University of Arizona: The Implementation of Innovation

As a leading public research institution, the University of Arizona must comply with significant and complex accounting and reporting requirements imposed by granting and government agencies. A number of years ago, the U of A recognized that their current system was not meeting departmental and institutional needs, and a change was required. Indiana University approached U of A about joining a consortium composed of innovation leaders in the higher education community, for the purpose of developing a software program called Kuali, an ERP system built to specifically address the business needs of higher education.

Mr. Charles Ingram, associate vice president for financial services, acknowledges that initially, he was skeptical about the opportunity. As he explains, “I was uncertain whether six individuals could agree and jointly prioritize the development of a system, let alone six institutions. However, our current system wasn’t keeping pace with our needs, and after meeting with Indiana University, I felt compelled to pursue the opportunity, agreeing initially to join in the development of the software. It was later, after developing an extensive understanding of the functionality of Kuali, that we made the decision to implement.”

"I was uncertain whether six individuals could agree and jointly prioritize the development of a system, let alone six institutions."

The functionality of Kuali sold not only Mr. Ingram and U of A’s technology staff, it sold the institution as well. Before making the decision to implement, U of A invited functional staff to participate in Kuali specification and design meetings for each module, provided department business managers and general users with opportunities to react to the system as it was developed and to act as testers of the system, and gathered input on the functionality and flexibility of Kuali at every opportunity.

As a result, “there was a groundswell of interest and support from all levels within our institution,” states Mr. Ingram. Ms. Michele Norin, chief information officer, explains the significance of this: “One of the key milestones in a software implementation cycle is the point at which those most directly affected support the decision regarding which software to implement. In this case, the business units bought into the product because of its flexibility and functionality. The business units recognize that with Kuali, we will meet their specific needs like never before.”

“One of the key milestones in a software implementation cycle is the point at which those most directly affected support the decision regarding which software to implement. In this case, the business units bought into the product because of its flexibility and functionality. The business units recognize that with Kuali, we will meet their specific needs like never before.”

Ms. Kymber Horn, director of communications and outreach for financial services, elaborates on why there is significant institutional support for implementation: “Kuali’s functionality and the completeness of that functionality were significant in our decision to implement. The systems we need are all there— Accounts Receivable, Budget Construction, Capital Assets Management, Purchasing/Accounts Payable, Labor Distribution, Contracts and Grants, just to name a few. Kuali’s modular design gives us control in determining which systems to implement, and its flexibility allows us to define the business rules under which the systems operate. Further, we are able to extend these systems to meet specific processing and data needs, at the same time ensuring that the data will roll up as needed at the institutional level. Being able to address granular needs specific to unique groups or departments, while meeting the operating and reporting needs of the institution, is the most optimal a scenario we can envision.”

Further, Mr. Ingram sees significant time-savings resulting from the operating structure of Kuali: “With Kuali, specifically Workflow, we will no longer be paying people to chase paper. There is no paper and no filing, which ultimately means there are no lost transactions. There is an audit trail that will safeguard the integrity of our processes and our data.” Mr. Hank Childers, project director for the enterprise systems replacement project, elaborates: “The process architecture of Kuali allows the central unit to spend more time on analysis and less time on routine transactions. The value proposition of this is significant--this means that our employees are able to spend their time on higher value analysis activities, using better, richer data.”

FLEXIBILITY AND FUNCTIONALITY

Paving the path towards implementation, U of A has enlisted the aid of rSmart, a company dedicated to open source software support and services in higher education. With rSmart’s assistance, U of A is developing a “sandbox” of Kuali Financial System tools.

“rSmart has been aggressive in addressing our needs and finding solutions to our problems. The people at rSmart know Kuali, they know higher education, and they are heavily involved in the community that will define the future of Kuali,” Mr. Childers explains.

"The people at rSmart know Kuali, they know higher education, and they are heavily involved in the community that will define the future of Kuali.”

From her day-to-day interactions with rSmart, Ms. Horn has gained comprehensive insight into the value rSmart offers her institution: “rSmart has a level of expertise that has proven invaluable. For example, I have been in circumstances where rSmart has needed a certain report from our current accounting system (FRS) to load data into our sandbox. I can ask our IT for the report and rSmart understands the data it contains. Further, rSmart can develop reports that are similar to the reports in our current system, facilitating reconciliation. rSmart understands the data in Kuali and in our current system and how to access it, and there is no language barrier in our communication.”
Ms. Norin adds, “rSmart is fully committed to supporting us on the path ahead. rSmart has the people who know the system and who’ve been in it from the start. I’m confident rSmart has the essential core knowledge to guide our institution through implementation.”