Montclair State U Overhauls Financial Management System
Montclair State University in New
Jersey is implementing a new financial management solution with the goal of
improving service for students, staff, customers and partners.
The implementation is part of the university's
OneMontclair strategic
transformation initiative, which aims to revitalize the way the university does
business and improve service for its constituents. According to Catherine Rush,
director of Financial Systems Administration for the university, Montclair
conducted a series of business process review sessions, which revealed "that we
have too much paper and too many approvals, and that our information cannot be
easily accessed." she said in a prepared statement. The university's existing
financial records system was also outdated and unsupported, so it was time to
upgrade to a state-of-the-art, enterprise-wide system.
The university selected Oracle's
PeopleSoft Financial Management System (FMS) and has contracted with
Cognizant, a provider of business and
technology services, to implement the solution and provide supporting IT
infrastructure. Cognizant plans to complete phase one of the implementation in
July 2015, when it will go live with PeopleSoft FMS modules for purchasing,
accounts payable, general ledger, commitment control, cash management, accounts
receivable and billing, contract and grants and project costing. Phase two is
scheduled for completion in January 2016 and will include modules for strategic
sourcing, e-settlement, e-supplier connection, asset management, travel and
expenses and mobile application capabilities.
According to Cognizant, PeopleSoft FMS will enable Montclair "to make optimal
financial decisions and develop effective short- and long-term strategies to
support the University's growth and emerging needs" and "to integrate and
streamline financial processes across departments."
Montclair State University is located in Montclair, NJ and serves more than
20,000 undergraduate and graduate students.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].