Project Purpose

PeopleSoft

How will the project affect you as an employee?

How is my Self Service information secured?

Who has access to my information?

Can I opt out of Self Service?

How can I receive a printed pay statement?

If I do not receive pay from Columbia, am I required to active my UNI?

How will the project simplify your job?

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the purpose of this project?
The People @ Columbia project will implement PeopleSoft HRMS at Columbia University. The People @ Columbia PeopleSoft HRMS Project will replace disparate, non-integrated legacy Human Resources systems (PIS, BIS and GEAC) into one fully integrated system for Human Capital information.

What is PeopleSoft?
PeopleSoft is an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) Software Vendor which provides integrated organizational software solutions for strategic and administrative functions.

How will this project affect me?
The PAC project will simplify nearly all personnel, payroll, and benefit-related administrative tasks, saving time and effort for everyone in the University community.

As an individual employee PeopleSoft will give you simple, quick access to the information that directly affects you. Imagine being able to go on-line to easily update your own personal information, check benefits eligibility, update tax information, and print your paycheck information. That's the PAC vision and it will be the PAC reality.

The goal is a one-stop shop for all employees; because we know you have better things to do with your time than update your employee information ten times and still worry about it.

• Employees have the ability to update and/or view Human Resources, Payroll and Benefits data via the web.
  • Update address, phone numbers, directory approvals and emergency contact data.
    

  • Enter tax elections and direct deposit information (Employees will be able to receive either a check or direct deposit advice. If a direct deposit advice is selected, the employee may elect up to 2 accounts for direct deposit. These accounts can be checking or savings accounts. Employees may select two checking accounts, two savings accounts or a checking and savings account.)
    

  • View and print paycheck information (pay stubs for direct deposits, checks, off-cycle and on-demand payments)
    

  • View benefits enrollment information

How is my Self Service information secured?
Your self-service data is attached to your UNI (University Network ID), which means it can only be accessed by entering your UNI and your password. All Columbia employees are automatically assigned a UNI when they are hired. In order to view/update your self-service information, you need to activate your UNI and create a password.

For additional security, the PeopleSoft application will automatically log you out of the application after a fifteen minute period of inactivity.

Who has access to my information?
Your Department Administrator has access to some of your personal and employment information. S/he will be able to view your addresses, phone numbers and emergency contacts as well as your basic employment information including salary and work location. Department administrators will not have access to your benefits information, pay statements, direct deposit bank account or W-4 Exemption information.

Can I opt out of Self Service?
All employees will have the ability to view their self-service information. The data can only be accessed by activating one’s UNI and creating a password.

How can I receive a printed pay statement?
Weekly and bi-weekly paid employees who receive checks or elect direct deposit will receive a printed pay statement.

Monthly paid employees who receive a check will receive a printed pay statement with their check.

Monthly paid employees who elect direct deposit will be able to view and print a copy of their pay statement via self-service.

If I do not receive pay from Columbia, am I required to activate my UNI?
We recommend that you activate your UNI, as your official email address for Columbia is: (Your UNI)@columbia.edu, since you need to have an active UNI in order to utilize self-service to view and/or update your personal, benefits and payroll information.

How will this project simplify your job as a Departmental Administrator?
In your job, if you're an administrative staff person, processing forms and entering data that gets employees hired, paid and insured, your work will be greatly streamlined. Instead of filling out form after form and making multiple calls to get a simple task completed, how would you like to have all the tools right on your desk?

Because PeopleSoft will easily share records for vacation-sick leave, benefits, and payroll, you will only have to look in one place for the information you need, and you will only have to enter data once. One database will contain all employee information and you'll have a variety of ways to use it.

• PIS, BIS and GEAC are combined in to a single source, University HRMS (Human Resource, Benefits and Payroll) system, which improves data integrity leading to more accurate paychecks.
  • Data entered once
  • Fewer hand-offs
  • All HRMS sources share the same data
    
  
  
• Department Administrators enabled with direct access to the University HRMS system.
  • View their employees’ personal, employment, and salary data (additional compensation will be available via the Department Payroll Register and the Department Earnings Register).
  • Update employee demographical data directly into the system
  • Ability to create and print PAFs (see an example of the new form with Data and without Data), Turnaround PAFs and Nomination forms (the approval process will not change)
  • The Roster process will remain the same for 0 Salary, Annual Recertification and Off-Cycle Rosters. Union Rosters will not exist. Departments/Schools will receive a communication noting the labor agreement increase amount and effective date.
  • We have received many requests for reports. To learn the status of your particular request, send an email to pac@columbia.edu with the type of report requested and we will provide the status of its disposition.

• Position Management utilized for Administrative and Academic positions.
  • Administrative Staff - allows for unique position numbers for each job, providing knowledge of vacant and filled positions and position history
  • Academic Staff - provides ease of data entry
  • Casual Staff - anyone currently active or terminated after 6/30/02, will be converted and maintained in PeopleSoft. Their time will be entered via FFE.
  • Position Numbers are auto-generated for Administrative and Professional Library Positions. PeopleSoft position numbers are "smartcoded" for all other Academic Positions. PeopleSoft will not maintain PRS, PRQ or shadow system position numbers. If a school/department needs this information, they will need to maintain it in a separate system/process.
    

• Use of Job Classifications and Job Families to aid in comparative studies for the Administrative Offices.
  • University Rank Code structure replicated in PeopleSoft allowing continued precise differentiation of academic and administrative staff.
  • Classification of Administrative staff into job families enhances the ability to complete comparative studies while enabling Human Resources staff to better develop career paths at Columbia.