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Project Phases
Formation
The eMerge HRIS Project Team was initially formed in August of 2006. Four staff members were dedicated full-time to the project and moved to Julian Hall. In addition, an HRIS Policy Group was formed to serve as the executive steering committee of the project. A Faculty Advisor was hired as a consultant to facilitate the process. Weekly meetings of the Project Team and Policy Group were held to assist in the communication process.
Project Charter
The creation of a project charter was a key first step in the project. Project Team members with the assistance of the Faculty Advisor drafted a charter which was then reviewed and edited by the Policy Group members and their staffs. The final project charter was published on Sharepoint in November 2006.
Process Mapping
As the Project Charter was being created, key processes were identified and Project Team Members began mapping processes using Microsoft Visio. In all 65 processes were mapped and distributed to the departments of ownership to be updated and maintained. Some process changes were identified which could be implemented prior to the implementation of the new HRIS. Those changes are still in progress.
RFP
A Request for Proposal was created by the eMerge team and the HRIS Policy Group. The RFP was initially released in September 2007 with responses from vendors due in November. The vendor responses were reviewed by the eMerge team and various members of the Policy Group and their staff.
Focus Groups
Initially focus groups were held with the key internal departments impacted by the HRIS, Human Resource, Payroll, Budget Office, Planning and Institutional Research and Administrative Information Systems. Those focus groups helped identify where a majority of time is spent on current processes and where those groups hope to see changes with the implementation of a new system.
In November and December, 2007, focus groups were held with representatives from throughout campus to identify their priorities for a new HRIS. 33 people representing 30 Departments attended these sessions. The key issues raised in these focus groups can be found in the link below.