Electronic Personnel Action Forms are Coming!

Electronic Personnel Action Forms (ePAFs) are coming!

Several months ago, Vice President of Finance and Administration Arosha Jayawickrema formed a Banner Revitalization Committee to begin working on the identification and implementation of electronic workflow opportunities which can create greater institutional efficiencies as well as reduce our carbon footprint. This committee is chaired by George Brophy (executive director of Information Technology Services and chief information officer) and Kim Kennison (assistant vice president of finance and controller).

One process that was immediately identified as an opportunity to improve was the Personnel Action Form (PAF) process. The current process to hire, change or terminate an employee is paper-based. The originator of this personnel paperwork must obtain departmental signatures and then send the paperwork along to several additional approvers within the University before it can be input/applied within the Banner system. If an originator needs to follow up on the paperwork, often several departments have to be contacted in order to discern exactly where and why the paperwork has been delayed. This process can be very time consuming and cumbersome.

We are delighted to report that a subcommittee, consisting of representatives from ITS, Human Resources Development (HRD), Payroll and the Budget Office, are diligently working on transitioning this paper process to an electronic process by implementing ePAFs. The ePAF will allow the originator to electronically input all actions previously completed on paper directly into an online form, which will then be sent electronically to the next designated approver until it is ultimately applied electronically to the appropriate BANNER screen(s).

Over the last several months, members of the subcommittee scheduled and conducted conference calls with Virginia Tech, Drexel University and Southern Louisiana University, as well as visited Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Each of these institutions successfully implemented ePAFs, and the subcommittee was able to learn from their efforts to determine best practices regarding this implementation process. In addition, the committee is working with a representative from Ellucian (Banner) to move this process forward.

Focus groups consisting of a cross-representation of University employees who currently process PAFs (and rosters) are being formed. These groups will be asked to provide their insights and candid feedback regarding general needs from their respective department's perspective. We are confident that this community input will be instrumental in the implementation process.

This summer, we anticipate rolling out the first phase of the ePAF implementation – designated pilot groups who employ student workers – with the goal of implementing all student ePAFS by the onset of the Spring 2014 semester. Once the student ePAF process is up and running, we will pilot both staff and adjunct faculty ePAFs.

If you have any questions or feedback regarding the ePAF implementation process or if you are interesed in participating in a focus group, please contact Lisa Belanger, executive director of HRD, at 860.768.4156 or belanger@hartford.edu.

We are extremely excited about this step forward in our institution's use of technology. Watch for additional communications during each step of the ePAF implementation process!