Your Ideas Matter
Jayhawks Elevate is successful because of you. Your ideas make us better. Below are some examples of processes being improved by your peer's ideas. Check out changes being made. Perhaps you have an idea to submit too!
Send Traveler Checklist When Travel Request Approved
Susan Franks, who retired earlier this year, recommended a Travel Reimbursement Checklist be sent to the requestor in advance of their trip, with the idea being to aid with pre‐travel plans & submission of the traveler’s post Travel Expense Reimbursement (TER) request. The current process was to send such a travel documentation checklist upon the traveler’s return from their trip, often making it too late to capture receipts and other travel documents and causing a lag in reimbursement turnaround time. This idea submission prompted a change to switch to today’s new process which now automatically sends a pre-trip email notification 7 days prior to the traveler’s departure. This email pre-notification contains a link to a Traveler Checklist and a Resource Guide.
Fellow Change Agents:
Judy Hamner, Stephanie Howser, Mike Lewis, Nolan Haire, Karen Schaller, Colette Gillespie, Aimee Losey, Amy Carlson, Caitlin Day Wedel, Chris Bell, Tim Spencer, Cindy Jacobson, Lori Gutsch, Dawn Kilburn, Morgan Philippi
Impact of idea:
Creates better traveler awareness and preparation for turning in reimbursement documentation on time.
Concur Per Diem Calculation Alignment
Xuejun Zhang expressed that the Concur calculation of partial day per diem travel inputs were inaccurate for KUCR line item. She suggested that this calculation be adjusted to keep KU Departments aligned with the Travel policy and prevent the need for multiple administrative reviews. This led to where are today with Concur being the system of record for per diem calculations and is now standard across both KUCR and KU, resulting in quicker turnaround times for Travel TER submissions and reimbursements. This was implemented as part of our Pay in 30 project.
Fellow Change Agents:
Judy Hamner, Stephanie Howser, Mike Lewis, Nolan Haire, Karen Schaller, Colette Gillespie, Aimee Losey, Amy Carlson, Caitlin Day Wedel, Chris Bell, Tim Spencer, Cindy Jacobson, Lori Gutsch, Dawn Kilburn, Morgan Philippi
Impact of idea:
$1,750 annually in efficiency savings
Streamline Student Account Summary Request Process
Mary Frances noticed how manual and time-consuming it was to fulfill student account summary requests, as it involved copying and pasting information along with other typed updates. She reached out in hopes to shorten these steps by utilizing their query out of the Student Financial System, but then saving time by using a template with pivot tables and pre-formatted fields. Ultimately, this process changed from being quite manual for each account request to a much more simplified and repeatable process that requires little to no editing.
Fellow Change Agents:
Angie Dopp, Craig Alexander, Mandy Tucker
Impact of idea:
$2,000 annually in efficiency savings
Automatically Update Employee Information for Reimbursements
Wyatt Haywood was frustrated when asked to provide an updated W9 and direct deposit documentation to receive a reimbursement via direct deposit when he is already set up for direct deposit in payroll system. He suggested that we should use the payroll information for reimbursement payments. This suggestion is one of the reasons we switched all reimbursements to route through Concur as it will enable KU to use HR Pay direct deposit information and not require employees to submit the extra documentation. This idea was implemented through the Pay in 30 project.
Fellow Change Agents:
Judy Hamner, Stephanie Howser, Mike Lewis, Nolan Haire, Karen Schaller, Jeff Day, Claire Bays
Impact of idea:
$11,500 annual efficiency savings
Capital Asset Improvement
Wendy Reese recognized an increase in the corrections being made on Capital Asset Entries even though these transactions were being reviewed by multiple individuals. She partnered with KUCR to emulate their Capital Asset checklist to better educate those involved. In addition, she now sends communication on transactions misidentified as Capital Assets to all involved parties to improve training and accountability for all involved. She is seeing significantly fewer errors with these changes.
Fellow Change Agents:
Annie Rajaei
Impact of idea:
Fewer errors and substantially less rework and corrections for all involved.
