UC HAS BEGUN work to deploy an integrated payroll and human resource system across all 10 campuses and medical centers. For the first time in UC’s history, every campus and medical center will follow a single set of standardized business policies and practices for payroll, HR, and academic personnel.

The Payroll Personnel System (PPS) Initiative has set an ambitious January 2013 timetable for the sweeping change, to ensure that UC has aligned its business practices when the first wave of campuses begins using the new payroll and HR platforms.

The PPS Initiative is one of the top priorities for UC’s Working Smarter Initiative because it has significant opportunities for improving operational services while reducing costs.

“There are 11 different versions of the current Payroll Personnel System running across UC,” said project director Anthony Lo. “All of them have been in use for nearly 30 years, and lack the basic functionality of modern payroll and HR systems.

Lo added that with its 11 different variations, there is no easy way to look at employee data holistically. Reconciling information from across UC is extremely cumbersome and time consuming.

“And if a federal regulation changes, we have to Band-aid it onto the old platform, along with all the other Band-aids we’ve put on over the last 30 years,” he said.

The end result — in roughly four years — will be a system that gives UC employees ready access to information about their jobs and employment, and the ability to make changes to their personal data online.

In addition, payroll processing will be real-time, automated, efficient, and more accurate. UC managers will be able to initiate personnel transactions online and will have access to information for workforce planning and decision support.

“For our campus, the efficiencies will be significant,” said Human Resources Director Tricia Hiemstra. “With the new system we’ll have more accurate data and better reporting capabilities.”

Among the first-wave locations are UCOP, UCLA and its medical center, UC Merced, and UC Santa Cruz.

UCSB has named Chief Information Security Officer Karl Heins as the project manager, and the campus is currently evaluating the best time to begin implementation.

Another important step in the campus’s Operational Effectiveness efforts is the Gateway Pilot Program, an online purchasing system. The program is expected to begin at the start of the 2012-13 fiscal year.

UCSB Procurement Gateway will transition the campus from traditional retail purchasing to strategic buying and green procurement with streamlined buying.

“This is an amazing project that combines the collective will and expertise of volunteers from across the campus,” said Jacob Godfrey, project manager and campus purchasing manager. “Gateway will be our easy-to-use buying portal that allows faculty, staff, and students to shop and approve purchases from the office or in the field.”

Noted Gene Lucas, executive vice chancellor and Operational Effectiveness project leader: “Currently, we have several major IT systems in various stages of implementation that will transform the way we do business on campus. What’s exciting about the Operational Effectiveness initiative is that it provides a forum for leadership on campus to explore and evaluate how to achieve significant breakthroughs in operational resiliency and effectiveness as a result of these IT-enabled services.”