Updates & Upgrades

SYSTEM UPDATES

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

The A&F Tech Team is constantly monitoring the U-Approve system, ensuring the steady development of enhanced system features. The programming team gathers feedback via testing, the user experience, and department-based specialists, in order to improve both system form performance. Below you'll find an accounting of the system-wide upgrades:

6/26/2019

Electronic Hiring Form
  •  Live
Request for Personnel Transaction (RPT)
  • Added Compensation Type of FRIP.
  • Update labor distribution feeds to EPAFs so that multiple job labor distributions can be fed correctly.
U-Approve (General)
  • Added Compensation Type of FRIP.
  • Changed the way the e-mail URLS are encrypted/decrypted.
  • Removed U-Improve.
  • Updated the generic e-mails to start with "A(n)" instead of "A".

8/13/2018

Request for Personnel Transaction (RPT)
  •  Fixed a 500 error when feeding to EPAF.
  • The Provost contact will not be removed when people open existing records that they can edit.    
Plant Fund Request
  • Added the index and index title to the completed e-mail.

8/1/2018

U-Approve (General)
  • Handling fiscal year end dates will be checked based on a date set in Banner.
  • Any URL may be bookmarked and/or e-mailed to people without getting a popup warning when signing into U-Approve.
  • A "Sign Out" link was added to the error message page telling user's they must sign in with their employee NetID.  
  • Modifications were added to U-Approve to speed up user requests when there were multiple request that took an extended period of time.
  • Additional Editor functionality was added to the RPT and Policies.
  • A mod to the date pickers were made to display a four digit year when two digits are entered.  This allows users to see what will be stored in the date field.
Request for Personnel Transaction (RPT)
  • A name search was added to the RPT when trying to load an employee.
Request for Budget Change (RBC)
  • Search results are now sorted by the id in descending order.
  • The document code was added to the completed emails.
  • A process was added that links RBCs to the corresponding "F" document code.

7/9/2018

Cost Transfer Payroll
  • PI Approvals have the following statement:  "I confirm that I have first-hand knowledge of the work performed during the stated period AND the effort distributed, along with any remaining effort, represents a reasonable estimation of the work performed."
  • The Summary Report Routing Information will have the following statement by the PI Approvals:  "I confirm that I have first-hand knowledge of the work performed during the stated period AND the effort distributed, along with any remaining effort, represents a reasonable estimation of the work performed."

6/29/2018

Personnel Activity Report (PAR)
  • Modified the late PI e-mails.  The subject template is now: Personnel Activity Report Submission Required - <DAYS> day reminder.

6/12/2018

Personnel Activity Report (PAR)
  • Fixed the 6 weeks late notice search.  It was returning results for 4 weeks late notices.

6/7/2018

Cost Transfer Payroll
  • Transaction records cannot be saved without an employee entered.
  • Cosmetic modifications.
Request for Budget Change (RBC)
  • Designated and Auxiliary budgets are allowed to go negative.
Personnel Activity Report (PAR)
  • The application that sends out late notices will send late notices to all PIs that have an employee with a pay record that hasn't been submitted.  Previously, it'd check for records that were missing a status and an approval date.  However, this missed a couple of people that were setting the status and not submitting their approval.
  • When a person clicks on an e-mail link to a PI's dashboard and opens a PAR record from the "Pending Other's Approval" list, with a status of "Employee Approval In Progress," the PI will not see the confirm checkbox or the submit button.

5/31/2018

Cost Transfer Payroll
  • Form added to production.
New Index Request
  • The index code and title will be in the approved e-mail's subject and body.

5/24/2018

Policy
  • Any user can modify the review date when creating a revision to a policy.

5/3/2018

Personnel Activity Report (PAR)
  • Employees that have an inactive umontana alias, but an active UM alias will no longer get an e-mail.  Instead, the e-mail will go to their PI and the PAR record will automatically be approved by the system.

5/1/2018

Personnel Activity Report (PAR)
  • PI(s) have been added to the PAR search export.

4/26/2018

Personnel Activity Report (PAR)
  • New search functionality was added:
    • Users can now search by PI information (first, last and id.) 
    • A Time Span will return every employee corresponding to a PI that received a late notice.  Previously the Time Span search returned a single employee corresponding to a PI that received a late notice. 
    • PI(s) will be displayed in the search results.  This will display all the PI(s) corresponding to a PAR record.
  • The employee and PI e-mails will be from uapprove@mso.umt.edu.
  • Employees that have an "SP" as a pay id and a "BW" or "MO" pay id on the same PAR record will be set to a status of "Employee Approval In Progress" instead of "PI Approval In Progress."  The employee will be responsible for approving all their pay records.
  • The subject to late e-mails will only have "NOTICE" instead of "LATE NOTICE."

3/7/2018

Personnel Activity Report (PAR)
  • PIs that do not have an employee PAR record will no longer receive a 500 internal server error when forwarding their PI dashboard.

2/23/2018

Personnel Activity Report (PAR)
  • Removed option "Incorrect cost match correction needed" from the PI's reasons for disagreeing to an employee's approval.  PI's should agree with the certification, then enter or correct the cost match.

2/22/2018

Personnel Activity Report (PAR)
  • Zero percent is not allowed in cost match.
  • Only two significant digits are allowed to be entered in cost match because that is what is stored in the database.
  • Student records that don't have a PI will go directly to an SPS.
  • Users will be able to open a PAR record after clicking on an email approval link.
  • Employee records that have no PI will move to the SPS if cost match is added or if the employee sets the record to "Not Approved."  Otherwise, the PAR record will be set to "Complete."
  • All PIs will receive an e-mail if at least one of the PAR records they're responsible for doesn't have a status of "Complete" or "SPS In Progress"
General
  • Switching from U-Approve to another CAS/SHIB application will not kill the U-Approve session.

1/24/2018

Personnel Activity Report (PAR)

  • Live in production.  The first e-mails will go out on the 01/28/2018 for December data.
 RPT
  • Updated to pull in the index title for labor distributions and funding source distributions.

10/18/2017

  • Fix: Budget Journal Vouchers created by the Plant Fund Request no longer receive error warnings on final approval as a result of the NSF (Non-Sufficient Funds) check function.
  • Enhancement: Users will occasionally switch index codes on a form when entering data but the Fund, Org, and Program is not be updated on the submission. This caused a FOP from another index to be reported with the new index and it fails to upload to Banner. FOP is now validated and users receive an alert instructing them to take the appropriate corrective action.
  • Fix: NSF (Non-Sufficient Funds) now allows credits to general funded index codes even if a budget doesn't exist.

09/28/2017

  • Enhancement - Vice President level approvers added to route for Request for Budget Change submissions totaling more than $100k.
  • Enhancement - Request for Budget Change form now allows users to enter personnel amounts, regardless of available balance.
  • Enhancement - Fiscal Affairs & Budget officer personnel now have shared access privileges to the Request for Budget Change form in order to better manage submission workflow.
  • Modification - Request for Budget Change form now applies a $5 minimum on increases and decreases only to personnel budgets.
  • Modification - The personnel-to-operating budget validation message should not appear unless operating budget changes are added to the Request for Budget Change submission.
  • Modification - Available Balance should only be checked for General Fund indexes on a Request for Budget Change submission.
  • Fix: Request for Budget Change submissions were failing Journal Voucher validation when submission contained lower case letters in the account code. The system now converts lower case characters to upper case.
  • Fix: The Non-Sufficient Funds/Budget Control check was displaying an error for index codes that are not general funded when there's no budget for the index.

09/15/2017

  • Enhancement - Banner Budget Controls implemented for select forms - controls are set through Banner Finance and will be used to manage the operating budget, excluding personnel services and waiver accounts.
  • Enhancement - Journal Voucher & Cost Transfer (Non-Payroll): The following account codes now display as“invalid” when entered in each of the forms as a part of the Budget Checking (NSF) functionality:

    62199-Contracted Services- General 
    62299- Supplies- General 
    62399-Communication- General 
    62499- Travel-General 
    62599- Rent-General 
    62699- Utilities-General 
    62799- Repairs & Maintenance- General 
    62827M- Sponsored Programs Indirect Costs 
    62899- Other Expenses- General 
    63199- Equipment -General 

08/31/2017

Bugs & Fixes

  • The forward functionality was repaired as it was discovered to be temporarily disabled.

08/25/2017

  • Enhancement: Additional Editor(s) - additional editors where added to all existing U-Approve Forms.  Additional editor functionality allows a user to be added to a form which will appear on the assigned editor's "Working On" list as if it were there own submission.   Required the modification of the queries related to the home page and the creation of notification e-mails to be sent to the additional editor as well.
  • Enhancement: RPT "Enter" - Now allowed, the "ENTER" button to submit on the find search in the RPT.  

Bugs & Fixes

  • Bug Fix - Approval Routes locked down: Automatically generated routes were modifiable when they should not have been open to change. 
  • Bug Fix - Journal Voucher Summary Report: Pressing enter while editing a Journal Voucher was triggering the opening of the summary report.

06/30/2017

  • Enhancement: All submissions (regardless of status) are now available from a sidebar menu that toggles in and out of view whenever "Submissions" is clicked on the top left side of the page. Clicking on a record directs the user to the correct approval page. The submission feed updates whenever the page changes. Clicking "Refresh" manually reloads the feed.

Bugs & Fixes

  • Bug Fix: Resolved an issue related auto-scrolling wherein the home page will set focus to one of the buttons on the route entry form. As a result, the page loads scrolled all the way to the bottom of the page.
  • Bug Fix: Forms could be submitted without a blank approval route, which stalls the approval process. 

05/01/2017

  • Implementation of back-end for new policies.
  • Implementation of front-end for new policies.
  • Added functionality that will inform a student as to the status of their U-Approve access.

Bugs & Fixes

  • Bug Fix: Resolved an issue related to a check on dates for global proxies that was preventing users from assigning proxies.

04/07/2017

  • Enhancement: Modified keyboard accessibility and focus management of route entry form.
  • Enhancement: Modified summary reports so that the routing information lines up in all the routing tables. Stabilized/standardized column widths to address proper formatting.

Bugs & Fixes

  • Bug Fix: The automated addition of the Provost contact to the RPT that requires the Provost's approval. Instead of saving the data, users moved off of the form causing the Provost contact to drop off the route upon re-opening the form.
  • Bug Fix: Forms were being submitted without setting a required route. As a result, the form status moved to "in progress" and none of the approval emails are sent. All forms now require the selection and saving a route recipient.

03/07/2017

  • Added Budget Submission Form live in U-Approve production. Form made available for campus use.

02/07/2017

  • UM Operating Polices tied to U-Approve system.

11/04/2016

  • .xlsm files now allowed as attachment doc to form submissions.
  • Self-closing alert messages now standard functionality.
  • Figure revisions and decimal points - users are now able to add a number to an existing figure, however, a warning will alert the user that only two digits are allowed after the decimal.

Proxy Settings - applies to both form-specific and system-wide use:

  • If there is no "begin date" and no "end date" indicated on the setting for the identified proxy, then the approval proxy is simply active indefinitely.
  • If a "begin date" is entered and no "end date" is entered, then the approval proxy is active starting on the begin date.
  • If an "end date" is entered and no "begin date" is indicated, then the approval proxy will be active until the end date.
  • If the "begin date" and the "end date" are entered, then the approval proxy is active on the begin date and will terminate upon the end date.

Search Results

  • Search page now displays in current window instead of opening a new browser instance.
  • Clicking on one of the returned results in a search will now open the chosen submission in new window.

09/15/2016

  • Dialogue Popup now warns users that the session has expired and/or the incorrect access URL was used. "OK" button redirects users to the appropriate U-Approve home page.
  • Campus Affiliate Employees added to the Approval Routing.

07/25/2016

  • Added Student Access functionality which allows select designated students to use the U-Approv application 
  • Expanded Employee Search (look-up) parameter to include 889#'s which now allows users to search for employees by 889# in addition to 790#.
  • Added "DELETED" status to forms and added a dialogue box informing the user that the form has been marked as deleted.

05/13/2016

  • Refactored code allows for display of an expired session message whenever the session has expired or the user has reached the wrong page without logging in first.
  • Refactored code also displays a warning message 5 minutes before the session will expire. The session expiration time is 60 minutes. The user can click okay and then the session will be extended.
  • System removal the restriction of 15 forms per module on the "pending other's approval" group on the home page.
  • Created process to validate accounting information on the back end to address a handful of instances where a user was able to save invalid accounting information.
  • Modified routing section for all forms to reduce space between headings and tables.
  • All system notification e-mails have been revised to read "Prepared By" instead of "Created By" in the body text.

Bugs & Fixes

  • Bug Fix: Approval check box was not appearing on tablets/phones (or minimized screens) when the form was in "portrait mode."
  • Bug Fix: Consolidated all alerts in the views to one area addressing an issue where alerts are not able to be closed whenever they are in a disabled fieldset (basically every route approval page).

04/01/2016

  • Added "Cloning" function to the Journal Voucher & Plant Fund Request Forms.
  • Added in-form "Status" to all forms.
  • Proxy ID: Proxy users are allowed to be entered without the person's information stored.
  • Refactored Attachment code: Changed "ModifiedByDate" to "ModifiedDate".  Tables call the "ModifiedDate" field the same name.
  • Prepared By: Modified all forms to use the "prepared-by" directive.

02/10/2016

  • Non-data enterable account codes will no longer show as valid.

01/29/2016

  • Added "Status" to New Index Request Search.
  • Added "Status" to Journal Voucher Search.

Bugs & Fixes

  • Bug Fix: E-mails were not being sent to the "Prepared By" user when a Journal Voucher is set to "Not Approved".
  • Bug Fix: U-Approve was not working with the Safari web browser. NOTE: This also fixed the issue with older IE HTML5 compatible browsers.
  • Bug Fix: "To Date" prior to "From Date" was allowed to be selected on the New Index Request.
  • Bug Fix: The search page did not display the correct data when performing a search that resulted in 0 records.

01/22/2016

  • Proxy user designation functionality added for all forms.
  • Forwarding functionality added for all forms.
  • Search results headers renamed across all forms ensuring system consistency.
  • "Prepared By" now the standard language across all forms ensuring system consistency.
  • A "Clear" button added for all search forms, restores the search form to it's original state.
  • Approval page block code, ensures users know submission is processing when a longer than expected wait occurs.
  • Personnel information synched with Banner Personnel information to allow for name match (in instances of name changes)
  • Attachments functionality programming refactored for optimal behavior.
  • Outlook e-mails allowed as attachments.
  • Routing functionality programming refactored for optimal behavior.
  • U-Approve converted to use of new SFTP library.
  • Form buttons (example: Add, Delete, Edit, etc) no longer display when a form has been submitted.

Bugs & Fixes

  • Bug Fix: Summary Report resulted in an error when "No Data is Saved".
  • Bug Fix: Enter key was not submitting the search forms.
  • Bug Fix: Enter key was opening the Summary Report on the main forms.
  • Bug Fix: Dashboard (home page) would not display if there are no transaction records in the Cost Transfer Non-Payroll or Journal Voucher Forms.

12/11/2015

  • New Index Request Form added.
  • A popup telling user to correct their bookmark URL, or that their session might have ended.
  • Affiliates can be added to routes for approval now.

FORM SPECIFIC UPDATES

WHAT'S CHANGED
Below you'll find an accounting of the form-based modifications and enhancements:

RBC (REQUEST BUDGET CHANGE)

10/18/2017

  • Modification: Available balance now uses pooled account balance if applicable.
  • Fix: Summary of changes was not calculating correctly.
  • Fix: The RBC Forms associated API was returning too much information and impacted page load behavior, slowing down the page.

RPT (REQUEST FOR PERSONNEL TRANSACTION)

01/24/2018

  • The RPT was updated to pull in the index title for labor distributions and funding source distributions. 

11/22/2017

  • Post-retirement salary will be displayed on the RPT for retirees.

11/04/2016

  • Attachments can now be added to a new or existing RPT. Full standard functionality applies and includes, uploading, viewing, and deleting of attachments.

09/15/2016

  • Full-time Letters of Appointment: Users are allowed to choose only Extra Compensation as a Compensation Type.
  • Part-Time Letters of Appointment: Users are allowed to choose only Teaching, Research, and Honorarium, as Compensation Types.
  • Part-Time Letters of Appointment: Account Code 61123 is the only allowed Funding Option.
  • The Provost's Office has been added automatically to the Routing Section for all Compensation Types except for "Sabbatical".

05/13/2016

  • Summer Research (under menu option Compensation/Research) now requires approval by the Provost's office.
  • Bug Fix: Clicking on an RPT e-mail (link) to login into U-Approve was causing a missing "SAVE" button issue with newly created RPTs.

04/01/2016

  • Added the time sheet org corresponding to the prepared by user to the RPT.

03/10/2016

  • "Summer Teaching" added as compensation selection option, including type (Summer/Online) and session (First/Second/Both) sub-menu options.
  • Summer Teaching selection requires input of credits. Informative message instructs users that, ""8 credits is the max. Anything exceeding 8 credits must be sent with an additional request."

01/29/2016

  • Base 2 salaries will appear in the form.

01/22/2016

  • Full-Time Salaried Staff (employee class of "SF") have access to Compensation.
  • Letter of Appointments have access to Compensation, for the limited purpose of entering Extra Compensation only.
  • Bug Fix: Summary Report resulted in an error when no data was saved.

12/11/2015

  • The ORSP contact will be added to an RPT if a grant index is used with the following account codes 61132, 61140, 61141, 61165 with extra comp.
  • Compensation is allowed with Letter of Appointments.
  • An incorrect error message was displayed after an RPT was submitted.

COST TRANSFER (NON-PAYROLL)

11/04/2016

  • Hash totals now appear in the Cost Transfer Non Payroll form search results.

06/20/2016

  • The partial transaction description now displayed on the summary report.
  • If the current date (of the submission) is not in an open period, then June 30th (of the current calendar year) will serve as the default date for the transaction. 

05/13/2016

  • Added a question to the Cost Transfer Non-Payroll for partial expense transactions.
  • Allowing attachments to be added to the submission at any stage of the process.
  • Bug Fix: Budget Entry section was pushed off the screen added rows and columns to control the layout of the page

02/10/2016

  • If the last date of the month is used as the transaction date, the transaction date will feed to Banner as the last date of the month.  The transaction date will not change to the date of approval/current date (unless the transaction date is in a closed period.)

01/22/2016

  • Submission status and "Prepared By" user added to search options.
  • "Save" button added.
  • Routing descriptions added, language explains purpose and intent of those users and categories present on the route.
  • Routing modified to indicate "FROM" initiators when sending "TO" recipients including detailed header categories and new recipient requirements.
  • Document Code now displays on the dashboard (home page) when submission has been approved.

12/11/2015

  • Attachments were added.
  • PI Supervisor is required if hash total is 2000.
  • Transaction date has been added to the Cost Transfer Non-Payroll summary report.
  • SPS is required to enter budget information now during their final approval.

JOURNAL VOUCHER

06/30/2017

  • The rules for rule code FT01 were changed to reflect the following: Rule code FT01 allows transactions with account codes 68704 and 50153 (mandatory transfers.)
    Conversely, if Account codes 68704 or 50153 are used, then the rule code has to be FT01. 

11/04/2016

  • Hash totals now appear in the Journal Voucher form search results.

06/20/2016

  • If the current date (of the submission) is not in an open period, then June 30th (of the current calendar year) will serve as the default date for the transaction. 

05/13/2016

  • Implemented validation for JDR rule codes.

04/01/2016

  • Functionality added to allow cloning of existing JVs.

02/10/2016

  • If the last date of the month is used as the transaction date, the transaction date will feed to Banner as the last date of the month.  The transaction date will not change to the date of approval/current date (unless the transaction date is in a closed period.)

01/22/2016

  • Hash Total added to the completed e-mail sent to users when the form has been approved.
  • Document Code added to the completed e-mail sent to users when the form has been approved.
  • Fund Accountant list sorted by Alphabetical order in the routing queue drop-menu.
  • Document Code now displays on the dashboard (home page) when submission has been approved.

12/11/2015

  • Attachments were added.

NEW INDEX REQUEST

06/20/2016

  • Future-dated Index Codes are now validated when a fund accountant approver clicks "Save" on the final approval page.
  • If a user selects a fund type of Auxiliary, Designated, or General Operating (State) an approval record for the Budget Office is now added to the "Routing and Approvals" section automatically.  
    If a different fund type is selected and the automated approval record in the Budget Office approval section exists, it will be removed. 

05/13/2016

  • Bug Fix: The date input field was displaying in front of the floating alerts in the form.

01/22/2016

  • Office of Budget, Planning & Analysis added to the route when the selected fund type is a General Operating (state) fund type.

OPAS

07/25/2016

  • Increased the description fields character capacity (and limit) to 1000 characters. 

06/20/2016

  • User's now able to add 50 characters to the Award Number field. 
  • Sponsor Field text is now validated against Banner. Invalid results are displayed on the form if the Sponsor name (text) does not already exist or match with entry in Banner.

05/13/2016

  • Allowing attachments to be added to the submission at any stage of the process.
  • Added "SPONSOR" sponsor as an option on the form's search page.
  • Action radio buttons have been resized to larger buttons. Until the user has chosen their action and options, the rest of the form is hidden.
  • After final approval of the form, a SUMMARY REPORT button was added in order to view the submission.

PLANT FUND REQUEST

11/04/2016

  • Project Description added to the summary report and is visible in the project overview section in the right column of the report.
  • Users now able to search for submission records using the "Funding Source" and the "Funding Index Code" either discretely or in tandem as a parameter.

09/15/2016

  • Final email notification for this form now includes the following summary: Index Code (Index Title), Fund Code, Org Code, Program Code, and Account Code.  

06/20/2016

  • Plant Fund Accountant now able to modify the fund type on the approval page.

05/13/2016

  • Removed requirement of the authorization explanation.

NEW FORM ROLLOUTS

WHAT'S NEW
We're building new forms into the system all the time. Take a look below for the latest additions to the U-Approve system.

  • 06/26/2019 - Electronic Hiring Form
    Form added to system in production.
  • 05/31/2018 - Cost Transfer Payroll
    Form added to system in production.
  • 01/24/2018 - Personnel Activity Report (PAR)
    Search added to the system as well as maintenance forms. The first reports will be loaded on 01/28/2018 for December data.
  • 01/05/2018 - Administrative Assessment Search
    Search added to system in production which allows departments to see how their Administrative Assessment was determined.
  • 09/15/2017 - Request for Budget Change
    Form added to system in production.
  • 05/05/2017 - UM Operating Policies New Policy Submission
    Form added to system in production.
  • 03/07/2017 - Budget Submission
    Form added to system in production.
  • 11/04/2016 - UM Operating Policies
    Policy content added to system in production.
  • 04/01/2016 - OPAS
    Form added to system in production.
  • 04/01/2016 - Plant Fund Request
    Form added to system in production.
  • 12/11/2015 - New Index Request
    Form added to system in production.