There are two questions on the minds of most Yale community members these days: "How will my job change as a result of Project X?" and "When will I learn more about that change?"
The answer to the second question is "very soon" -- beginning in late June and early July, in fact, when administrative staff will be asked to participate in the next level of training, the In-Depth Briefing Series. There, among other things, Yale community members will get the answer to the first question about Project X's impact on their jobs.
These in-depth briefing sessions, which will take place over a three- week period, will be divided into two sessions of about two hours each. Session One will examine issues relating to the current Chart of Accounts -- its background and how it is presently used -- and will offer a look forward at the new Chart of Accounts' structure, definitions and capabilities.
Session Two will focus on the new financial planning budget and reporting tools. It will feature an overview of the future environment, an examination of the software selection goals and process, and a description of the tools selected. Participants will receive information regarding the new budget process, data warehouse changes and the steps that will be taken to implement the new system.
Each group discussion will include a question-and-answer session.
Invitations for the in-depth briefings are going out now to business managers throughout the campus. Following these sessions, business managers and key staff will be invited to participate in implementation planning workshops -- small group workshops that will cover the "nuts and bolts" of what each department will need to know before implementation of the new system begins in 1997 and 1998.
The In-Depth Briefing Series is the second in a sequence of information and planning sessions designed to prepare the Yale community for the campus-wide changes that Project X will bring. The first round of these information sessions, the executive briefings, was recently completed. Provost Alison Richard and Vice President for Finance and Administration Joseph Mullinix were among the featured speakers at those briefings, which were designed to whet participants' appetites and spur enthusiasm for the Project X's intended objectives. Other featured speakers at the briefings included Project X committee members Janet Ackerman, associate vice president for finance; Dr. Stephanie Spangler, deputy provost for biomedical and health affairs; and Peggy Plympton, executive director of student support services.
During the briefings, the speakers reviewed the four overall objectives of Project X: 1. improved decision-making capacity; 2. improved quality of administrative services; 3. reduced costs and enhanced revenues; and 4. reduced risk. Provost Richard noted that Yale's decision to pursue the "alternative and more challenging course" of Project X "will allow the University not merely to respond to the pressures of the Year 2000 accommodation, but also to enhance the efficiency of its administrative operations in significant ways."
She added that, by the time the project is concluded, "we will have a set of tools that will help inform our thinking ... as leaders, as managers, as administrators ... about the strategies of the institution as a whole."
Ms. Ackerman also echoed this theme: "Although this project involves a lot of technology, if all we do is implement a new system, then we will not have succeeded in meeting a key objective, ... which is to look at and change the way we do business."
Vice President Mullinix noted that the Project X timetable calls for Yale to replace "essentially all of our administrative systems in the financial and human resources areas by July 1, 1998." In fact, the Financial Planning and Management Team of Project X hopes to have a new budgeting system available this fall. Other financial applications will be available for the July 1998 conversion. "It's a very aggressive schedule," said Mr. Mullinix, one that he admitted may be "modestly painful." However, he added, the end result will be a system that is "more user friendly, easier, faster, and more efficient."
Provost Richard also commended the core group of over 200 part- and full-time Project X Team members, who have been actively involved in meeting the goals of the project. "For this project to be successful," she said, "we have to go beyond the core and reach out to the community -- I cannot emphasize that enough."
In fact, an expected but seldom-mentioned benefit of Project X, according to Dr. Spangler, is "that it has brought together talented individuals in this University who have not previously had the opportunity of working together. ... The level of commitment and enthusiasm from these individuals is both stimulating and encouraging."
In closing the briefing, Ms. Richard said: "This is a historic moment. The last time Yale embarked on a project of this magnitude was decades ago, when the existing systems were put in. The fact that these systems have performed as well as they have for so long is a testament to the skill and hard work of our predecesors. We now have an opportunity to contribute our best ideas ... We appreciate your involvement as we set in place systems that will, I am confident, be viewed with appreciation and admiration by those who follow us in future decades!"
-- By Donna Pintek