Subsequently, UVAFinance sections of these affinity groups may decide to self-convene to discuss current matters and concerns.

Second Steps – By September 1^st

4. Evaluate UVAFinance human resource practices, including recruiting, interviewing, selection, promotions, development opportunities, and pay to ensure they are just, equitable, and inclusive.

5.  Expand DEI Learning, Development & Support Program (working with HR’s Leadership Development team) to deliver more robust development opportunities for UVAFinance staff, including but not limited to department-wide presentations, manager training, and a formal mentoring program.

6. Adopt and implement relevant recommendations emanating from the Racial Equity Task Force.

7. Begin the development of an annual plan with real, measurable, longer-term goals within the IE framework.

 

For more information about any of the UVAFinance-related steps, please contact any member of the UVAFinance IE Working Committee:  Melody Bianchetto, Jen Bari, ToShun Campbell, Anne-Marie Cumiskey, LaVerne Harris, Steve Kimata, Jack King, Brandi Van Ormer.

Inclusive Excellence and Racial Equity: UVAFinance update

The UVAFinance leadership team and the Inclusive Excellence working committee has been having in-depth discussions and have come up with several next steps for carrying out UVA's work on racial equity at a local level. 

First Steps – By July 31^st

1. Adopt UVAFinance guidelines on informal promotions and interim placements during a period of a hiring freeze. (Watch for more details on this soon.)

2. Partner with the EVP/COO leadership team, HR, and Diversity & Equity on Diversity Equity Inclusion (DEI) strategies.

3. Develop a DEI Learning, Development, and Support Program, including the following to begin:

a. Host regular discussion groups about books, documentaries, movies, TED talks, and podcasts on racial equity and other DEI topics. We will begin with the book “Master of the Mountain: Thomas Jefferson and His Slaves” by Henry Wiencek. To choose selections for future meetings, we will send out an email or survey to gauge interest in other resources. 

b. Develop a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Learning Program. To begin, we will include LinkedIn Learning online courses available in Workday.

c. Increase awareness of existing employee affinity groups including the Black Employee Resource Group (BERG), the LGBTQ committee, and the Military Service Veteran networking group. Subsequently, UVAFinance sections of these affinity groups may decide to self-convene to discuss current matters and concerns.

Second Steps – By September 1^st

4. Evaluate UVAFinance human resource practices, including recruiting, interviewing, selection, promotions, development opportunities, and pay to ensure they are just, equitable, and inclusive.

5.  Expand DEI Learning, Development & Support Program (working with HR’s Leadership                     Development team) to deliver more robust development opportunities for UVAFinance staff,                  including but not limited to department-wide presentations, manager training, and a formal                     mentoring program.

6. Adopt and implement relevant recommendations emanating from the Racial Equity Task Force.

7. Begin the development of an annual plan with real, measurable, longer-term goals within the IE framework. 

For more information about any of the UVAFinance-related steps, please contact any member of the UVAFinance IE Working Committee:  Melody Bianchetto, Jen Bari, ToShun Campbell, Anne-Marie Cumiskey, LaVerne Harris, Steve Kimata, Jack King, Brandi Van Ormer.