NOTE: The following was sent to all authorized Summit users on 11/22. Other employees seeking to get access to Summit should contact Maura Shield in the Controller’s Office.

In response to Summit user requests for additional training sessions we have added the following dates. If you were unable to attend our initial Summit offerings or want to attend a follow up session, you are welcome to attend any of the dates listed below.

Note, while you may attend any of the training sessions, each session will be somewhat geared to a particular audience based on who is in attendance.(i.e. academic administrators dealing with sponsored projects, department administrators and PI’s).

• Tuesday, November 29 9:00-11:00Southwick 317(North Campus)
• Thursday, December1 9:30-11:30 Oleary 200B (South Campus)
• Tuesday, December 6 9:00-11:00 Southwick 302 (North Campus)
• Thursday, December 15 9:00-11:00 O’Leary 237 (South Campus) -CHANGED FROM 12/14
• Thursday, December 22 9:00-11:00 Southwick 302 (North Campus)

*Academic Users ‘ Typically manages department budgets and sponsored projects.

Please RSVP today and thank you in advance for your support of the Summit roll-out!

The following message was sent to Finance Cabinet, Campus Project Managers (CPMs), and Module Stewards on 1/2/12. This is an update from the FIN Upgrade Project.

Follow-up on the Finance 9.1 Go-Live Update

We have now been live on the new system for six weeks.

We are pleased to report that the major issues noted below have been resolved:

a. Performance Issues: Since we have scheduled the clearing of Application Server cache on a regular basis, there have been no reports of users being kicked out of the system.

b. Expense Approval Issues: A fix was put into Production last week that will correct some of the approval issues. The core team and UITS continue to test other scenarios. Please note that the issues reported are not widespread or large in volume.

c. Citibank Travel Card: File successfully posts to Citibank and US Bank.

In addition to process improvements, we are continuing to find and fix issues to ensure continued stability of the system.

This will be the last update published in this single blog entry.

Finance 9.1 Upgrade Complete

The e*mpac Finance 9.1 upgrade has been completed and is now available for all system users.

Please note that the login links for the new Finance Production and Reporting environments have changed. Users should access the upgraded 9.1 version by using the login links on the http://empac.uml.edu web page.

Browser History Cleanup Strongly Recommended

To ensure an optimal experience, Information Technology is STRONGLY RECOMMENDING that you clear your browser history, prior to accessing the Finance 9.1 application. This action can help prevent performance issues and keep you from receiving data integrity errors.

A job aid on clearing history in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari is attached. This is also available online.

Please contact the Help Desk if you need any assistance ‘ 978-934-4357 (HELP)

Financial Reporting in 9.1 Reminders

‘ End users who previously used Finance Reporting to access finance data will still have access to do so in 9.1.

‘ As part of the upgrade, the old FAIR reporting viewer has been retired.

‘ Summit access has been rolled out extensively to users across campus.

Training Materials

Online tutorials and job aids are available in the ‘Information for” section of the campus e*mpac Finance website: http://empac.uml.edu

You will also be able to access select training materials directly from the Finance 9.1 application. Just click the Help Link at the top right corner of the application:

Drop-In Support Schedule

Users seeking additional support are invited to visit one of the drop-in sessions listed below:

‘ Thursday, November 17 ‘ O’Leary 200B (South) ‘ 9:30am to 11:00am

‘ Thursday, November 17 ‘ Southwick 309 (North) ‘ 1:00pm to 3:00pm

Questions?

Please feel free to contact any of the individuals listed below if you have questions:

e*mpac Financials 9.1 is almost here. It will be available to all users starting at 8:00am on Wednesday, November 16th.

To ensure an optimal experience when the system is released, all users are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to clear their browser history. This can help prevent performance issues and keep users from receiving data integrity errors.

See this job aid to Clear Your Browser History.pdf

Click here for the full Finance 9.1 Pre-Upgrade Communication.pdf

KEY DETAILS:

Finance 9.1 Upgrade Schedule for Go-live

Beginning Wednesday, November 9 at 5:30pm through the end of day Tuesday, November 15, the e*mpac Finance system will be unavailable as it is being upgraded to release level 9.1.

Please Note: On November 11^th, Finance Reporting 8.9 will contain data as of November 10^th and will be available throughout the upgrade. Summit & FAIR will be available according to its regular schedule.

Upon the successful completion of the upgrade on Tuesday, November 15, a communication will be sent to confirm its availability on Wednesday morning, November 16.

FAIR REMINDER: As part of this upgrade, the FAIR reporting environment is being retired. It will not be available for reporting after November 16^th.