Project Update

Dec. 9, 2020

This message was sent to: Financial Services and UITS staff

Today we are writing to provide an update on the Financial System Modernization Project. This multi-phase, multi-year system implementation will provide increased financial clarity, a more standardized Chart of Accounts, and more streamlined business processes for budgeting and financial management at the University of Arizona.

The project team, comprised of staff from Financial Services, University Information Technology Services (UITS), and campus business units established a project plan and conducted a campus readiness assessment earlier this year. Due to the impacts of COVID-19, the team decided to pause the effort. In Fall 2020, the team re-assembled and developed an updated project plan to address the long-term stability of the current financial system. The updated project plan was recently approved by the University’s Senior Leadership team and work on this initiative will resume in January 2021.

The new plan proposes additional steps, specifically taking into consideration changes in light of COVID-19, prior to full-scale implementation:

1. Build readiness and awareness
Build awareness and cooperation with the University’s business community, engage in a discovery process for central administration business processes, and begin a Request for Information (RFI) process.

2. Establish pathways with Smart Design
Partner with the Operational Efficiencies working group to leverage Smart Design process improvements in conjunction with financials modernization.

3. Decide
In Q4 FY21, the Financials Modernization Team will work with University senior leadership to determine speed of implementation.

Financial Services and UITS will host a virtual Open Forum on January 20, 2021 at 1:00 PM for project team members to present the new project plan followed by a Q&A session. Please save the date on your calendar. More details will be sent via email after winter closure.

We look forward to engaging the campus financial community as we continue to take steps towards modernizing our financial system.

If you have any questions or would like to participate, please contact Stacey Lemos, Assistant Vice President & Comptroller, Financial Services, or Tim Schwab, Executive Director, Administrative Technologies, University Information Technology Services.

Sincerely,

Barry Brummund
Chief Information Officer

Nicole Salazar
Vice President for Financial Services