FST Update

 

Want to listen to this update instead of reading it? Click here to tune into the WFST Broadcast!
No time to read paragraphs?  Check out "Five Things to Know about WFST"

Workday Financials Training:  We’re about a year out from actual training.  This time next year, the training team will begin to deliver training all across grounds in a variety of modalities.  Right now, we’re getting close to delivering the training plan for the project, so you’ll soon start to hear more details about what we have in mind. The training team has been working hard within the project for quite a long time, getting ready to deliver training that will help our users feel confident about getting the most from Workday Financials right out of the gate.

Did you know?  The FST Team is made up of 80 folks from UVA . . . and when you add our Governance groups, the number burgeons to 700+ !  See how it all shakes out on the blog.

Reporting & Analytics:   How much do you know about the Data Warehouse?  It's going to be important that we're on the same page as we move toward go-live.  Read more here.

Adaptive Planning: The Adaptive team is continuing with its work on budget process redesign.  They’re working with a larger group across Grounds to dig more deeply into Adaptive functionality, identifying how the new chart of accounts will apply to future state business processes, thinking about UFM adjustments, and more.   

FDM (New Chart of Accounts):  There are three simultaneous efforts occurring with the development of the FDM.  First, they're mapping the top ten financial scenarios and processing them in the current Workday financials tenant.  Second, they’re converting GL balances to the FDM structure, and third, they're closing outstanding operational decisions.  See more details in the latest Governance slides (Online Community).  Also, see our update on the blog about Preparing for Mapping.

Future State Service Model:  FST isn't just a technology implementation!  It's also about improving our processes and making it easier to do finance all across UVA.  The Finance Engagement Team is using Salesforce to make the customer experience better in Finance.  Check out this video from Andrew Sallans in which he explains how this works. 

FST Update

 

Want to listen to this update instead of reading it? Click here to tune into the WFST Broadcast!
No time to read paragraphs?  Check out "Five Things to Know about WFST"

Workday Financials Training:  We’re about a year out from actual training.  This time next year, the training team will begin to deliver training all across grounds in a variety of modalities.  Right now, we’re getting close to delivering the training plan for the project, so you’ll soon start to hear more details about what we have in mind. The training team has been working hard within the project for quite a long time, getting ready to deliver training that will help our users feel confident about getting the most from Workday Financials right out of the gate.

Did you know?  The FST Team is made up of 80 folks from UVA . . . and when you add our Governance groups, the number burgeons to 700+ !  See how it all shakes out on the blog.

Reporting & Analytics:   How much do you know about the Data Warehouse?  It's going to be important that we're on the same page as we move toward go-live.  Read more here.

Adaptive Planning: The Adaptive team is continuing with its work on budget process redesign.  They’re working with a larger group across Grounds to dig more deeply into Adaptive functionality, identifying how the new chart of accounts will apply to future state business processes, thinking about UFM adjustments, and more.   

FDM (New Chart of Accounts):  There are three simultaneous efforts occurring with the development of the FDM.  First, they're mapping the top ten financial scenarios and processing them in the current Workday financials tenant.  Second, they’re converting GL balances to the FDM structure, and third, they're closing outstanding operational decisions.  See more details in the latest Governance slides (Online Community).  Also, see our update on the blog about Preparing for Mapping.

Future State Service Model:  FST isn't just a technology implementation!  It's also about improving our processes and making it easier to do finance all across UVA.  The Finance Engagement Team is using Salesforce to make the customer experience better in Finance.  Check out this video from Andrew Sallans in which he explains how this works. 

Five Things to Know about FST: March 25, 2021

 

1.  Training:  We're still a year out from Workday Financials Training.  The Training team will deliver a training plan within the next few weeks, though, so expect more details soon!

2.  Reporting & Analytics:  This workstream is sharing regular updates via the blog and the Online Community.  Check out their latest on the EDW vs. UBI.

3.  FDM Mapping set to begin in April:  The project team is finishing up with their efforts mapping the top ten financial scenarios and converting GL balances to the FDM structure.  Read "Preparing for Mapping"

4.  Budget Process Redesign continues:  The Adaptive team is working with a larger group across Grounds on a version of the budget tool that will integrate with Workday Financials and the new FDM.  Keep up with them on the website.

5.  We are one year, three months, and six days away from Go-Live!  The next round of Customer Confirmation Sessions is targeted for June.   

Got four minutes? Let us show you what Salesforce can do!

As a part of their work constructing a future-state service model for UVAFinance, the Finance Engagement Team is steadily bringing all UVAFinance departments into the Salesforce fold.

Using Salesforce to manage customer questions, track the resolution of issues, and provide cross-functional insight into operations, is making it easier for UVAFinance units to deliver great service to our stakeholders.

We recently caught up with Finance Engagement Manager Andrew Sallans and asked him to show us how Salesforce helps UVAFinance in its pursuit of service excellence.

Check out the video!

Read more about the implementation of Salesforce on the UVAFinance blog.

 

Spring Break Day and Payroll Deadlines

Monday, March 29, 2021 is a University holiday (Spring Break Day).

Woo hoo!

Academic Division Bi-weekly timecard deadlines remain the same, though.  Employees need to submit their timecards no later than 2:00pm on March 29th.

Our friendly Payroll Team encourages employees to submit their time early if possible.  

For example, you could submit your time at the end of your last worked shift of the pay period. This will expedite the process for managers who must have all time approved by 4:00pm Monday, March 29th.

New Info on the FST Website

Wondering what's new in the world of FST? 

The FST website is a great resource for all things finance transformation! You can find workstream updates, answers to frequently asked questions, and the Info Station page: an easy way to find info from all the different FST communication channels in one place. 

Content on the website is updated constantly. Just this week, three new Workday Words were added: business unit, internal ref ID, and loan. Also, a decision on receiving in Workday was finalized and added to the Decision Log.

For more detail, head over to the FST website! 

What is the EDW? (hint: it’s not the same thing as UBI)

Contributed by Mark Anderson

As we move toward the future state of reporting and analytics at UVA, it’s a good time to hit refresh on a few basic concepts. Let’s start with EDW, the Enterprise Data Warehouse.

We often hear EDW and UBI thrown into conversations about reporting and analytics almost interchangeably, as though they refer to the same thing. They don’t.

The enterprise data warehouse is a repository that stores and manages much of UVA’s current and historical enterprise data from the Integrated System/Oracle, SIS/Peoplesoft, and Workday HCM so that it can be used by various reporting systems across grounds or provision curated data to other Data Marts. The EDW will continue to serve this purpose in the future state with the addition of Workday Financial Data.

Like the warehouse in Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Enterprise Data
Warehouse is vast; unlike that warehouse, its contents are
things we want you to find easily.

The EDW is not the same as University Business Intelligence (UBI) (website link), UBI is a reporting & analytics tool that most of us use to access the data that is stored in EDW and other sources– primarily via structured reports. UBI will continue to serve this purpose for historical (pre-Workday) finance and SIS/Student reporting & analytics.

As we’ve discussed previously, the tools we use in the future will change as Workday and Adaptive tools replace UBI for many financial reporting & analytics needs.

The Reporting and Analytics FST team, along with a cross-functional group of partners from across Grounds is currently working on designing, building, and testing a scalable reporting and analytics service model for the future. Our work includes planning to optimize all available reporting & analytics tools in our toolkit as well as facets of data governance, including developing a data and report catalog, business glossary, and controls on data quality.

Watch for more information on the future of reporting and analytics here in the blog. You can also see past updates on the FST website and in the Online Community.

Related content: Historical data will not be remapped to the FDM in the EDW.  Check out the FST Decision Log for more information.

Scott Newman Is Willing to Stand on His Head to Help With FST

Scott Newman

During 30+ years at a university, you experience a lot of changes. If you’re Institutional Research and Analytics (IRA) Assistant Director Scott Newman, you’ve helped lead some of those changes as well. The Finance Strategic Transformation (FST) project will benefit from Newman’s wealth of institutional knowledge now that he’s joined the team part-time as the Senior Systems Remediation Analyst. This arrangement enables Newman to continue duties related to his IRA role while also contributing to FST for up to 50% of his time. 

“I’d been interested in having some involvement in FST,” Newman explains, “and I’d already been involved with Finance for UBI, so I was interested to know the project’s impacts on UBI.” 

His work with University Business Intelligence (UBI) gives Newman an understanding of what kind of data people are pulling out of the system. For the FST project, Newman will start helping the Student Information System (SIS) and Operational Data Store (ODS) users with their remediation needs however he can. A number of schools and units pull data from ODS into their applications, so part of the remediation effort is to determine what needs will remain when UVA transitions to using Workday Financials in 2022. 

“I’m not a Finance expert, but I’ve worked with data and reporting out of administrative systems for many years. In ODS, for example, I created some of the views that people use to pull information out. Having exposure to that, and working on the Integrated System project, should enable me to help stakeholders with remediation.”

The Office of Sponsored Programs, School of Medicine, and Custom Applications & Consulting Services (in terms of applications they’ve created for UVA clients) all have remediation needs that Newman knows of related to ODS use. 

“We’re running queries in ODS right now to see who’s actively using it,” says Newman. “Those will be the people I reach out to first.” 

Having just started this month, Newman explains he’s in ramp-up mode. He’s attending to things in his IRA role that require more time right now and absorbing information about the project, in particular information about the Foundation Data Model, the Workday Financials term for Chart of Accounts (COA).

Outside of work, Newman’s main hobbies are tennis and gymnastics. The picture, right, shows off his nautical headstand prowess. During the pandemic, part of how he’s kept up his gymnastic activities is to put a wall mat up in his kitchen to protect it when he practices handstands.

Change & Continuous Improvement: Where's the Value?

From Angela Knobloch, FST Change Management & Continuous Improvement Workstream Lead

Strategic Continuous Improvement is a core value in UVAFinance. Our definition, below, describes what we mean by continuous improvement:

"Strategic Continuous Improvement: We value innovative ideas that challenge the status quo, empower each team member to make changes that deliver results, and we seek to add value in everything we do."

A word that might stand out (even without being bolded) is the word value. Value in a process represents what’s important to your customer and eliminating other waste. 

Some questions to consider around value:

• Does this transaction deliver what my customer needs? In the way they need it?
• How might I be able to deliver this value while minimizing waste in the process?

Value = Customer Importance + Minimal Waste 

Try asking on a regular basis – “What value is this process offering from the customer perspective?”

***

See more Change and Continuous Improvement content from Angela in the online Community in the Continuous Improvement section, including her recent posts about 4 Ways Leadership Involves Change and Questions for Simplifying. 

Many Many Hands Make Light(er) FST Work

While the scope of the Finance Strategic Transformation (FST) project is hard to forget, sometimes we can lose track of just how big the FST team is. 

The project team has 125 people on it, 80 from UVA and 45 from Deloitte, the consulting partner for the project. Learn more about the team and the team structure on the FST website. 

In addition to team members, many others contribute to the project through its governance groups. 

Between the Steering Committee, Advisory Group, and Fiscal Administrators Group, that's almost 700 more people. Learn more about FST governance here.  

In addition to the many contributors illustrated here, several additional groups also share expertise and feedback. Some Change Leaders (a.k.a. Advisory Group members) have recently shared sneak peaks of Workday Financials processes (learn more about those sessions) with colleagues in their areas, and questions and feedback from those sessions came back to the FST team. We're all working together to deliver the best version of Workday Financials we can when the new system goes live on July 1, 2022. 

"Earth Day Every Day" Community Celebration

A message from UVA Sustainability and the Carruthers Hall Green Team

This time of year, we usually begin announcing celebration plans for Charlottesville-UVA Earth Week, which takes place in mid-April. It’s been an extraordinarily tough year, but there is still so much to celebrate about our shared planet. That’s why for 2021, we look forward to celebrating all April long with an expanded “Earth Day Every Day” Community Celebration! 

We invite individuals and groups to participate in any/all of the following ways. Let’s show our friends, families, co-workers, classmates, and neighbors how much our community cares about this beautiful Earth that we all share.

Host or Attend “Earth Day Every Day” Events

Including virtual events and in-person events that adhere to UVA Covid policies at the time of the event (i.e. gathering size, masking, and distancing requirements)
To see or add events that are in the works, use this planning sheet
Submit your finalized event to the UVA Sustainability calendar
Events will be promoted by a number of community organizations
Subscribe to UVA’s SustainaNewsletter for weekly event reminders in April

Record and Watch “Green Neighbor” Videos

Learn more about what we are looking for and sign up HERE
Take 1-5 minutes to share your Earth-friendly tips/expertise
Doesn’t have to be anything fancy, just submit by April 12
Videos premiere April 22 on Facebook, Insta, Twitter, and the SustainaNewsletter

Plan #EarthDayVA Social Media Posts for April 22

Show support with a unified state-wide message on Earth Day
Post on your personal pages and help plan posts to group/work accounts
Highlight your sustainability-related actions, goals, initiatives, or heroes
Use the hashtag #EarthDayVA and tag @SustainableUVA

Help Amplify this Community Celebration

Share this content and encourage other individuals and groups to participate
Help promote events and videos through your communication channels
Email sustainability@virginia.edu to indicate you’ll be helping spread the word!

We are looking forward to celebrating this April, and we hope you are as well. If you have any new ideas or questions about how we plan to celebrate “Earth Day Every Day” this year, please do reach out.

Lentil-A-Roni Recipe

Shared by Linda Leshowitz

This meatless alternative to the classic recipe is creamy and delicious! Plus the lentils add a nutritional boost to this ‘roni, adding fiber, folic acid, and potassium and they’re also a good source of protein. I like to add cauliflower or you could toss in some quick-cooking greens like spinach or chard leaves at the end (they’ll wilt right away). This recipe is also very kid-friendly!

 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup cashews, soaked for at least two hours (in a pinch, you can skip this step if you have a high-powered blender)
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (you can sub this with water or veggie broth for an oil-free dish)
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt + plus a pinch
• Pinch black pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 1/2 cups cooked brown lentils (or use 15 ounce can, rinsed and drained)
• 1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes with basil
• 1 pound package pasta (regular or gluten-free, fusilli works well)

 

Instructions

1. Prepare the pasta per package directions.
2. While pasta is cooking, drain the cashews and combine with the broth in a blender until smooth (this could take up to 5 minutes depending on the strength of your blender). Set aside.
3. Sauté’ the onion in the oil (or water or veggie broth) in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan with a pinch of salt for about 3 minutes.  Add the minced garlic and sauté for 30 seconds or so.
4. Add the thyme, 1 teaspoon of salt & black pepper.  Sauté for another 30 seconds or so, then add the lentils to coat.  Partially mash a few of the lentils (don’t puree them, just mash a few, the rest leave whole).
5. Add the tomatoes and cover the pot, letting it cook for about 5 minutes.
6. Pour in the cashew mixture and let thicken for about 3 minutes, stirring.
7. Taste for seasoning, then add the pasta and toss to coat and reheat.
8. Serve.

Recipe is from Isa Does It by Isa Chandra Moskowitz (awesome recipe book)

FST Update

 

Want to listen to this update instead of reading it? Click here to tune into the WFST Broadcast!
No time to read paragraphs? Check out "Five Things to Know about WFST"

Project Timeline

We’re approaching the midpoint of the configuration and prototype phase: we’ve had the first build of our UVA tenant of Workday Financials, we’ve done the first round of Customer Confirmation sessions at the end of last year, and our Change Leaders are holding some great sessions within their schools and units to show a sneak peek of the Workday tenant’s functionality.

From here, we’re heading toward another build of the workday financials tenant and another round of customer confirmation sessions. There’s a lot to come, still, but we’ve made tremendous progress and we appreciate everyone in the listening audience who’s been part of it.

View the project timeline on the FST website.  
Find your Advisory Group member. 

Chart of Accounts (FDM)

The thing that’s on everyone’s mind right now is the FDM, of course. The Foundational Data Model, or FDM, is the name for our Chart of Accounts in Workday. It's a huge effort to convert our GA and GL. The team is working intently on this, in anticipation of FDM mapping activities at the school and unit-level that will begin this spring.

There are a few outstanding decisions that need to be made, and work has to be completed on the FDM mapping tool itself, but the team does know what the overall FDM mapping process will look like: our partners in the schools and units will run reports in UBI and transfer the data to Excel, reviewing the results and validating conversions from the PTAO to the FDM, and adjusting the Excel Sheets accordingly.

The time schools and units can expect to give to this work could of course vary greatly depending on the complexity and volume in your specific area. Expect more details on this very, very soon!

System Remediation

The System Remediation Network is the group of folks across Grounds who have systems that work with Oracle currently that are going to need to work with Workday. Scot Thornton is heading up that area of the project. You can see what the SRN has been up to by checking out their space in the online community – go visit them now!  If you have a question about a system in your area, reach out to Scot! 

Reporting & Analytics in the Future State

This week, Mark Anderson expands on the question we tackled in our last blog digest about the future use of UBI and delves into what enterprise reporting may look like for various use cases in the future.
If you’re curious about what will be done in UBI vs. Workday vs. some other system in the future, take a look at this blog post he helped us put together this week and his post in the Online Community.

Five Things to Know about FST: March 10, 2021

 

1.  System Remediation:  Every school and unit has systems that work with Oracle and that may need adjustments to work with Workday Financials.  Scot Thornton is heading up this work.  Check out the SRN space in the Community or reach out to Scot with questions.  More here

2. Chart of Accounts Work: The FDM (Foundation Data Model) is the Workday term for Chart of Accounts. The project team is working hard to get FDM mapping activities ready to roll; schools and units are readying themselves to validate conversions to the FDM for their particular areas.  Read more here. 

3. Reporting & Analytics: What will reporting look like in the future state?  Workday Financials will be our go-to source, but other enterprise systems will be in play.  Read more here. 

4. Three decisions have been finalized:  data warehouse conversion, per diem, and position budgets.  Read more here. 

5. We're one year, three months, and three weeks away from Go Live of Workday Financials!  The FST team is working on the second configuration of UVA's tenant of Workday Financials, and the second round of Customer Confirmation Sessions is planned for late spring/early summer. Go live of Workday Financials is July 1, 2022. See the roadmap here.

FST Decision Log U: Updates and Finalized Decisions

Have you checked out the FST Decision Log lately?

Over the past few months, the FST Team and stakeholders have resolved a few key decisions for the project. 

Firstly, based on feedback collected at the various governance meetings, FST will not map and convert data in the warehouse to the new FDM. 

Secondly, the project team will configure Workday Financials to accommodate both per diem and actuals. However, there are plans to revisit this policy after implementation. 

Finally, Position Budgets will be generated in Adaptive Planning and loaded to Workday for reporting. No changes will be made to the existing HCM business processes and Position Budget Checking will not be implemented. 

Now that these decisions are finalized, the team is currently bringing the following topics to governance meetings for feedback:

• Recon@ in Future State: as UVA moves towards Workday Financials, it has the chance to phase out Recon@ and potentially shift away from the heavy reliance on post-transaction reconciliation activities.
• System Admin Responsibility Approach: Admins for Oracle today are primarily within ITS Enterprise Applications. Workday, however, allows for super-user access within certain functional area domains. This raises the question: should UVA still shift towards specialized super-users within different functional departments (Finance/AP), or keep those admin roles centralized within IT?

These topics were presented at last week's Fiscal Administrators Meeting and attendees were given the chance to share their thoughts. You can check out the slides for the meeting here. You can find recordings of past meetings here.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

System Remediation by the Numbers

Part of the Finance Strategic Transformation (FST) project is to ensure systems across UVA will be remediated to interact successfully with Workday Financials when it goes live on July 1, 2022. 

This is no mean feat, as UVA's got 170 systems and 168 applications between academic division, health system, and University Physician's Group (UPG) areas. See the full system inventory on the online Community.   

The FST System Remediation Lead Scot Thornton leads the System Remediation Network (SRN), formed to ensure schools/units get the support needed to navigate this process effectively. More than 140 system owners and others participate in the network's monthly meetings. 

Thornton and the remediation team are connecting with system owners to navigate the plan and analyze remediation phase and shifting into the design phase. 

If you have questions about who is the point person for systems in your area, check the inventory or contact Thornton for information. 

You may also view SRN meeting videos and access meeting slides on the SRN section of the online Community. 

FDM Update: Preparing for Mapping

We’ve reached the stage of the Finance Strategic Transformation (FST) project when school and unit decisionmakers are developing their cost center structures for the Workday Financials Foundation Data Model (FDM), Workday’s version of chart of accounts (COA). 

A cost center (CC) is an area within a school/unit that owns a subset of revenues and/or expenses. CCs report funds available and manage multiple fund sources. The current Oracle term Organization translates most closely to Cost Center in Workday. 

It’s important to note that the org-to-cost center connection isn’t 1:1, meaning current orgs can, and will, be separated into several cost centers in Workday. 

That concept, of how current orgs will correlate to future cost centers, brings us to the overarching process of FDM mapping. A mapping tool is currently still under development, and it will be used by the FST team to help determine how the current COA will map to the future FDM. The mapping process will be an iterative collaboration between designated representatives in the schools and units and the project team. After the project team receives CC information from reps, they’ll determine the FDM mapping defaults to use when general ledger (GL) strings are run through the mapping tool. 

Some defaults are easier to set, for example Fund Source in Oracle becomes Fund in Workday Financials. Others, such as when a current org will be broken into multiple cost centers, are more complex to handle with defaults. After the mapping is done using the defaults, that’s when partners in the schools and units will have something to look at and provide feedback about. Additional worktags are also part of the mapping process, and schools/units will determine what they want to work on mapping and when in the cycle they do so. 

Here’s a basic description of the steps in the process with a visualization below (click to enlarge): 

1. Mapping: Data for GL strings with balances is mapped using the defaults, and a report is generated in University Business Intelligence (UBI) for school/unit review.   
2. Review: A designated rep from the school/unit pulls the UBI report to share with colleagues who will participate in reviewing and providing mapping adjustments. Areas will have 2-3 weeks to review and gather adjustments.  
3. Refinement: Consolidated adjustments will be returned to the project team, reviewed, and used to update the mapping rules. The project team will work on updates for roughly 2 weeks between review cycles. 
4. Repeat: Mapping will be done again using the refined mapping rules, which initiates another round of review and adjustments.

This cyclical mapping process begins in the next few weeks and continues through March 2022, with schools/units having ample opportunities to refine what their future FDM setup will look like. No further changes will be made between next March and Workday Financials go-live on July 1, 2022. 

Next steps school and unit partners: 

1. Consider Cost Centers: Think about cost center structures already submitted and how that will map from the current COA to the FDM. The FST team will get in touch in the next few weeks to understand what defaults make sense for the org-to-cost center mapping. 
2. Select a Main Contact: Determine who essentially will manage the mapping exercises for the area. This person will pull the info from UBI, distribute for review, gather adjustments, and return the consolidated info to the FST team. 
3. Determine Process: Identify the collaborators in the area (an appropriate number based on size) and how the process will flow during review cycles. 

Schools and units will get additional instructions and materials as the mapping exercise process begins in earnest. When the FDM mapping tool and UBI reports are finalized, the project team will share those with stakeholders. 

For more info on the expected FDM timeline, see below (click on image to enlarge). 

Workday Financials Sneak Peeks from FST Change Leaders

Finance Strategic Transformation (FST) change leaders gave colleagues a glimpse of the first Workday Financials tenant prototype. Change leaders, members of  FST's Advisory Group, led sessions so more people, in addition to those who participated in Customer Confirmation Sessions (CCSs), could see the work so far in the system and to answer questions and gather feedback from colleagues. They then shared that information with the FST team. 

So far, 25 areas completed sessions, and a few others will do so soon. Change leaders made decisions about the session format and participants based on what would be most appropriate for their areas. For some, the choice to hold off on sharing until later in the process, when things are closer to being finalized, felt like the best option. 

Three preview videos were available that showed expense, requisition, and internal service delivery processes. Some sessions included all three, while others only the one or two most relevant to stakeholders in that area. The number of session participants varied widely based on the size of the school/unit or amount of people who will be most directly affected by implementation of the new system.

Here are some session participant comments. 

• 

  "Encouraging to see progress knowing we also have a good amount of time before go-live."
  
• "Refreshing to hear the honest answers of 'we don't know yet'."
• "It was a very informative session, and we appreciate the opportunity to chime in."

At the last Advisory Group meeting, a few change leaders shared thoughts about their sessions. 

UVA Engineering Director of Finance Ben Baer says, "The success of this transition depends on all of us. It was important to us that the stakeholders know they have a say in this new system. We shared with folks some of the items we’ve heard and gave them the opportunity to respond and question." 

Jen Starkey, the Miller Center business manager, initially had reservations about sharing sneak peeks so far ahead of Workday Financials go-live in July 2022. She worried that participants would react negatively to the transformation if not all of their questions could be answered yet. However, Starkey ended up be pleasantly surprised. 

Starkey says, "The feedback we received during and immediately following the session was that the processes seemed similar to current processes, with some changes that the attendees really liked. The overall consensus seemed to be that it will just be a matter of getting used to the new system and learning the new terminology."

The FST team is currently working on the second tenant build and readying for the next round of CCSs later this year, so there will be more to see soon. 

Learn more about FST Phase 3: Implementation here. You can search for your area's change leader(s), listed as Advisory Group members, on the FST governance page. 

Why Workday Expenses?

Back in June of 2020, the FST project team announced the decision to transition from Chrome River to Workday's expense management module (Workday Expenses) upon go-live. 

After that, lots of questions regarding Workday Expenses have been on people's minds. For example, what are the benefits of this transition? 

There are several reasons why Workday Expenses was chosen over Chrome River.  Since the module is part of Workday Financials, it reduces the cost of implementation and allows for easy access to all notifications/approvals (Finance & HR) from your Workday inbox. You will also still have the ability to upload pictures of receipts with an app, assign a delegate, track expense reports, and be completely paperless. 

For more information on Workday Expenses, check out this one-pager created by the FST Team.

From UVA's Division for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Racial Equity Speaker Series

Please join UVA's Division for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as we continue our 20-21 Racial Equity Speaker Series this spring. All events will be held virtually, and are free and open to the public. Registration is required.

Laura Morgan Roberts

Beating the Odds: Black Women and Leadership Legacies

Tuesday, March 23

12:00-1:00pm

Laura Morgan Roberts is a Professor of Practice at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. Laura’s research and consulting focus on the science of maximizing human potential in diverse organizations and communities.  Register here.

Ijeoma Oluo

Friday, April 2

12:00-1:00pm

Ijeoma Oluo is a Seattle-based Writer, Speaker and Internet Yeller. Her NYT bestselling first book, So You Want to Talk About Race, was released January 2018 with Seal Press. Register here.

Ibram X. Kendi

Wednesday, April 21

5:00-6:00pm

Join Dean Nicole Jenkins and Dean Ian Solomon for a conversation with Ibram X. Kendi. Kendi is one of America’s foremost historians and leading antiracist scholars. He is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of How to be an Antiracist.  Register here.

Back to back meetings getting you down?

Many of us find ourselves jumping from Zoom meeting to Zoom meeting with no break in between them.  It can be exhausting!

Check out this tip on how to build some automatic breathing room into your schedule using tools in Outlook:

https://www.blueshiftco.com/blog/how-to-automatically-save-time-when-booking-meetings-in-outlook 

Bathroom breaks and coffee refills, here we come!

Wellness Resources

 

FEAP EVENTS

Nourishing Restorative Sleep
Mar 24, 3:30 – 4:30 (Zoom webinar)

Caregiver Support Group
Mar 18, 12 PM (also Apr 15)

Demystifying Stress
April 14, 12 PM 

See more on the FEAP site:  https://uvafeap.com/events 

VIRTUAL OFFERINGS

Wellbeats:  Employees on UVA Health Plan have access to hundreds of on-demand fitness and nutrition classes via the web or mobile app. To create your account, click the "Login" button, type your UVA email address and enter the password HoosWell.

eM Life: Online mindfulness platform to promote health, happiness, stress management and self- care.

IM-Rec Virtual Recreation: Range of quality programs, services & venues that support all dimensions of wellness through sport, fitness & recreation.

Coping with the Pandemic:  an Insight Timer Playlist.  CSC staff have curated a short Insight Timer playlist of guided meditations and recordings specifically designed to help listeners cope with the stress and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is one of several curated lists of recommended Insight Timer content compiled by CSC and UVA students. Other recommended playlists included recordings targeting attentional focus, relaxation, self-care, sleeping well, and many other topics.  Learn more here:  https://csc.virginia.edu/page/explore-insight-timer 

Shifting from Reaction to Opportunities: The Great COVID Reset

In this interactive session, share ideas about new ways of working and new models that have been implemented in your area, as well as challenges you face. 

What practices and approaches have you adapted in the past year that work well and you plan to continue? What challenges are you grappling with and would you like to hear how others have addressed them? Looking forward, what new ideas or approaches are emerging and shaping the ‘new normal’ - post-COVID work environment? Have you stopped doing anything? That’s a learning too.

Come prepared to contribute generously and listen curiously and help each other navigate the changing landscape.

Presenters: This event is a structured sharing and learning session among participants.
When: April 7, 2021, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Details: Zoom access information will be provided to registrants prior to event.

REGISTER HERE

Reporting and Analytics Update: UBI and future-state reporting

We talked a bit about our use of UBI in the future state (read that article here).  Basically, we'll still use UBI, but much less than we do today.  Let's delve into that a little more!

Here are some sample data and analytics use cases to give you a clearer picture of what enterprise systems we'll use for reporting and analytics  in the future state: 

• Managing operational transactions on a daily basis:  today this is done in UBI; in the future, it will be done in Workday reports
• Checking spending and commitments against a budget or forecast:  today this is done in UBI; in the future, it will be done in Workday reports
• Managing the financial or operational performance of a team or department:  today this is done in UBI or Qlik3; in the future, it will be done in Workday reports and/or dashboards
• Getting a high-level overview of the financial and operational performance of a school or unit:  Today this is done via supplemental systems, or Excel, using data from UBI; in the future, this may be done in Workday reports, Workday dashboards, and Adaptive Planning.
• Performing ad hoc analysis to support a recommendation or answer a question:  today this is done in UBI, Qlik3, or Excel; in the future, this will likely be done in Workday Analytics.
• Accessing historical financial data (pre-Workday) to respond to a request for information from an internal or external entity:  today this is done in UBI and Qlik3; in the future, you will still use UBI.
• Reviewing year-to-date UFM results against budget, forecast, or prior year:  today this is done in supplemental systems, or Excel, using data from UBI; in the future, this will be done in Adaptive Planning.
• Combining Workday financial data with additional data from a supporting system: today this is done in supplemental systems, or Excel, using data from UBI; in the future, we may utilize Workday worksheets, Prism, EDW/UBI (depending on the case).
• Accessing data to report to external agencies annually:  today this is done in UBI or Qlik3; in the future, it may be done in Workday or UBI (depending on the case).
• Extracting large datasets (i.e., journal lines) for analysis in Excel or other tools:  today this is done in UBI or Qlik3; in the future, it will likely be done in UBI.

We'll have more from the Reporting & Analytics workstream in future articles.  

Read more from Reporting & Analytics Workstream lead Mark Anderson in the Online Community.

Spread the word: Funding resources at the intersection of equity and the environment!

 

UVA Equity & Environment Fund Workshop

Tuesday, March 16 from 4:00-5:30pm

Are you a student with a creative project idea that needs funding? Or are you part of an organization seeking to partner with UVA students?

The UVA Equity & Environment Fund is a $30,000 funding resource for student projects at the intersection of sustainability and equity. We will be hosting both UVA students & representatives from community organizations in an online workshop with the hope of building bridges & spurring equitable environmental solutions in our community. Attend to connect with a partner who might be interested in workshopping an environmental justice project idea with you. 

This workshop will explain the Fund, highlight a few past recipients, connect students and community groups, and give you time to workshop an E&E Fund proposal idea in the $500-$5,000 range if you wish. Please register at this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/equity-and-environment-fund-project-workshop-tickets-143101593719

Questions?  Contact sustainability@virginia.edu