Communication Plan

CSS Upgrade PeopleTools 8.54

Date: 2/12/2016

Overview

BGSU has invested in Oracle’s PeopleSoft suite of applications as the University’s ERP (enterprise resource
planning) system. The ERP system provides for the integration of data and processing into a unified system
that provides for maximum information integration and accessibility throughout the University. Applications
included in the ERP suite include:

CSS – Campus Solutions is a suite of software specifically designed as a higher education student
administration system. BGSU is currently operating at version 9.0 of CSS, which is Oracle’s latest
release of this application.

HCM – Formerly called HRMS, the Human Capital Management application administers the
University’s Human Resources, Benefits, and Payroll. BGSU is currently operating at version 9.0 of
HCM. The latest release is version 9.2.

FMS – The Financial Management System (FMS) includes areas such as the general ledger and
commitment control, purchasing, accounts payable, accounts receivable and billing, grants and
projects, and asset management. BGSU is currently at version 9.1 with the latest vendor release
being 9.2.

Oracle has provided end of support dates for Extended Support for the PeopleSoft suite of applications as
shown in the below table. In answer to the end of support dates, BGSU leadership has developed a
PeopleSoft Application Road Map for the CSS, HCM, and FMS applications that will ensure the University
remains supported under Oracle through 2018.

Release Extended Support Ends

CSS 9.0 December 2018
CSS / HCM 9.0 June 2015
HCM 9.0 June 2015
HCM 9.1 September 2017
FMS 9.1 November 2017

The PeopleSoft Road Map consists of three phases. Each of these phases will be considered a separate
project; however there are interdependencies between the projects.

Phase 1 – CSS / HCM Split

To address the June 2015 end of support date for HCM, BGSU must upgrade the HCM application. In
order to perform this upgrade, a split of the CSS/HCM environment and database was required since
the CSS and HCM applications shared the same Oracle 11.2.0.3 database. The split was required to
take place first because Oracle does not support moving to HCM 9.1 or 9.2 while the database is being
shared. This project included moving the environments from a shared set of physical servers to separate
Virtual Machines (VM’s). This phase of the Road Map took place from January 2014 – July 2014, with
a go-live date of July 19, 2014.

Phase 2 – HCM Upgrade

Once the CSS/HCM databases were split into separate databases, BGSU was able to begin the
project to immediately upgrade HCM from 9.0 to 9.2. This phase of the Road Map took place from
August, 2014 – July, 2015, with a Go-Live date of May 22, 2015.

Phase 3 – FMS Upgrade

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CSS Upgrade PeopleTools 8.54
Date: 2/12/2016

FMS will be upgraded as the final phase of the PeopleSoft Road Map and, as such, has been renamed the FMS
PeopleTools 8.54 Upgrade/Full House Project. It is our goal to complete the upgrade to FMS 9.2 by December
2016. However, before the upgrade can take place, FMS PeopleTools must be upgraded to PT 8.54. This
phase is expected to run from October, 2015 – February, 2016 with a Go-Live date of February 26 - 28, 2016.
In addition, PeopleTools 8.53 will be desupported in July 2016.

In order to remain supported by Oracle, our PeopleSoft applications must be upgraded to the latest PeopleTools
version. FMS and CSS PeopleTools must be upgraded to PT 8.54. The FMS phase is expected to run from
October, 2015 – February, 2016 with a Go-Live date of February 26 - 28, 2016. The CSS phase is expected to
run from January, 2016 – to June, 2016 with a Go-Live date of June 10, 2016.

Objectives

Communication will be an essential part of the success of the CSS PeopleTools 8.54 Upgrade/Full House
Project. Objectives for this communication plan include:
• Communication with the campus community to provide an overview of the CSS PeopleTools 8.54
Upgrade/Full House Project.
• Communication with the campus community to provide an understanding of the various phases of the
project.
• Communication with the campus community to provide an understanding of the team’s progress
through each phase of the project.
• Communication through appropriate delivery methods to current BGSU administrators, faculty, staff,
and students to provide information regarding the impact of the project to their area.
• Communication between established committees and teams to facilitate an understanding of work
(and impact of the work) being completed within each area.

Factors for Success

Communication regarding this project needs to:

• be delivered in a consistent manner from all information sources.

• be available to all affected users.
• be delivered in a timely manner.
• be distributed using the best communication mechanism for the identified message.
• emphasize the benefits provided to the BGSU community by the project.

Communicating in a consistent and effective and timely manner will contribute to the success of the project by
increasing awareness and understanding of the project and building acceptance, support, involvement, and
commitment.

Communication Plan Components

In order to facilitate appropriate communications, the communication plan will:

• define audiences appropriate to receive information about the project.
• outline the various means available to communicate project information.
• associate the appropriate communication method and message for each audience.

Audience Identification

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An initial step in the communication process is identification of individuals who “need to know”. All groups will
need to have a general understanding philosophy and goals of the CSS PeopleTools 8.54 Upgrade/Full House
Project. Beyond this, each audience type may require a varying level of detailed information based on their
interaction with the system.

The following list identifies the audience types and provides a high level summary of the information to be
communicated.

QA Group – Executive oversight, ownership, and decision making authority for the CSS PeopleTools 8.54
Upgrade/Full House projects. The QA Group is:
John Ellinger – Chief Information Officer, Information Technology Services
Viv McCarver – Chief Human Resources Officer, Human Resources
Brad Leigh – Executive Director, Business Operations
Cecilia Castellano – Vice Provost, Strategic Enrollment Planning
Sharon Swartz – Controller, Controller’s Office
John Fischer – Vice Provost, Academic Affairs

Steering Committee – Those who represent the areas directly affected by the CSS PeopleTools 8.54
Upgrade/Full House project. They will provide project level oversight and direction. Steering Committee
members are:
Beth Ann Rife, Human Resources
Dawn Chong, Student Employment Services
Chris Cox, Registrar’s Office
Matt Haschak, ITS
Sandy Heck, Human Resources
Chasity McCartney, Bursar’s Office
Bob Swanson, Controller’s Office
Adrea Spoon, Admissions Office
Andy Grant, Business Operations
Betsy Johnson, Student Financial Aid
Keith Ramsdell, Graduate Admissions
Sarah Waters, Residence Life
Phyllis, Short, ITS
Sheri Kellogg, ITS

Project Management – Individuals who will be in charge of project management.

Rich Kasch--ITS
Chris Cox—Registrar’s Office
Chasity McCartney—Bursar’s Office
Betsy Johnson—Student Financial Aid
Amy Beltano—Controller’s Office

Functional Team Leaders – Individuals responsible for recreating department test plans, executing the test
scripts, and involving other department resources in the testing phases. The Functional Team Leaders will
also help communicate about the project within their departments.
Jason Dunn – Human Resources
Rhonda Dicke – Payroll
Amy Beltano – Controller’s Office
Rhonda Montague – Bursar’s Office
Sue Lau – Registrar’s Office
Becky Cogswell – Registrar’s Office
Adaeze Ochieze – Graduate Admissions
Michele Schmitz – Student Employment
John Eggenton – Student Financial Aid

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Jason Hartigan – Student Financial Aid

Erin Heilmeier – Admissions
Dustin Sabo – Admissions
Jeff Mangette – Registrar’s Office
Rhonda Montague – Bursar’s Office
Leann Peiffer – Bursar’s Office
Saundra Smith – Residence Life

Subject Matter Experts– Individuals providing support to the Functional Team Leaders by assisting in
completion of testing phases and other tasks as appropriate. Functional Team Leaders will identify
appropriate individuals within each of their areas.

Technical Team Members – Individuals providing technical support for the project. These will include the
Infrastructure Lead, Database Administrators, PeopleSoft Administrators, and PeopleSoft Security
Administrators.

ITS Staff – Individuals within ITS (beyond the Applications Area) who may need to be aware of changes in
order to provide any needed support. These may include the Technology Support Specialists and Technology
Support Center.

University Offices & Staff – Individuals in Administrative Offices, Academic Departments, and Department
Staff who use the PeopleSoft suite of applications in transacting business for the university.

External Audiences – Any individuals outside BGSU who may seek knowledge about the project.

Information Types

General “Big Picture” Information

Audiences in this group need high-level information about business practice changes and their impact on the
institution.

Testing Information
Audiences in this group will be involved in testing business processes, business practices and reporting
capabilities in the system prior to the production system split.

Specific and Appropriate Business Practice Information

Audiences in this group need to know specific details about how the split will impact their business processes.

Technical Information
This audience level will need to have a clear understanding of the technical aspects of the project.

Specific and
General Appropriate
Testing Technical
Audience “Big Picture” Business
Information Information
Information Practice
Information
QA Group x
Steering Committee x
Project Management x x x x
Functional Team Leaders x x x
Subject Matter Experts x x x

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Technical Team Members x x x

ITS Staff x
University Offices and
x x
Staff
External Audiences x

Means of Communication

The following means of communication are being identified for use in order to communicate with targeted
audience(s):

• Website
• ListSERV
• Established Meetings
• Campus Update Messages

Website
The PeopleSoft Full House Project web presence has been established at: www.bgsu.edu/fullhouse. This
web site will be the repository for general project information, project status information, the project timeline,
frequently asked questions, training information, project documentation, and a project team member listing.
The web site will be updated with information on a timely basis and will be a valuable resource to users
needing to know about the project.

ListSERV
Team members will be a part of the main PS_ROADMAP_PROJECTS LIST
listserv and as appropriate team members will be a part of additional listservs. A collective list of project
listservs is below.

• PS_ROADMAP_PROJECTS (All inclusive list of all Full House Program members)

• ps_roadmap_projects_steering_com (All inclusive list for Full House Steering Committee)
• PS_ROADMAP_PROJECTS_CORE_TEAM (CSS Upgrade only project team - Functional and
Technical)
• ps_roadmap_projects_tech_team (CSS Upgrade only Technical Team)

Established Meetings
Routinely scheduled meetings may involve the full project team, individual functional groups, team leads, or
technical team meetings. Beyond the project team, regularly scheduled meetings such as the QA Group
Meeting will provide appropriate updates and communication with stakeholders and key groups impacted by
the project.

Campus Update Messages

BGSU Marketing and Communications using daily Campus Update messages to share a variety of events and
announcements with the campus community. Messages may be targeted for delivery to faculty and staff or
students and the messages are limited to 1000 characters. This communication method will be used as
appropriate to share information with the university community regarding the project.

Other communication methods as appropriate

Targeted communications to specific groups may be developed in appropriate formats as issues, needs, and
opportunities arise.

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Audience by Communication Method

The following matrix charts the targeted communication methods for each audience level.

Other Methods as
Campus Update
Established

appropriate
Messages
Meetings
Website

Listserv
Audience

QA Group x x x
Steering Committee x x x
Project Management x x x x
Functional Team Leaders x x x x
Subject Matter Experts x x x x x
Technical Team Members x x x
ITS Staff x x x
University Offices and Staff x x x x
External Audiences x x

Conclusion

Using the communication plan outlined within this document will assist in ensuring relevant details are shared
with appropriate audiences in order to provide an understanding of the project, its goals, its progress, the
impact on users, and ultimately the benefit to the entire university community.

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