Advisory Council member responsibilities include:

Transcription

1 GOVERNANCE AND OVERSIGHT OF THE KUALI PROJECT: The following provides a chart of the Governance and Oversight Structure for the Kuali Project. In addition to the below, is a Functional Council that includes the major stakeholders from the central administrative areas that are most impacted by the project and that provide most of the leadership and staff from their respective areas for subject matter experts and other non-technical resources to the project. There are two other important teams to the project: Project Leadership Team and Kuali Financial Data Mart Committee. Members and contact information for most of the below are on the website at GOVERNANCE COUNCIL (Functional Council key leaders directors of respective areas also attend meetings of the Governance Council as representatives from their respective areas): This council is the governing body for the project. Members consisting of VP and CFO, CFO-Storrs, Vice Provost-IT and Provost or representative, generally meet once per month and more if necessary and are responsible for project oversight and governance. The Executive Director, Functional Project Lead rsmart Project manager and Technical Project Manager also attend this meeting. The following include responsibilities of the Council: Monitoring and review of the project at regular meetings Overseeing and reviewing budget and contractual issues Controlling project scope as emergent issues force changes to be considered, ensuring that scope aligns with the agreed business requirements of project sponsor (VP and CFO) and key stakeholders Approving major scope related changes in both the product and/or the project(s), for technical and functional changes 1

2 Ensure project funding is secured and additional funding provided when scope changes are approved Evaluation of risks and review of plans to address such risks including: resources strategy; contingency plans like delay of certain modules; go-no-go dates; management intervention; etc. Resolving project conflicts and disputes, reconciling differences of opinion Assist in resolution of escalated project issues or risks and approach Providing resolution of competing projects resource requirements Provide guidance in addressing high-level cross functional resource issues Ensuring that project addresses the achievement of the business case and other outcomes Participate in and/or endorse communication as required including to other senior executives, board members, the president s council, etc. including change management Providing other assistance to the project when required The project s Executive Director (see below) chairs/moderates the Governance Council meetings and reviews and/or completes the presentations that provide project updates, challenges, risks, status, etc. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: The Executive Director is a senior manager with demonstrable interest in the outcome of the project, is responsible for securing resources for the project and has spending authority from the approved budget. The Executive Director acts as a vocal and visible champion, legitimizes the project s goals and objectives, keeps abreast of major project activities, and is a key decision-maker for the project. Duties include: Participate in and/or lead project initiation Participate in project planning (high level) Provide support for the Project Manager Budget oversight and spending authority from approved budget Assist with resolution of major issues, problems, and conflicts Escalate non resolved issues or problems to the Governance Council Remove obstacles; participate in planning the scope; approves scope changes; ensures sign off on major deliverables and agrees to proceed to each succeeding project phase Chair the Governance Council Review and approve all major communication on the project FUNCTIONAL LEAD: The Functional Lead is a senior manager with significant interest in the outcome of the project, who is knowledgeable of the accounting and other functional needs, and who is responsible for the functional specifications for the project, commitment of functional staff, approval of modifications and collaboration with Project Managers and the Executive Director. The lead also communicates vision for the Kuali Implementation to functional staff. Duties include: Participate in and/or lead functional meetings including those with subject matter experts Participate in project planning Provide support for the Project Managers Communicate to all functional areas and Advisory Council Recommend appropriate staff to project roles such as subject matter experts Approval and sign off on functional specifications, data conversion for go-live, and user acceptance testing 2

3 Escalate project issues or concerns to the Project Managers, Project Leadership Team and as necessary the Executive Director Recommend agenda items and communicate to the Advisory Council Engage and involve the various functional departments to make functional decisions Identify and ensure that changes in policies and business practices are made Is the prime internal communicator for the project ADVISORY COUNCIL: The Advisory Council is comprised of a broad cross-section of the campus community stakeholders who are active users of the University s financial system. Members are knowledgeable, committed, fiscal and other staff from non central administrative areas, academic departments, athletics, student affairs, etc. Many of these same staff participated in the evaluation of Kuali and the proof of concept. The Advisory Council serves as a forum to share information about the progress of the Kuali project including major decisions from the project. This council meets on a regular basis to provide a communication vehicle back to their respective departments, schools and colleges, and to provide a sounding board for various decision points, e.g. chart structure, and support to the implementation project in roles such as subject matter experts and testers during the Test Phase of the project. Advisory Council member responsibilities include: Provide feedback to the Kuali project on project direction and major decisions Represent the interests of the campus community and their organizations Provide information on the Kuali project back to their respective organizations Attend all Advisory Council meetings Serve as business process change champions in their respective areas Serve as the communication resource for project information disseminated to the University community Participate in user acceptance testing FUNCTIONAL COUNCIL: Members are the major functional stakeholders and owners from the affected central administrative departments who are engaged in the project and attend many other meetings. Functional Council includes: Associate Controller & Director of Accounting, Manager of Finance Systems, Budget Director, Accounts Payable Director, Director of Purchasing Services, Executive Director OSP and all Functional Leads. The functional leads are chosen from the respective areas by these departmental directors/managers. This is not a regular acting committee but the department directors/managers attend the Governance Council meetings. Responsibilities include: Commit staff from their departments to the project Be knowledgeable of overall project and ensure their departments interests are represented Escalate issues or concerns to Executive Director Review and recommend scope changes affecting their areas Provide communication back to their senior management Champion the project within their departments and to their constituents PROJECT LEADERSHIP TEAM: This team consists of members who provide day-to-day leadership for the overall project (KFS, Rice & Data Mart) and the Director of Procurement Services who provides 3

4 oversight of the SciQuest project and guidance on contractual matters pertaining to the project. The team is comprised of the Executive Director, Functional Project Lead, rsmart and Technical Project Managers, Manager of Finance Systems, Director of Enterprise Applications Service and Director of Procurement Services. This team meets weekly or more often as necessary. It is co-chaired by both Project Managers. The team is a highly cohesive group of staff/consultant from both functional and technical areas who possess strong project commitment. The purpose of this group is to: Provide project status and major milestone tracking including major accomplishments Update project deliverables and tasks, including upcoming deliverables Communicate decisions Identify project issues and risks and assess the level of risk and propose solutions Determine items that need escalation to the Executive Director who in turn can escalate to the Governance Council Provide staffing and other resource updates Identify scope changes and request change orders Provide any other communication important in the management of the project KUALI FINANCIAL DATA MART (KFDM) OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: this committee represents the key staff that provide leadership over the KFDM project including the KFDM Project Manager, Executive Director, Functional Data Mart Lead, Functional Project Lead, Manager of Finance Systems, KFDM rsmart and Technical project managers, rsmart KFDM consultant, and Assistant Director, Enterprise Applications Services. The weekly meetings are chaired by the KFDM Project Manager. This group meets weekly to review the status and progress of the KFDM project. Status updates include action item review, deliverables, risks, and mitigations. Responsibilities include: Provide KFDM project status and major milestone tracking including major accomplishments Update project deliverables and tasks, including upcoming deliverables Identify project issues and risks and assess the level of risk and propose solutions Resolve conflicts and make day-to-day decisions for the KFDM project Determine items that need escalation to the Executive Director who in turn can escalate to the Governance Council Provide staffing and other resource updates Identify scope changes and request change orders Addressing resource needs where functional expertise is required for development Provide any other communication important in the management of the project ESCALATION SUMMARY FROM ABOVE: The above chart on page one shows the governance and oversight structure for the project. As outlined in the above roles and responsibilities, each area on the chart has a role in escalating project issues, concerns, risks, delays, critical issues, etc. to the level above. The Project Leadership Team, which includes individuals from the above chart, can usually resolve such issues. This Team will determine if escalation to the Executive Director is necessary or whether other project team members can resolve the issues. The Executive Director s major role is to resolve issues, problems or conflicts on the project and to remove obstacles that may conflict with the project. Any person involved in the project may contact the Executive Director when issues require escalation. However, the usual escalation should be to the next person on the chart above the person that has an issue 4

5 or concern. The Executive Director will escalate non-resolved issues to the Governance Council for resolution. 5