Frequently Asked Questions

What problems does the Human Resources module aim to solve for higher education institutions?

It addresses four connected challenges: providing a holistic, data-driven view of the institution and departments; enabling employee self-service to reduce inquiry response times; minimizing errors so data is reliable and pay is correct; and eliminating paper-based, duplicate entry through electronic, trackable processes.

How does the solution help administrators make confident, data-driven decisions?

Dashboards synthesize institutional and departmental data (e.g., retirement eligibility trends, compensation ranges) so leaders can forecast needs, identify impacted departments, review budget implications, and validate plans like succession and recruitment without hunting for disparate reports.

How can leaders plan for retirements and future staffing needs?

Retirement eligibility is calculated from institution-defined rules (minimum age and years of service). Leaders can view current and 5-year outlooks, see which departments will be affected (e.g., Chemistry, International Programs), and prepare succession and recruitment plans accordingly.

Can compensation data inform recruitment and budgeting decisions?

Yes. Filters let administrators assess departmental pay positions (e.g., all staff at or above 90% of range). If everyone is within range, they may not need to request additional budget; if not, they can proactively engage the Budget Office.

How are action items and progress on departmental plans tracked?

Goals, tasks, and targets are assigned to employees with due dates, priorities, and progress indicators. Completion of sub-tasks contributes to overall goal completion, enabling department heads to monitor readiness for critical functions (e.g., faculty load and compensation cross-training).

What information can employees access on the employee dashboard?

Employees can view leave balances (current and prior years), pay stubs (current and prior years), and personal employment details such as hire date, addresses, phone numbers, and emergency contacts—all from a central, branded, and printable interface.

What updates can employees make themselves, and why does that matter?

Employees can edit personal data like preferred first name and pronouns via intuitive icons. This reduces HR data entry, speeds up resolution for employees, and improves how colleagues address one another across campus.

Is the dashboard configurable and mobile-friendly?

Yes. It has a responsive design for use on computers, tablets, and phones. Institutions can configure which sections draw attention seasonally—for example, expanding tax forms when W‑2s become available.

How can managers view and support their teams?

The My Team feature shows a vertical org chart with each member’s employment snapshot, leave balances, hire and birth dates, and contact/emergency contacts. Managers can review nested reports to support succession planning, workload balance, and employee recognition.

What activities can employees and managers initiate or approve from one place?

From My Activities, users can start or approve timesheets, leave reports, and leave requests; access roles like Pay Stub or Benefits Administrator to see what employees see; initiate electronic personnel action forms (ePAFs) with defined approvals; use Salary Planner for modeling salaries and position budgets; and manage Faculty Load and Compensation (FLAC).

How does the system reduce errors and eliminate duplicate entry?

Electronic workflows replace paper shuffles. Transactions (e.g., ePAFs, FLAC contracts) are initiated from templates with required approvals, tracked end-to-end, and, when finalized, written directly into the system—removing manual re-keying and reducing delays and error risk.

How do defined rules improve consistency?

Institution-defined rules drive calculations (like retirement eligibility and compensation), ensuring consistent outcomes and auditability across departments and employee types.

What is FLAC and why is it valuable?

FLAC is a specialized tool for managing faculty contracts, calculating compensation (including overloads) based on institutional rules, and maintaining consistency across assignments. It centralizes data and workflows specific to academic appointments.

Who is involved in the FLAC process and what do they do?

Three core roles collaborate: the Faculty Administrator sets up the faculty profile and assigns instructional/non-instructional work; the HR Administrator ensures employment and position records are in place and creates contracts using rule-driven compensation; the Faculty Member reviews and acknowledges the contract and any attached documentation.

How does FLAC handle changes and finalization?

If course assignments change, the system flags the impact so administrators can verify contract types and compensation. Once confirmed, the Faculty Administrator locks the final compensation record, enabling the faculty member’s acknowledgment and automatically applying the job into the system—no re-keying required.

What outcomes can departments expect from using FLAC?

Consistent compensation calculations, proactive detection of assignment changes, streamlined contract approval and acknowledgment, and direct job application into Banner that speeds payroll readiness and reduces administrative burden.

What practical steps can institutions take to realize these benefits?

• Define retirement and compensation rules to power dashboards and calculations. • Configure the employee dashboard and promote self-service (e.g., preferred names, W‑2 access). • Map paper processes to ePAF templates with approval chains and tracking. • Set departmental goals with tasks and metrics for cross-training on critical functions. • Pilot My Team usage with managers to monitor leave, recognize milestones, and plan succession. • Implement FLAC for a subset of courses to validate compensation rules before scaling.