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There are several ways to remain informed about Enterprise Systems Upgrade Program (ESUP) progress and news.

Subscribe to the ESUP blog
Information will be shared on the ESUP blog frequently. Posts can be directly delivered to your inbox by entering your email address in the "Subscribe by Email" window at upgrade.umn.edu. Once your subscription is activated, you will receive an email alerting you to any new ESUP posts late in the afternoon on the day they are published. If there is no post, you won't receive an email.

Sign up for the weekly ESUP Student update
If you'd prefer a weekly email with updates from both the ESUP blog and the Student work stream, you can be added to the distribution list by contacting Kate Sophia .

Join the Student Records Stakeholder Engagement group
Those interested in Student Records topics can join the Student Records Stakeholder Engagement Google group to receive details on Town Hall meetings and invitations to occasional surveys about topics being discussed in the Interactive Design & Prototyping (IDP) process.

The University has recently acquired a new enterprise content management system - Drupal. This is a systemwide initiative available to and supporting all system campuses, and a great opportunity for the Enterprise System Upgrade Program (ESUP). The Enterprise Portal project will be working closely with the Drupal team so that content providers can enter content into Drupal for their websites and have it appear in the new portal.

The Student work stream has started Interactive Design and Prototyping (IDP) sessions. Previously, sessions were focused on "what, not how." In this second phase of the upgrade, the focus is on the how. Teams will work from now through August examining business processes and developing solutions for bridging any gaps between delivered PeopleSoft functionality and business process requirements. As each module gets deeper into its work, more information will be available on the ESUP Student website.

The Student Workstream of the Enterprise Systems Upgrade Program (ESUP) is now in the second phase of "Analyze & Design." The key activity of this phase is Interactive Design & Prototyping (IDP). IDP focuses on the University's business requirements and how the new version of PeopleSoft will meet those requirements. When the off-the-shelf version of PeopleSoft does not meet all of the business requirements, a "gap" in functionality is identified. The team will then work together to develop solutions for bridging the gaps.

In order to find the best possible solutions for the gaps it identifies, the Student Records team is establishing regular "town hall" meetings to engage with the students, staff, and faculty involved with the affected business processes. These meetings will be held on the second and fourth Friday of each month. The purpose of the meetings is to:

• Identify and validate stakeholder requirements for business processes 
• Collect input from stakeholders on proposed solutions to identified gaps 
• Provide a forum for the team to share information on project process

Meeting information--including time and location, agenda, and any supporting documents--will be posted to the ESUP Student Records Stakeholder Engagement group (join to receive updates) and the ESUP Student Records webpage.

The first meeting will be Friday, February 22, 8:30-10 a.m. Each campus will have a location to attend in person:

• Crookston: 116 Kiehle Building
• Duluth: 206 Montague Hall
• Morris: 7 Humanities Fine Arts (HFA)
• Rochester: 398 University Square
• Twin Cities: B20 Fraser Hall

These meetings are open to the public, but those who wish to attend should RSVP using this form.

Mark your calendar for the ESUP portal kick off event on Monday, February 4 from 2 to 4 p.m. An email invitation with more details will come soon, so be sure to join our mailing list by emailing umportal@umn.edu. There will be at least one location to attend on every campus.

You can also stay informed about the program by visiting z.umn.edu/portal. And you can check out the main ESUP website on Monday afternoons to learn about new updates to the program at upgrade.umn.edu.

During the past year, an Academic Support Resources (ASR) committee has worked to make course information easier to maintain, while also increasing the accuracy of reporting and student billing. This data simplification project will aid in the PeopleSoft 9.0 upgrade project. The conversion was done behind the scenes in collaboration with the Office of Information Technology (OIT). Changes are effective starting summer 2013. The conversion impacts all University campuses.

You will notice that some fields (locations, components, delivery mediums, and instruction modes) in ECS and ECAS have fewer options, and one has even been completely eliminated. Refer to the Course and Transition Guide on the ASR website for complete information.

The core activity of the next phase (starting in February) of the Enterprise Systems Upgrade Program (ESUP) is called Interactive Design and Prototyping (IDP). To learn what IDP is and why we need to do it as part of our upgrade process, see the recent post on the ESUP blog. The ESUP blog will serve as a primary source for information on ESUP, so keep checking back for the most up-to-date information.

The structure for the monthly meeting of the Registrar's Advisory Committee (RAC) will change starting in January in order to increase information sharing and participation in the Enterprise Systems Upgrade Program (ESUP). There will be two shorter sessions for topics specific to undergraduate education and post-baccalaureate education with a longer combined session that will cover topics common to both audiences, including ESUP.

The new structure will follow the schedule below:

9:30-10:00 undergraduate education topics
10:00-11:30 topics common to undergraduate and post-baccalaureate education (including ESUP)
11:30-noon post-baccalaureate education topics

In months where the common session does not take 90 minutes, the post-baccalaureate session will start and end earlier. This will be noted in the agenda circulated in advance of the meeting.

If you have any questions about RAC meetings, please contact Kate Sophia.

The Enterprise System Upgrade Program (ESUP) had its official kick-off on October 16 and immediately began the "Plan & Discover" phase of the upgrade. This first phase reaffirms and builds upon the preliminary fit/gap analyses and planning and will set the scope and schedule for ESUP going forward. At the end of Plan & Discover, a more definitive timeline should be available.

Ongoing information is available on the ESUP website and Student Project Work Stream website. The Student Project Work stream website currently contains contact information and calendars specific to the work being done in admissions, financial aid, SEVIS, student finance, and student records. Both the ESUP website and the Student Project Work Stream website will expand as the upgrade progresses. A weekly email containing key updates and messages is also available. To be added to the distribution list, send your request to esup@umn.edu.

With business analysts devoting time to tasks associated with the upgrade effort, all requests for production support should be directed to the respective helpline (rather than a specific individual) to ensure that is responded to in a timely manner.

Admissions: admissions-tech@lists.umn.edu
Financial Aid: FA Help Request Form
Student Finance: sfhelp@umn.edu
Student Records: srhelp@umn.edu

Beginning Saturday, October 13, the Office of Information Technology will upgrade the critical software (PeopleTools) that supports PeopleSoft Campus Solutions and Financials. To accommodate this upgrade, all PeopleSoft systems (e.g., Financials, HR, and Student Administration) and related applications (including One Stop self service), will be unavailable from 6 p.m. on Saturday, October 13 until 2 p.m. on Sunday, October 14. Batch jobs will not run during the upgrade. Full functionality will be restored by 2 p.m. on Sunday, October 14.

This upgrade will allow the University to continue to receive technical support from Oracle, and is a critical building block for the Enterprise System Upgrade Project. More information is available on the PeopleTools Upgrade page.