Faculty in the KU Law School receive annual research and professional development allocations (PDAs), but previously had no easy way to view their available balances. The only option was to email the finance director directly, which created bottlenecks and delayed faculty planning.
Professor Alex Platt submitted a Jayhawks Elevate idea recommending a self-service method for faculty to view their balances in real time. Jessica Brown, Director of Finance and Planning, was already exploring a solution. Over the summer, she created individual CF1s (ChartField 1 codes) for each faculty member to help track their specific balances in OAC.
At the start of the fall semester, Jessica rolled out the change by sending a personalized mail merge message to faculty members, each linking to their real-time PDA balance with transaction-level detail. The update now allows faculty to track their expenditures and remaining funds without needing to request a manual update, improving transparency, planning, and responsiveness.
Fellow Change Agents:
- Jessica Brown
- Alex Platt
Impact of idea:
This change saves the finance director approximately 10 hours per month that were previously spent responding to balance inquiries. Faculty now have real-time access to their PDA and research balances, reducing delays and improving financial awareness across the school.
