Letter from the President

Project Enterprise


ERP Project Enterprise: Connecting People and Information

Dear Colleagues,

As you know, the University of Maine System is in the process of implementing a new administrative computing system (PeopleSoft) which will handle the computing information of: Human Resources, Finance (FAST, WebFAST, accounts payable, purchasing), Student Administration (admissions, academic records/registration, student billing, financial aid), and Advancement (donor and alumni relations). This new system, when fully implemented, will give us the benefit of an integrated, web-based system which will ultimately enable us to provide 24/7 access for our students and university community, provide better information, and modernize and update all of the administrative systems. The project, formerly known by the acronym ERP, has a formal name: Project Enterprise: Connecting People and Information. You will see this new name on all updates from the UMS and from our USM Core Team.

The Human Resources module (payroll, benefits, time entry) went live July 2003. Now, work is progressing on all of the components of the Finance module (chart of accounts, WebFAST, accounts payable, purchasing, etc.), with all pieces currently scheduled to go live in April 2005. As we get closer to implementation, all appropriate staff will be notified of a series of training sessions which they must attend in order to migrate to this new system. It is imperative that all staff designated participate in this training. Introductory, prerequisite training in “How Business Will Change at UMS” will occur in September and October; training in the other areas of finance will occur in the months leading up to the April implementation. Stay tuned to the ERP/Project Enterprise Website on the USM website (http://www:usm.maine.edu/erp/) for more information on this, as well as to A-list and other postings about these next steps.

Work has also begun on the admissions/recruiting module which is scheduled to go live in July of 2005. This will be followed by Grants/Contracts in 2006, Student Records in 2007, Student Billing and Donor Relations in 2008, and Financial Aid in 2009.

Many dedicated USM staff members are involved in every stage of the implementation for all modules, and I can assure you that they are doing everything in their power to ensure that we have the tools we need to migrate to these new systems. The success of this implementation depends on all of us working together to make the migration as smooth as possible. If you have any questions about the project or would like to learn more about it, I encourage you to contact any ERP Core Team member, and to bookmark the USM ERP website for updates and information.

Thank you for your work with this, and for ensuring that all appropriate faculty and staff participate in all training.

Sincerely,

Richard L. Pattenaude

President

For further information or problems with this page, contact:
PeopleSoft@usm.maine.edu

 

PE - Project Enterprise