No paper, no problem: WU students employees receive paperless paycheck

By Amanda Phipps
phippsa@mytjnow.com

Graphic by Courtney Niskala • niskalac@mytjnow.comStudent employees will now be responsible for in-putting their time on Wingspan, a trend that College of Charleston and The Citadel have also followed. 

The university has switched to a new ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system, a system that covers the core administrative needs, said James Hammond, associate vice president of technology. 

PLUS, the ERP system Winthrop used previously, has lost support, meaning the university could not update it’s administrative functions and had to switch, Hammond said. 

“We had no choice,” he said. 

The university started planning for this switch in January 2008, Hammond said. The new system is Banner, which is a new product. College of Charleston and The Citadel switched from PLUS to Banner at the same time Winthrop did, Hammond said. USC is looking to switch in the future.

Hammond said Banner is used more than any other ERP program in schools.

The first part of the new system was brought up in 2009, Hammond said. In 2010, Banner Student was developed, explaining the changes to Wingspan’s design and the addition of Degreeworks. 

This July marked the addition of the banner HR and payroll system, he said. 

This system includes finance, human resources payroll and students, said Lisa Cowart, associate vice president of human resources. She said the switch to this payroll system went smoothly.

The HR, payroll and budget offices worked with consultants to set up the new system, she said.

“It’s just a matter of everyone learning their new jobs,” she said. “I’m very pleased with how quickly people are learning.” 

The electronic system will save time and money, Cowart said, and will eliminate the use of paper time sheets, temporary time cards and other paper forms.

One of the biggest issues is dealing with student paychecks, said Tracy Holbert, payroll technical coordinator. 

Payroll is aiming for more people to switch to direct deposit to help with the transition, she said. This means people won’t have to worry about picking up their checks because the money would go directly into their bank account the night before payday. 

“It takes a while for us to know where to look for things with any new system,” Holbert said. 

Cowart said the online system will help them monitor the payroll processes easier. 

“It’s easier to make mistakes on paper,” she said. 

Holbert said that within the next couple of months, payroll should have the new system worked out. 

He said Winthrop has received compliments for having such a smooth transition. 

“The hardest parts of the migration are over with,” he said. “[I am] very relieved we didn’t have many hiccups.” 

The travel and expense module will be available next year, Hammond said, which will keep track of faculty and staff travel expenses and cut back on paper forms. 

Hammond said the switch has had both good and bad effects. 

“[It meant] more work for all of us and more money had to be spent,” he said, “but we had to do this.”