University business processes mapping: UTS unveils new systems plan

On Sept. 19 UTS and the Systems Renewal Steering Committee unveiled current and proposed new business processes at an Open House.

The Open House sought to gauge faculty, administrative and student input on the mapping and allow interested parties to speak with team members and learn about the proposed changes. The Open House broke the business process maps into finance, student administration, research administration, human resources and business intelligence modules.

The business process mapping has been an ongoing project throughout the summer and is part of a larger long-term plan which will incorporate industry best case practices with the intent of creating more efficient information management and processes throughout the university. The entire mapping project is part of VISION 2020: Technology Strategic Directions, which was adopted as McMaster IT strategy in 2010

Following the mapping process, McMaster has hired The System Integrators, a consulting group, to analyze the business process maps and apply a Fit-Gap analysis to map where McMaster’s processes currently have gaps, in terms of performing tasks efficiently.

The student administration module mapped out current practices and where issues currently lie in processing. The various maps displayed touched on processes such as those governing student records, funding and awards, convocation, program registration cycle, student registration and teaching & grading systems. Systems that could be changed in this process include SOLAR, OSCAR and MUGSI.

While this process is ongoing, students cannot expect to see the after-effects of these changes until further down the road. Wendy Finemore, Business Analyst with the Office of the Registrar, stated that the system process changes will be more evident within the next several years.

“The idea is aligning processes with systems,” said Finemore.

McMaster has selected Oracle’s PeopleSoft Enterprise Resource Planning System to transition its business processes. The project website suggests that by 2013 the Systems Renewal team will be moving towards implementing the new systems.