PeopleSoft Project
Independent Labs & Centers Meeting: 9/6 at 10:30 AM
Please save the date if you do any work with postdocs in Independent Labs and/or Centers.
Special Meeting for Independent Labs & Centers (and the Schools/Departments/Divisions who work with them)
• Tuesday, September 6, 2011
• 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
• Physics/Astrophysics Building, 452 Lomita Mall, Rooms 102/103
• Map: http://hepl.stanford.edu/directions.html
Friendly Reminder: Please submit questions or requests to OPA via HelpSU.
http://helpsu.stanford.edu : Request Category = Student Services; Request Type = Postdoctoral Affairs
To request to join or leave this email list please visit: https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/supdssworkgroup
Postdoc Leave of Absence Requests
Colleagues,
Please continue using the Leave of Absence (LOA) Form via paper. The new LOA form will not be available in AXESS for postdocs until Administrative Systems has completed its support of the current phase of PD Web Forms “Go Live.”
In the meantime, the directions and required documents to request a LOA are available on OPA’s website at http://postdocs.stanford.edu/admin/how-to/leave.html
Friendly Reminder: Please submit questions or requests to OPA via HelpSU.
http://helpsu.stanford.edu : Request Category = Student Services; Request Type = Postdoctoral Affairs
To request to join or leave this email list please visit: https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/supdssworkgroup
PD Web Forms Open Labs and Tips and Updates Session
Colleagues,
A reminder about this week’s two options for getting up-to-date information and/or help with the PD Web Forms system.
1.) PD Web Forms Tips & Updates Session with Tammy Jo Wilson and Al Murray
DATE & TIME: Tomorrow (Sept. 29th) at 9:30 AM
LOCATION: 1215 Welch Road, Modular A, Room 62. (MAP)
AGENDA:
Confidential Information
Reviewing Information in PD Web Forms
Tips for Recommendation Form
Searching for Records in PD Web Forms
Oct. 1st Salary Changes
LOA Forms
Departmental Transfers
2.) Open Labs with Al Murray & GFS staff
Want to bring your actual work and have OPA and/or GFS staff help you in real time at a computer? Please attend the upcoming Open Labs (note: GFS open labs are every Friday at the times and locations listed below):
• Friday, September 30th, 9:00 am – noon, 427 Arguello Way (MAP)
• Friday, October 7th, 9:00 am – noon, 427 Arguello Way (MAP)
• Friday, November 4th, 9:00 am – noon, 427 Arguello Way (MAP)
• Friday, December 2nd, 9:00 am – noon, 427 Arguello Way (MAP)
Friendly Reminder: Please submit questions or requests to OPA via HelpSU.
(Tickets submitted to OPA via the following routing within HelpSU go directly to OPA staff.)
http://helpsu.stanford.edu : Request Category = Student Services; Request Type = Postdoctoral Affairs
To request to join or leave this email list please visit: https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/supdssworkgroup
Regards,
Annelies
Annelies Ransome
Associate Director for Administration
Office of Postdoctoral Affairs
[OPA] PeopleSoft PD Web Form System Go-Live Announcement
Colleagues,
The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPA) is thrilled to announce that the PeopleSoft “PD Web Forms” Module for Postdocs is fully live today.
What does the system being “fully live” mean?
• Change Transaction Form = ready for use as of Sept. 6
• Termination Form = ready for use as of Sept. 6
• Leave of Absence Request Form (form is initiated by the postdoc through AXESS)= ready for use as of Sept. 6
• Postdoc Invite & Recommendation Form = ready since mid-August
**************************************
OPA asks all areas to login to check your access to the system and that you are seeing all the records for your group’s postdocs.
An easy search would be through logging in to AXESS, click on PeopleSoft tab, click on “I agree to the above” in order to login to PeopleSoft, then follow these steps:
1. Click on “Campus Community” -> “STF Postdoc” -> “Postdoc Transactions” -> “STF PostDoc Recommendation”
2. Under “Find an Existing Value” tab, leave all fields blank and click “Search”
3. You should see “Search Results” showing the Recommendation Forms created for postdocs affiliated with your department
*********************************
Some Very Important Notes About the Migrated Data that Populates These Forms:
1. What to do if data appears to be incorrect on the migrated Recommendation Sheet:
a. If an appointment Start Date, an appointment End Date, Faculty Sponsor or Research Mentor, or a Salary is/are incorrect, please create and submit a new Change Transaction Form immediately correcting the information.
b. If it is any of the following types of information, please submit a HelpSU no later than September 20, 2011, in order to have it corrected in a one-time fix upload. Do not make any other changes to the postdoc’s record until you have been notified by OPA that correction was made:
i. DeptID
ii. Other Stanford Associations
iii. Research Experience, noted by Department
2. The data in the Information Sheets and Recommendation Sheets does not include information that already exists in PeopleSoft Student Records. That does not apply to the Change or Termination forms where data from Student Records appear in those Forms. For new appointments that are initiated in the Web Forms, both the Information Sheet and Recommendation Sheet will be complete.
3. No attachments (i.e., supporting documents) were included in the data migration. Please retain these postdocs’ paper files.
4. On the Information Sheet:
a. The ethnicity information on the Information Sheet was not loaded, so the default entry for the first question “ 1) Are you Hispanic or Latino? ” was selected. Please ignore this—it was not loaded into PeopleSoft.
b. For the “Outside Funding” question, all sheets were defaulted to “No” whether the postdoc came with outside funding or not. This is because outside funding is a new field in the Web Form that was not tracked by OPA before this implementation, there was no corresponding field in OPA available to migrate.
Need information on upcoming PS trainings, open labs, authority/access issues, or known system issues?
Please visit http://postdocs.stanford.edu/admin/PeopleSoft_Project.html
Friendly Reminder: Please submit questions or requests to OPA via HelpSU.
http://helpsu.stanford.edu : Request Category = Student Services; Request Type = Postdoctoral Affairs
Regards,
Annelies
Annelies Ransome
Associate Director for Administration
Office of Postdoctoral Affairs
Announcing PeopleSoft Postdoc Web Forms
Sent by Rania Sanford, Assistant Dean, to all faculty sponsors of postdoctoral appointments on August 10, 2011.
Dear Faculty,
I am writing to share with you that Stanford has moved the transactional work for postdoctoral scholar appointment actions (new hires, extensions, terminations and leave of absence requests) to an online interface using web forms and workflow. With the rapid increases in the number of postdocs in the last two years, and the large volume of transactions, paper forms and submission by email could not keep up with the need for efficiency, fast review and processing time, and the required security in handling personal confidential information. So, thanks to support from Randy Livingston, the University’s CFO, and Sameer Marella, Senior Director of PeopleSoft at Stanford Administrative Systems, a custom-built Postdoc Web Forms were developed as a new module in the University’s records system: PeopleSoft. The Web Forms are now in use in two schools, five academic departments in H&S, Engineering and Medicine, and one independent research center under the Dean of Research. This group of 15 administrators is helping us make the final tweaks. The system goes live campus-wide on August 25. All administrative staff handling postdoc paperwork are required to go through training in order to use the system on that date.
Why Do You Need to Know?
Prospective postdocs will enter their information directly online and upload their documents rather than complete a form by hand and fax it or email it. Your staff will continue to obtain the offer information from you and will enter it in the system. The new system will then generate the offer letter, with designated space to include any additional terms and conditions besides the standard language required by Stanford. When your staff complete their step in the process, you will receive an email notification that includes the complete language of the offer letter that the postdoc will receive electronically, with the additional terms and conditions included. The following step, final Department approval, then sends the letter to the candidate for acceptance online.
In addition to the electronic version of the offer letter, if you prefer to sign the letter in person and send it to the candidate as a hard copy, your administrator can printout the PDF version on your letterhead and send it simultaneously with the electronic version.
Department Chair Signature
The paper form to Recommend a Postdoctoral Scholar for Appointment at Stanford requires a departmental signoff by the Chair. In the online system, departmental signoff is still required, and most departments have identified the senior administrator, known as Department Manager, Division Manager, Director of Finance and Administration, Administrative Services Manager or Associate Director, to fulfill this role. This role indicates departmental approval that stipulations or commitments can be met. It is meant to be an overarching role that is distinct from the originator of the transaction and one that has a global view of potential issues such as funding, space or teaching/other commitments that may be part of the offer.
I met with Department Managers across all schools over the course of this project. In addition, your administrative staff were regularly updated with the progress of this project and have already started taking Stanford’s training requirements to use the system. We hope that this change will translate to tangible efficiencies in the services that the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs provides administratively.
Please do not hesitate to reach me by email at rhegazi@stanford.edu or by phone at 5-5075 if you have any questions about this transition.
Best Regards,
Rania
OPA Update - Authority/Access for PD Web Forms in PeopleSoft
Colleagues,
The following is an update from OPA as of August 31, 2011:
ACCESS (AUTHORITY*) TO WORK IN THE NEW PD WEB FORMS PEOPLESOFT MODULE
• Authority that was requested by the Aug. 17th deadline has been set-up.
• Authority requests or changes that came in between Aug. 18th-31st are either already set-up or will be ready Sept. 1st.
• PeopleSoft PD Web Forms Module Go-Live Dates:
o New Appointments (“STF Postdoc Invite” & “Administrative Forms/Recommendation Form”) = now for entire campus community
o Change Transactions and Termination Forms = Week of August 29th (we will send out an announcement of the exact date soon; this unexpected delay from our original target date of 8/25/11 is due to the lead programmer in Administrative Systems having to leave to tend to a personal emergency.)
HAVING PROBLEMS WITH ACCESS/AUTHORITY*?
• If you have any of the following issues (after receiving notice from the system that you have been given authority), please submit a detailed HelpSU to OPA:
o No PeopleSoft tab in Axess (after completing PS Concepts & Compliance certificate process) – PeopleSoft access set-up incomplete
o No STF PostDocs under Campus Community in PeopleSoft (Known “bug” with University’s Authority Manger program; any new authority granted to you wipes out PD Web Forms. Administrative Systems is working to fix this bug.)
o No Dept ID on look-up in STF Postdoc Invite (Known “bug” with University’s Authority Manger program; any new authority granted to you wipes out PD Web Forms. Administrative Systems is working to fix this bug.)
o No Academic Program in STF Postdoc Recommendation Form (Known “bug” with University’s Authority Manger program; any new authority granted to you wipes out PD Web Forms. Administrative Systems is working to fix this bug.)
o No Authority notice from the system – please confirm with your manager that access was requested for you. Please submit a HelpSU ticket to either fix your authority or your manager must submit HelpSU to request new authority for you.
* What is “authority”? To be given authority to work in the new module you must be granted access to the new PD Web Forms module and its related systems. There are three roles in the PD Web Forms system, and the definitions of those roles are listed below.
Please visit OPA’s main PS Project Page for helpful training materials, a list of known issues with the new module, and reviewing tips for admins. http://postdocs.stanford.edu/admin/PeopleSoft_Project.html
DESCRIPTIONS OF THE ROLES:
Role #1: Department Admin Entry - Required
• Point of contact for the postdoc and the faculty member regarding paperwork: new appointments, leaves, extension of appointments and termination of appointments.
• Coordinates with other department staff, such as finance or faculty affairs, on funding questions.
• Submits the DS-2019 and makes the funding attestation required for international scholars.
• Provides a departmental and/or lab orientation for the new scholar
• Must be familiar with Stanford’s policy and procedures related to postdoctoral scholars.
• Typically the same person who enters the GFS lines for the scholar.
Role #2: Department Coordinator - Optional
Useful for large departments (50+ postdocs) or departments with highly decentralized operations or affiliated research centers.
In such areas, administrative associates may be have the Department Admin Entry role while the Coordinator role is the one staff member with a deeper knowledge of postdoctoral policy and procedures can oversee the process for the whole Department or large unit. The Coordinator reviews the administrative associates work before an offer is extended to the postdoc.
• Is first point of contact for the Administrative Associates for policy and procedure questions.
• Reviews the Administrative Associates’ work for completeness and adherence to university policy, including the funding level and the duration of appointment.
• Ensures that the proposed start date allows sufficient processing time for department and University approvals, including time required for international scholar visas.
• Reviews any special additions made to the offer letter, to ensure they do not conflict with university policy.
• For actions that fall outside of university policy: reviews the sponsoring faculty’s request for policy exception and advises the faculty member on alternatives.
• May assist the Chair/Designee, and review each postdoctoral appointment in respect to department-specific policies and context.
• May not report to the appointing faculty member(s).
Role #3: Department Chair/Manager/DFA - Required Approver: Reviews and Approves Transactions in Workflow.
A postdoctoral appointment at Stanford is a contract between the University, the faculty sponsor and research mentor, and the postdoc. For the University to approve a recommendation to appoint a postdoc, departmental approval must be received. This authority rests with the Department Chair (or Division Chief in the School of Medicine), and is delegated to the Department Manager/DFA (or Division Manager is the School of Medicine).
• Represents the department.
• Understands and act upon concerns regarding equity in funding level among all postdocs in the department have been examined.
• Confirms that the faculty member has the funds, space, etc necessary to make the appointment commitment for the duration of the proposed offer, and is in a position to bring the candidate to Stanford-- for example, there is no conflict of interest or pending departure of the faculty member to another institution.
• Confirms departmental approval of any special arrangement, such as concurrent postdoc/instructor appointments, or agreements regarding pursuing a degree while at Stanford.
• Does not report to the appointing faculty member.
Friendly Reminder: Please submit questions or requests to OPA via HelpSU.
http://helpsu.stanford.edu : Request Category = Student Services; Request Type = Postdoctoral Affairs
CORRECTED: August 25th Update on PD Webforms PS Module
Colleagues,
The following are important updates from OPA as of August 25, 2011:
PeopleSoft PD Web Forms Module Go-Live Dates:
• New appointments (“STF Postdoc Invite” & “Administrative Forms/Recommendation Form”) = now for entire campus community
• Change Transactions and Termination Forms = Week of August 29th (we will send out an announcement of the exact date next week; this unexpected delay from our original target date of 8/25/11 is due to the lead programmer in Administrative Systems having to leave to tend to a personal emergency.)
Special Meeting for Independent Labs & Centers (and Departments/Divisions who work with them):
• Tuesday, September 6, 2011 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM -- location: Physics and Astrophysics 102 103
Authority to Work in the New PeopleSoft Module:
• Authority has been granted to all groups who have confirmed Roles #1, #2 (optional) and #3.
o If you cannot access the system and are new to PeopleSoft, please confirm that you have completed the required “PeopleSoft Concepts and Compliance” course and submit a HelpSU to that group if there is an unexpected delay.
o If your group has not confirmed the roles, has an error with their roles that must be resolved, or has changed the roles and not sent the authority request to OPA, you will not have access to the module in PeopleSoft.
• PLEASE NOTE: If you are granted any new privileges via Authority Manager after your Postdoc Web Forms security is granted, your Postdoc Web Forms security will be wiped out and must be reinstated. Please submit a HelpSU if this happens to you.
Tips on Reviewing Information Sheets from Invited Postdoc & Offer Letters Online:
• The biographic/demographic data entered by the invited postdoc cannot be corrected once Role #1 (Administrator/Originator) “approves” the information sheet in WorkFlow.
• If any of the following is incorrect when you receive the invited postdoc’s information in Workflow, you must RETURN the information sheet to the PostDoc to have that data corrected:
o Data entered by PostDoc MUST BE EXACT MATCH information on DS2019, passport and/or visa.
Names must match machine readable passport names with no symbols (letters and spaces only)
o Birth date must be in DD/YY/MMMM formatting
o All documents requested must be uploaded by postdoc
Role #1 can upload degree conferral .PDF when filling out the Recommendation Form if this document is not available at the time the postdoc completes the information sheet.
• Please carefully review the draft offer letter while working in the Recommendation Form (click on “Offer Letter” at the top of the form).
o Once the recommendation sheet is submitted and approved by Role #3, it locked and sent to the invited postdoc.
Changes after the offer letter has been accepted online by the invited postdoc are done via the “Change Transactions” form.
New OPA Turn-Around Times For Review and Decision on Appointments/Change Transactions/Termination Forms in Workflow:
• Two to five business days.
o For appointments requiring visas: OPA cannot approve appointments without both the recommendation form and the DS2019. Turn-around time will be two to five days from receipt of the last required item of submitted (recommendation form or DS2019).
o Upon receiving Workflow “notice of approval” by OPA, postdoc’s data will be uploaded into PeopleSoft within 24 hours.
o Please continue to follow all required lead times set-out by Bechtel for visas.
Bechtel and GFS Policies and Procedures
• Please continue to follow all policies, procedures and deadlines for Bechtel and GFS.
o Paper H1B request form still required by OPA.
Known Issues with the Module:
• There are some minor glitches with the new software that AS will be fixing. Please check here for a current list of known issues: http://postdocs.stanford.edu/admin/PeopleSoft_Project.html
o Remember to use FIREFOX browser to be able to open documents in WorkFlow
Training & Open Labs:
• The new training PowerPoint, training dates and open lab dates are all listed here: http://postdocs.stanford.edu/admin/PeopleSoft_Project.html
To request to join or leave this email list please visit: https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/supdssworkgroup
Friendly Reminder: Please submit questions or requests to OPA via HelpSU.
http://helpsu.stanford.edu : Request Category = Student Services; Request Type = Postdoctoral Affairs
Update on PeopleSoft Module, Status of Appointments, Authority
Colleagues,
The following is some helpful information to answer some frequently asked questions we have been receiving in the past few days.
Status of Appointments/Changes/Terminations:
• Email notifications have been or will be sent for the remaining hard-copy submissions received by OPA. If you think you may have missed the email, please log-in to PeopleSoft to check for the ID number. If you have not heard from OPA by Wednesday on a paper packet you submitted on or before Aug. 12th, please submit a HelpSU.
• Status for items submitted online should be checked by the administrator (Role #1) via WorkFlow, or, if approved by OPA, by logging-in to PeopleSoft to pull the ID number.
• Staff who complete training and defined their originator (Role #1) and approver roles (Role #3) may now initiate new appointments in the new system at any time. The only transactions that cannot be performed are reappointments, terminations or leave of absence. Data migration is happening this week and you will be emailed once those types of transactions can be done in the system.
Getting Access to and Working in PeopleSoft:
• If you are in Role #1 – also known as Department Entry or Originator – for your area, you will receive an email notice that you have been given authority to PD Webforms. (This takes several days after all required training is completed, or we may be waiting for your department to finalize the roles.) You must have an approver, Role #3, defined for you in the system for you to receive security in the system.
• If you are in Roles #2 (Department Coordinator) and #3 (Department Manager), your Workflow will be activated when the corresponding administrator in Role #1 gets their authority.
• Role #1: If you can access the STF Postdoc “Invite” form, but cannot pull up your Dept ID please submit a HelpSU immediately – your authority needs to be re-instated. There is a known bug that if anything changes in Authority Manager, your security for the webforms must be reset. (Administrative Systems is aware of this bug.)
• Training required for Role #1 and Role #2, and is helpful but not required for Role #3.
• If you would like to attend the training again as a refresher, please feel free to audit any of the remaining sessions. The materials have been updated, so there will be some new information.
• PeopleSoft Learning Center can be found at https://www.stanford.edu/dept/as/sandhr/learnps/index.html
PD Webforms Systems Training PowerPoint Presentation:
• Available online at: http://postdocs.stanford.edu/admin/PeopleSoft_Project.html
Known Issues for the PeopleSoft Module:
• Current list available online at: http://postdocs.stanford.edu/admin/PeopleSoft_Project.html
Open Labs:
For anyone who needs a little one-on-one help with a question or problem they are having with the new Postdoc module in PeopleSoft and/or GFS. The labs are an unstructured format; first come, first served, and will be staffed by OPA and GFS. Please bring your real work with you to get help in real-time.
• Friday, September 30th, 9:00 am – noon, 427 Arguello Way (Please click on the campus map for directions.)
• Friday, October 7th, 9:00 am – noon, 427 Arguello Way (Please click on the campus map for directions.)
• Friday, November 4th, 9:00 am – noon, 427 Arguello Way (Please click on the campus map for directions.)
• Friday, December 2nd, 9:00 am – noon, 427 Arguello Way (Please click on the campus map for directions.)
PS Module Training Dates:
Please sign-up for the required OPA PS training – “PD Webforms Systems Training” – if you will be in either Role #1 or Role #2 for your area. Sign up in STARS: search for “PD Webforms” (Note: if attending the class for a second time, please do not register in STARS.)
• 08/25/2011: 10:00 AM – noon, Li Ka Shing Center, RM: LK120
• 09/07/2011: 10:00 AM – noon, 1215 Welch Road, Modular A, Room 62 [NEW!]
To request to join or leave this email list please visit: https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/supdssworkgroup
ACTION ITEM: Training Requirement For New Postdoc System
TO: Departmental Postdoc Administrators
FROM: Office of Postdoctoral Affairs
SUBJ: Training Requirement for new PeopleSoft Postdoc System
The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPA) is preparing to launch a new Postdoctoral Scholar administration module in PeopleSoft in March. The new system will automate administrative processes related to postdocs, and move those processes to a web-based interface, including:
- New Appointments
- Changes of Faculty Advisor
- Appointment date changes/extensions
- Salary/funding changes, including October 1 increases
- Leave of Absence requests
- Terminations
The University requires that all department Postdoc administrators complete training prior to being granted access to the system. Required training includes:
1. Completion of the online "PeopleSoft Concepts & Compliance" tutorial; and
2. Attendance at a Postdoc system training session (dates TBA)
If you are already a PeopleSoft Student Records user, it is assumed you have already completed the PeopleSoft Concepts & Compliance tutorial; you do not need to repeat this prerequisite. You will only be required to attend the Postdoc system training prior to or immediately following Go Live.
If you are not a PeopleSoft user, you are encouraged to complete the PeopleSoft Concepts & Compliance prerequisite at your earliest convenience. To do so, go to:
https://www.stanford.edu/dept/as/sandhr/learnps/0908prereqs.html
Follow the instructions on the page for completing the PeopleSoft Concepts & Compliance tutorial and submitting the Certificate of Completion.
Training Sessions on the Postdoc System:
We will share information about training for the new Postdocs system itself as soon as those sessions are scheduled. Several sessions will be scheduled.
Project Updates, Information and Memos are all available in the PeopleSoft Project Folder of the Postdoc Administrator Blog online: http://postdocs.stanford.edu/admin/blog/archives/peoplesoft-proj/.
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Presentation slides: H&S Managers, Campus Readiness
Project Scope and Training (slides)
What and Why Are We Doing This?
This presentation covers the basic reasons, scope and training requirements for the current PeopleSoft Postdoc Web Forms project currently underway.
With funding from the University to move the postdoc-related processes online, administrative users in departments will be managing their postdoctoral appointment and other transactional paperwork online. Online approvals and submission of documentation will also be part of this project.
Our Current GoLive Date is January 24, 2011!
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