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News

Software gets mixed reviews

PeopleSoft leaves some students frustrated; Staff members cite functionality

by KIM THAI
The Daily Cougar

PeopleSoft 8.9 is getting a mixed reception from the UH community after priority registration for Fall 2007 began April 13.

Some students are feeling frustrated with the new application, and some staff members have been unwilling to voice their complaints on the record because of "political reasons," one staff member said. 

While there have been staff members who have been generally supportive of the system, many students feel there hasn't been enough communication as to why the new application was implemented.

"It seems that in the University there's a lot of problems with communication," Spanish sophomore Talley Johnson said. "I didn't even know about PeopleSoft until a couple of weeks ago. I logged on and realized nobody said, ‘We're changing software.' I didn't even know that my date of registration changed until I talked to my adviser. I would have gotten on there and been surprised Friday morning." 

The timing of the switch to PeopleSoft 8.9 has been another issue. Sandra Frieden, executive director of the project, explained the reason for the application "going live" March 5. 

"We didn't want to change everything over in the middle of the semester -- starting the semester in the old system, but ending it with the new system? We figured that would drive everyone really crazy. It's the cleanest break," Frieden said. 

Creative writing junior Nancy Elena Agin said she doesn't understand why the switch was made because the old system was functional and easy to use.

"I'm frustrated because I had no idea this program was taking the place of an already sound and easy to use program that I've come to trust and rely on to access my student information and to register for classes," she said. "This change doesn't seem good to me; the new system is more complex for no apparent reason. Don't replace something that works and is trustworthy and has been dependable for years with a new system that isn't ready yet and has too many holes, or flaws, that only hinders and annoys students." 

The upgrade to PeopleSoft 8.9 has taken 10 years and was put in motion to help the University function more efficiently by integrating the previously separate areas of human resources, finance and student administration into one application.

Frieden said the best way she can explain the upgrade to students is by telling them the previous software was 17 years old and could no longer meet the demands of the University. 

This fiscal year's total allocation for the upgrade, including implementation and ongoing operations, is $6.3 million, Frieden said. 

English sophomore Jennifer Moses said navigating the course catalog using PeopleSoft has been far too complicated and time consuming. 

"I am disappointed in the software," Moses said. "I feel like I'm hunting for the information I need. I don't think making your schedule should take two hours, and I know I'm not the only one who took that long. I think it's frustrating how many steps it takes simply to do one task. Every time I want to change a class, mine restarts over."

Moses, Agin and Johnson all said the application requires students to re-login far too often because the allowed idle time is too short. They said there should be more course information available, or at least some kind of link to the course catalog, as was present in the old system. 

"It's just annoying," Johnson said. "People are really worried that the system might crash when people start using it to register. In the old system there used to be a connection with the course book to find out what the requirements were and a basic synopsis of the class. 

"I'd like to be able to look at it instead of having to (open) a separate (window) for PeopleSoft. I would have preferred to use something that (had) been tried and tested and had worked as opposed to something new that obviously has so many problems." 

PeopleSoft 8.9 doesn't have the option of linking to the public course catalog yet, but course requirements and descriptions were being uploaded at the time of these interviews, Frieden said. 

Ron Chance, the assistant manager of the Information Technology support center, said although there has been frustration with the program from students and faculty, he thinks that most will overcome the initial "growing pains" and realize that the application has great functionality. 

Frieden and Chance said most students have been calling the support center because of the necessary password resets and recommend that students check their UH e-mail addresses, aliases and passwords to verify if their information is correct. 

Frieden and Chance also said there are other, more complicated problems than what students complained about, such as the databases not aligning correctly for students who are in the process of being uploaded. Frieden said the number of these cases is few. 

Even though many staff members have declined to comment about the application upgrade, Frieden said she is asking for everyone to communicate any issues they have with the software, because otherwise it is impossible to address those problems. 

Graduate College of Social Work business administrator Dawn Hull uses PeopleSoft 8.9 to run payroll and look up personnel information for statistical reports for the college. She has had problems with her "run controls" not being carried forward, but said that overall she thinks the application is more aesthetically pleasing and convenient.

"I like the look better, and I like that fact that soon we will be able to have single sign-on to HR, PASS, Finance, and Student Admin. It will save time not having to log into two or three different components," Hull said. "You can pull a lot of information out of PeopleSoft. The reports look different, so of course there is a learning curve, (but) you can download reports into Excel, which makes it easy to configure a spreadsheet/report to fit your needs."

Marsha Christ, assistant business administrator for the Graduate School of Social Work, said the application software is much more user-friendly than previous applications. 

"I have been using PeopleSoft since its inception at UH," Christ said. "I have always loved PeopleSoft. I think it is a much better system than the Legacy we had ages ago. I am very easygoing and can work with anything if given the right training. I think it is apparent that a lot of people have put many, many hours into making sure this is a success."

For technical assistance with PeopleSoft, call (713) 743-0356. For a step-by-step tutorial on registering, visit www.uh.edu/peoplesoft/RegistrationDemo.html. 

Walk-in, hands-on institutional labs are also available until Friday. For more information, visit www.uh.edu/peoplesoft/Walk-inHelp.html.

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