
Program Development and Execution
Program Development and Execution (PDE) provides project management support for Division of Finance and Administration (DFA) initiatives and projects, as well as certain campuswide projects. Our focus is on increasing efficiencies and improving services to campus.
Please contact us. We are happy to help!
DFA SERVICES
DFA Equipment Committee supports DFA in meeting the inventory tracking requirements of IT resources/equipment per the UCOP electronic information security policy (section 8.1.1 – inventory of assets).
Resources
DFA IT manages the DFA ISPG Project Portfolio, provides best in class project and product management services, and leads DFA information security initiatives. For more information visit the DFA IT site.
Areas of Service
- DFA IT application inventory management
- IT project intake and evaluation
- IT project and portfolio status reporting
- Technical project management
- Technology procurement support
- Technical problem management and support escalation
- Information security risk assessment and risk management
ENTERPRISE SYSTEM SUPPORT
The UCI UCPath team serves the UCI campus and UCI Health communities, and provides training and support to UCPath transactors.
UCI UCPath 2022 Year in Review
Please refer to UCI UCPath resources and contact pages for more information.
CAMPUS SPECIAL PROJECTS
- Research Committee - The Provost and the CFO and Vice Chancellor, Division of Finance and Administration charged this group with: (1) Reviewing the Huron Research Compliance Assessment; (2) Developing an implementation plan for the detailed assessment recommendations; (3) Establishing a timeline for implementing the plan; and (5) Seeking broad input for developing new or changing existing policies and procedures.
- Tree Committee - The CFO and Vice Chancellor, Division of Finance and Administration charged this group with providing advice on the campus’ urban forestry management, considering tree health and safety to the university community. The Tree Maintenance Committee is focused on safety issues related to tree maintenance on campus and the campus vicinity.
- Aldrich Hall Space Utilization - As DFA continues to review space utilization on campus to use our space resources most effectively, Chancellor Gillman has asked DFA to conduct a space review of Aldrich Hall. The goal of this project is to: (1) Conduct a space review of Aldrich Hall; and (2) Explore opportunities to reduce leased spaces to reduce expense.
- E2E Procurement project - The CFO and Vice Chancellor, Division of Finance and Administration charged this group with a review of procurement processes to understand and document the current end-to-end purchasing processes. The objectives for this review are to (1) clarify current processes; (2) document end-to-end processes; (3) cascade current processes; (4) solicit feedback for efficiencies; (5) implement process efficiencies. This will be addressed via eight (8) subcommittees, each dedicated to a specific procurement process.
- Participation in OIT’s MS Teams Early Adopters project - OIT has offered DFA the opportunity to identify 50-60 individuals to participate in the MS Teams Phone Early Adopter Program. The program is anticipated to start late March/early April. If you’re interested or have staff that would like to participate, please email Monica Chavez (mbchavez@uci.edu).
- CRIT - UCI's Campus Recovery Implementation Team (CRIT) was established in support the Chancellor's Strategic Advisory Group (SAG) in campus reengagement efforts related to the COVID-19 pandemic. They helped navigate issues by reviewing changes to applicable guidance, providing analyses, making recommendations for campus operational activities, and monitoring progress. CRIT currently meets only on an as-needed basis.
- Oracle Exploratory Project: DFA completed the Oracle Cloud Financials (OCF) exploratory project. Replacement of the campus financial system will not be further pursued at this time.
DFA PROJECTS
- DFA Org Assessment - Organizational Assessments are commonly conducted when significant changes have taken place in an organization, such as a change in senior leadership, as well as when organizations have evolved over time (like DFA) to ensure strategic alignment. For both of these reasons, we are embarking on an Organizational Assessment of the Division. This is a systematic review of DFA’s processes, structure, staffing levels, with the goals of optimizing talent, operations, service delivery, and financial resources to meet business needs.
We hope to:
• Increase effectiveness and efficiencies
• Reduce or eliminate redundancies
• Leverage synergies
• Create optimal reporting structures
• Identify critical skills and competencies to meet business needs
• Support immediate and ongoing budgetary commitments
• KSAMS efficiency process for DFA - DFA Service Management Portal - Improve efficiency of DFA services and work order management by automating DFA service request tracking and fulfillment processes using ServiceNow platform.
- DFA Information Security Program - Monitor and assess information security risks at unit and system levels and implement risk mitigation steps and related information security activities for DFA.
- Work Reimagined Program - The CFO and Vice Chancellor established an implementation team to manage the Work Reimagined (WR), UCI’s flexible work program, for the Division of Finance and Administration. The team facilitated the finalization of each unit’s implementation plan and helped to formalize best practices and procedures for a hybrid environment. On October 31, 2022, all DFA unit WR implementation plans went into effect (e.g., new space plan, work schedules, etc.).
- Coded Memo Sunsetting - As of November 2022, DFA’s coded memos (internal process documents) were rescinded as we transition to more standard procedure documents.
UCI UCPATH PROJECTS
Continuous Improvement Efforts
- Ask UCPath Improvements: UCPath continues to work with campus representatives on improvements to the Ask UCPath landing page. This includes an enhanced look and feel, and improved navigation to search for and find information more easily. Look for changes this Spring!
- Case Reduction Partnership: In collaboration with the UCPath Center (UCPC), HR, and Payroll, the UCI UCPath team is helping to close outstanding cases reported by UCI users. From December 2022 to March 2023, we have helped to reduce the backlog of UCPC cases from 494 to 310.
- Transactor Web Page Improvements in Process: The UCI UCPath team is making great progress redesigning our Transactor Web Page on the ucpath.uci.edu website to make job aids, help resources, and support materials more relevant and easy to find. We finished researching and gathering good transactor feedback via a survey and focus group and are now using this information to design an improved web page to better meet transactor’s content and navigation needs.
Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Yellow Belt Projects
- General Ledger (GL) Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Yellow Belt Project: The UCI UCPath GL team is making great progress on their project to improve the GL support experience, reduce issue resolution time, and reduce the number of service requests. They are working with the EEC, Accounting, and Fiscal Services to make changes that increase efficiency by reducing or eliminating duplicate touchpoints between the teams working to resolve tickets, which results in faster ticket resolution for GL users.
Launch Date: July 2022
Anticipated Completion Date: April 2023
Finance Workshops
The UCI UCPath team conducted nine workshops on UCPath financial and General Ledger (GL) functionality and is scheduling added sessions. If your school or department is interested in a workshop about UCPath financial and GL functionality and how UCPath and the Kuali Financial System (KFS) work together, please email garrisa1@uci.edu
- GRLN Task Force (aka “Lived Name” Project)
The UCI UCPath team is working with UCPath and other campuses to implement the changes to UCPath required to support the GRLN Policy. The changes are tentatively scheduled to deploy in June 2023. - Improvements in Opening ‘Ask UCPath’ Cases
UCPath continues to work with campus representatives to implement improvements in how cases are opened and how searches for answers are conducted. Look for changes this Spring. - Salary Cost Transfer Process Improvements
Design changes are being tested to improve the user experience. Stay tuned for updates.
Reports and Dashboards (VPN Connection Required)
- AB-119 Union Employee Audit Dashboard
Use this to obtain target list of union represented employees missing information in UCPath.
- Click on AB119 Union Employee Audit Dashboard to determine your school or division’s compliance rate.
- Click on Missing Floor by Department tab for count of missing data.
- Click Missing Information by Department tab for count of missing data.
- Click on AB119 Union Employee Audit Details to easily export list of employee details to Excel.
Transaction Questions
Open a case with the Employee Experience Center (EEC) or call in to the Virtual Drop-in Center Monday - Friday, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Training Opportunities
If your school or department is interested in training, please email us at: UCPathtraining@uci.edu
Georgana Thompson Simonowitz
UCI UCPath Project Director
georgant@uci.edu
Debbie Kistler
Manager of Change, Communications, and Training
dkistler@uci.edu