Process Improvement Projects

Overview: 

Idaho State University added a new refund method that allows students to receive funds directly to their debit card (VISA or MasterCard). Students setup a refund profile using the account number on their existing debit card.  The student receives the refund on their debit card the same day we process the refund in Banner.

Status: 

This project is complete and fully implemented.

Features:

• Students receive same day refunds
• The information needed to setup the refund profile is on the student’s existing VISA or MasterCard debit card.
• Increases efficiency by reducing time spent printing, mailing, and handling refund checks.

Overview:

Idaho State University (ISU) is implementing Jaggaer, an online procurement system that provides an end-to-end online experience for the entire procurement process. Jaggaer will replace our current Procurement, Accounts Payable, and Contract Management Systems. Jaggaer is being implemented in a combined project with ISU, BSU, UofI and LCSC.

Status:

Initial Phase of implementation and testing.

Timeline:

Jaggaer Timeline

Features:

Jaggaer will feature the University’s online catalog with Strategic Suppliers*. Shopping in Jaggaer is similar to shopping online, and offers many benefits:

• Access to multiple Strategic Suppliers, products, and centrally located catalogs. Placing an order through Jaggaer means there is no need to obtain quotes, coordinate supplier registration, or negotiate pricing because strategically negotiated contracts are in place with these suppliers for the items in the punchout catalogs.
• It is easy to identify and place orders for discounted contracted items
• The prices have been negotiated based on historical and forecasted University usage.   
• Required approvals automatically routed in Jaggaer Workflow. You will no longer need to email the Account Director and UBO to remind them that they need to approve a Requisition, Jaggaer will email the next approver in the queue automatically.
• Electronic ordering and invoicing are completed automatically in Jaggaer eliminating the need to reconcile P-card transactions for orders that previously would have been placed using a P-card.

All ISU faculty and staff will be shoppers in Jaggaer.  If you are new to ordering, please consult with your department Requisitioner or Purchasing to make sure you are aware of ISU purchasing policies and procedures.

*Strategic Suppliers: This designation indicates that the University has negotiated competitive pricing and appropriate legal terms and conditions with the supplier.  We are moving away from the term “Preferred Supplier” and using “Strategic Supplier” to be clear that the designation of these suppliers is not based on user preference. 

The following Strategic Suppliers will be live and available for processing orders in Jaggaer when we go live:

• B&H Photo Video
• CDW
• Dell – IT supplies
• Fisher Scientific
• Office Depot
• Staples
• VWR
• Grainger
• Home Depot
• Henry Schein Inc
• Anixter In
• McKesson Medical-Surgical Inc
• Medline
• HP
• Lenovo
• Apple

Additional suppliers may be added to Jaggaer after go live. Updates will be listed on this project website.

Questions about Jaggaer can be directed to lisaleyshon@isu.edu. Additional information and facts about Jaggaer can be found at: Fact Sheet Template IHEPF

Overview:

Millennium’s FAST Budget and Forecasting application allows for both centralized and decentralized Budget development, Position management, and Forecasting. This enables departments to view and edit numerous budget scenarios, forecasts, and multi-year plans for their areas. It allows for detailed entry of dollars and FTE information and can track down to the employee and position level.  As new features are realized and explored, ISU continues to identify potential efficiencies and relay them to the campus budget and finance community. 

Status:

ISU has implemented the Millennium FAST Budget and Forecasting module and is currently utilizing the module for our FY23 budget cycle. 

Features:

• Central budget management and administration with decentralized budget development
• Create and manage budget series for multiple fiscal years
• Unlimited what-if scenario planning
• Establish and manage position budgets
• Decentralized budget transfers
• Automated benefit model for salary information
• Integrates to ERP finance to provide actuals and commitment data
• Integrates with HR to provide job and position information and report on variances

For any questions on the Budget and Forecasting module, you can reach out to russmayer@isu.edu, or contract Russ by phone at 208-282-3181.

Overview:

Millennium’s FAST Finance Reporting provides decentralized self-service financial reporting for all account holders, allowing for fully supported, drill-down access to all accounts for each user. Reports include relevant, timely information for actuals, commitments, and budgets, showing where money is spent and how it compares to the approved original and revised budgets.  While FAST Finance comes with many pre-built reports, reporting can also be customized and saved to meet each user’s preferences and allow for quick and easy repeated creation. 

Status:

ISU has implemented the Millennium FAST Finance module and is in the process of transitioning the ISU community to use FAST as an all-encompassing financial reporting tool. 

Features:

• Decentralized self-service financial reporting for all users
• All numbers supported through drill-down capabilities to the detailed transaction level
• Reports summarized by any fields in the chart of account, at any hierarchy level
• Reporting formats include: current year actuals, budget to actuals, comparative reports, monthly, quarterly and annual trends and variances
• Security ties to Banner security and mirrors user’s Banner access
• Complete data warehouse that refreshes nightly to provide up to date information

ISU continues to improve on the capabilities and widespread understanding of FAST Finance across campus. 

If you are new to ISU finance or have specific needs in financial reporting for your unit, you can direct questions to meganbaskins@isu.edu, or give Megan a call at 208-282-3949.

You can also find an initial training video of FAST Finance on the Finance Training & Resources site here: https://www.isu.edu/financeadmin/training--resources/ 

Overview:

PaymentWorks is a vendor portal for all vendors to access their vendor and payment information.  It enables our vendors to create and manage their accounts and profiles in an encrypted credential environment.  PaymentWorks allows ISU to determine what information is collected from our vendors and completes and stores IRS required 1099 information.

Vendors will update their information in a single instance for all payers/customers that are connected with PaymentWorks.   Vendors will have the capability to fill-in and edit/update their registration form and company profile.  This will allow both AP and Purchasing to spend more time on other duties instead of tracking down vendor information.  All sensitive date will be updated by the vendor through this system.

Status:

Phase 1 complete. Phase 1 included vendor on boarding for all new vendors, ACH payments to vendors and vendor access to paid invoices.

Phase 2- Will begin in FY23. This phase will implement automatic feeds between PaymentWorks and Banner. Including Vendor create and updates, invoice status and payments. All manual process will be discontinued. Continue to add existing vendors to system.

Features:

PaymentWorks does data validation on seven key areas:

• Tax Identification Number: Uses third party TINCheck to verify tax identification numbers with the IRS. (We use to do this through the IRS website)
• Sanction List/Debarment Status: The legal name of the vendors are checked against sanction and debarment lists and will let ISU know if a vendor is on a list.  This service is checked during the vendor on-boarding and is continuously checked.
• Remittance/Corporate Address: Conducts a real time verification check of US addresses against the US Postal Service Database.  This is done during the vendor on-boarding and when the vendor changes their address.
• Bank Account Details: Will check the vendor’s submitted bank account number, routing number, and the name on the account against a third party databased managed by GiACT.  This third party will be able to tell if the submitted information is accurate, associated with the same account and in good standing.
• Diversity:  Can require vendor to submit and maintain diversity certifications.
• Insurance: Can require vendors to submit and maintain relevant insurance certificates.  They will notify vendors when certificates are about to expire and need to be re-uploaded.
• Conflict of Interest Collection: Will work with us to understand our conflict of interest policy and incorporate them into our custom vendor registration form.

 Questions about PaymentWorks can be directed to gavinjensen@isu.edu

RFID Asset Tracking

Overview:

inLogic is a RFID asset tracking software used to streamline the asset tracking process. As budgets and resources shrink, asset accountability has become a challenge for many schools. Implementing RFID helped automate the physical inventory of fixed assets, capital equipment, and property. It also helped locate missing equipment, keep track of property, and improve asset utilization.

Status:

Phase 1 complete. Completed asset inventory for FY22.

Phase 2 implement automatic update of fixed assets from Banner to inLogic Software.

Features:

• Reduces operating costs, and improves fixed asset visibility
• Significantly reduces the man-power required to physically track assets by automating fixed asset inventory audits, locating missing assets, improving asset utilization, and tracking the movement of assets to improve visibility.