Thursday, June 29, 2017

Finance provides update on Unit4 reporting module

Unit4, the new financial reporting system, was successfully implemented on May 1. The next element of the project is the roll-out of the financial reporting module. 

In response to inquiries about the availability of the financial reporting module, a memo from Vice-President, Administration & Finance Dennis Huber was circulated last week.

"Monthly reporting, although a top priority for the project team, is dependent upon a series of steps that need to be completed as part of the reporting deployment exercise," says the vice-president's memo. "Finance must first finalize the fiscal year end and related audit, after which time the project team will undertake a data migration exercise to bring project-to-date, 2016/17 year-to-date, and asset/liability balances forward into Unit4." 

"These balances, commitments, and budgets are necessary to provide complete and accurate reporting to the University community.  Once the balances are populated, testing will be completed to ensure that all of the relevant figures are being reported accurately and in accordance with the defined data control structure."

The long and the short of it is that reporting on transactions and balances from May 1 is not yet available in Unit4. Balances up to April 30, 2017 remain accessible in FORE.

Updates regarding the availability of financial reporting will be provided on Finance’s web page as the major milestones are completed. More information is available on the Unit4 implementation website.

CECA surpasses co-op employment goal in first term using WaterlooWorks

​A message from Co-operative Education and Career Action.

The first term using WaterlooWorks, the co-op employment administration system that replaced JobMine, is complete! Co-operative Education & Career Action (CECA) is pleased to report an overall spring 2017 employment rate of 96.6 percent (6,509 students) which exceeds the target of 95.6 percent. There were 522 more students employed during this spring - an 8 percent increase over spring 2016.   

“I’m extremely pleased with our spring 2017 employment rate,” says Peggy Jarvie, associate provost, co-operative and experiential education. “One of the key performance indicators for WaterlooWorks was that it didn’t hinder our employment rate during its launch. I’m very proud of CECA staff for stepping up to the plate and supporting our students and employers throughout the employment process as we converted to the new system.”

WaterlooWorks is still a work in progress and improvements continue to be made. Throughout the winter term, there were a number of challenges that kept CECA, IST and Orbis Communications very busy.

Dianne Bader, director, operations for CECA is working closely with the WaterlooWorks project team on improvements to the system. “The project team has started to shift from launch mode into continuous improvement mode,” Bader says. “Many enhancements have already been made to the system that address the highest priority and frequently-heard concerns based on feedback from employers, students and UWaterloo users.”

A summary of responses and changes to student-facing concerns can be found on the co-operative education website. The project team encourages students and employers to continue to provide feedback on WaterlooWorks using the survey located on their dashboards.

Check out CECA’s WaterlooWorks news page for the most up-to-date information on the system. Stay tuned for more continuous improvement updates as well as the next phase of the project.

Reception recognized longtime employees; other notes

Ingrid Pinos, the Library's Supervisor, Holdings Maintenance, Derived Cataloguing, celebrated 45 years with the University last week with Provost Ian Orchard and Associate Provost, Human Resources Marilyn Thompson.

A recognition reception honouring faculty and staff employed with the University of Waterloo for 25, 35 and 45 years was held on Tuesday, June 20 at the Physical Activities Complex, welcoming new members of the 25-Year, 35-Year, and 45-Year Clubs.

The employees, faculty and staff alike, were presented with an award for their dedication and years of service. More than 300 inductees and their guests attended the recognition reception.

Speaking at the event was Ian Orchard, vice-president, academic & provost, and Marilyn Thompson, associate provost, human resources.

This year, a single employee was named to the 45-Year Club, which was added to the 25 and 35-year Clubs in 2015. The Library's Ingrid Pinos received a standing ovation from the audience. Pinos joined the University in 1972 and joined the 25-Year Club in 1997.

This year also marks the 35^th anniversary of the first cohort of the 25 Year Club, who were awarded as part of the University's 25^th anniversary celebrations in 1982.

"You will soon be receiving your annual pension statement for the period ending December 31^st, 2016," says a message from Human Resources. "As a result of the new pension system launched in late 2016, the statements will have a new and improved format. An electronic copy will be posted to myPENSIONinfo within the next few weeks."

"Should you notice any inaccuracies, please refer to the back of your statement for contact information. If you were an active plan member as of December 2016 and have not received a statement, please email pensions@uwaterloo.ca."

"A big thank you to our campus partners for supporting us in the printing and distribution of the statements!"

In preparation for renovations to the Dana Porter Library, please be aware of the following imminent disruptions to Library facilities:

• The 5^th floor will be closed to the public on a permanent basis starting July 4, 2017.
• The government publications collection will be unavailable from July until renovations are completed in January 2018.
• There will be a moving container parked in the Arts Quad outside the entrance of Dana Porter for 3 weeks beginning July 4. The Library entrance will remain fully accessible.

For more information, visit the Library revitalization website.

The Theatre and Performance program in the Department of Drama and Speech Communication is inviting members of the University community to a special departmental anniversary event. "We will be holding a screening of Kristin Wallace’s (B.A. Drama 2006) feature film Moments of Clarity", says a note from drama and speech communication. 

"In this comedy, a repressed agoraphobic's daughter meets a hardened pastor's daughter. While escaping their homes to attend the annual church youth group jamboree, they discover their worlds aren't what they once thought they were." You can watch the trailer online.

The screening takes place on Friday, July 14 with an artist talk at 7:00 p.m. in the Theatre of the Arts in Modern Languages, followed by a screening of the film at 8:00 p.m.