Re: Learning Curve on New Financial Systems
To: Faculty and Staff
January 11, 2021

Dear Campus Colleagues,

It has been one week since UC Merced launched multiple transformative financial management systems that will benefit the university for years to come.

The Oracle Cloud system and a new Chart of Accounts were implemented – major milestones for the two-year Alpha Financials project. The Concur team unveiled a new travel and expense system. New Effort Reporting and GLACIER systems went live as UC Merced disconnected from UCLA-based systems and support, rising to the next level of self-sufficiency.

Each of these systems has a learning curve. The number of systems coming online this month amounts to an enormous change for the university. No amount of pre-launch training or other preparation can compare to using new systems under live conditions. Because the entire financial system structure has been replaced, for many staff this can seem like the first days at a new job.

We want to use this moment to step back, take a breath and emphasize:

  • Users and their supervisors should apply patience and understanding as everyone gets up to speed on these new systems. It may take a little longer right now to complete certain tasks – and that’s understandable. It will get better through repetition, and once we are familiar with the systems, everything will be far more efficient than in the past and the time needed complete tasks will have decreased.
  • There are numerous resources that address questions and concerns. The best place to start is the Go-Live Toolkit. There are items like the Chart of Accounts (CoA) master values spreadsheet, a link to the FAU-to-CoA mapping tool, and a glossary of terms and FAQs on the Alpha and Concur websites.
  • Office hours are available as an open forum for users to ask non-urgent questions and provide feedback about processes and navigation with process area experts. For the latest office hours calendar and Zoom links, see Alpha Financials Post Go-Live Support on the Go-Live Toolkit.
  • Links to training materials about the Oracle Cloud system are available on the toolkit page. Training and office hours for Concur are available here.
  • If you have questions specific to a department, this contact list can help direct you to colleagues with answers. You also can open a Service Now ticket.

We appreciate everyone’s diligence – and voices – as we work together to become familiar with these financial systems and continue through the learning curve. Your feedback will play a major role in making the systems meet and, over time, exceed our expectations.

Take care and be well,

Kurt Schnier
Interim Chief Financial Officer

Kim Groesbeck
Interim Assistant Vice Chancellor/Controller
Business and Financial Services
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