What's New with the Upgrade?

Upgrade News

March 27, 2008
On March 27, 2008, The California Maritime Academic Common Management Systems (CMS) Team took the first step toward upgrading the PeopleSoft Financial administrative software from version 8.4 to version 9.0. Cal Maritime is in the "second wave" of CSUs upgrading, though no CSU is yet live on version 9.0. The California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo will be the first CSU to go live, on September 4, 2008.

Cal Maritime has joined with James Lienemann of Io Consulting for the upgrade. As in the upgrade to HCM version 8.9, there will be three "passes" before we go live next February. An upgrade team has been selected and begun meeting.

Check back here for more news as we begin in earnest the process of upgrading our software, thereby improving our service to students, faculty, staff, and the community.

October 25, 2007
A brief history of the Common Management System, for the CSU and for Cal Maritime:
The mission of The California State University's Common Management Systems project is to provide efficient, effective, high quality service to students, faculty, and staff. The CSU selected PeopleSoft (now Oracle) as one mechanism to achieve the goals of this mission.

The Oracle/PeopleSoft software package as implemented at California Maritime Academy consists of two suites: Finance and HRSA. Finance is currently at version 8.4; HRSA is currently at version 8.0. The CSU's Chancellor's Office has mandated that all campuses must either implement or upgrade to the HRSA version 8.9 by 2008. Cal Maritime has almost completed the process of upgrading; we anticipate "going live" on 8.9 on Wednesday, August 15, 2007

The 8.9 version is now called HCM, Human Capital Management. Significant changes have been made to the table structure, as has navigation for end users.

For more information regarding the state-wide CMS project, please visit the California State University website.

August 15, 2007

This morning, Cal Maritime has gone live on PeopleSoft version 8.9.  The months of hard work by many people has come to fruition.  Thanks to the CMA Upgrade Team, CMA's wonderful consultants, the CMS Baseline Upgrade Team, our colleagues at CMS Center, and the good folks at Unisys who all contributed to the success of this lengthy and complex project. 

Now it's up to our users -- students, staff, and faculty -- to let us know what problems you discover.  If you do have difficulty, first check the help documents.  If the problem remains unresolved, please email peoplesofttickets@csum.edu.

Thank you for your patience during this time!

August 10, 2007

At 5pm on Wednesday, August 8, the Baseline Upgrade Team took a snapshot of Cal Maritime's PeopleSoft 8.0 and began the upgrade process.  The process is proceding smoothly, and we hope to have the upgraded version back later today.  IT staff and our consultants will then configure the database so the CMA Upgrade Team can test.

As of today, we fully expect to go live on PeopleSoft 8.9 at 8am, Wednesday, August 15, 2007.  Please check back here for news of any developments or delays.

August 8, 2007

Email sent to all CMA staff:

You are cordially invited to a brief informational meeting about Cal Maritime's upgrade to PeopleSoft version 8.9.

When: Thursday, August 9, 2007, 9:30-10:30am

Where: Classroom Building, Room 103

Who: All staff are invited, whether or not you use PeopleSoft

This meeting will include a demonstration of PeopleSoft version 8.9 so you can see the significant changes in navigation.  There will also be handouts listing resources for assistance after we've gone live on 8.9.  Most of the campus upgrade team will be in attendance to respond to your questions.  Coffee, Juice, and pastries will be available.

August 6, 2007

Email sent to all CMA students:

Cal Maritime has nearly completed the process of upgrading from PeopleSoft version 8.0 to version 8.9. The upgrade process, a culmination of eight months and thousands of hours of work by the campus upgrade team, will begin at 5pm on Wednesday, August 8, 2007. At that time, PeopleSoft 8.0 will be brought down.

PLEASE NOTE: On Wednesday, August 8, at 3pm, all transactions will stop. You may continue to make payments by electronic checks and credit cards online or by mailing a check to the Cashier’s Office. Your payments will be processed but your student account balance will not reflect those payments until the system is restored on Wednesday, August 15, 2007.

While PeopleSoft is down, you can pay your fees by check or credit card by going to the Cal Maritime website:

http://www.csum.edu

and clicking on the red "CLICK HERE to Pay Fees" hyperlink. You will need your student ID for either method of payment.

At 8am on Wednesday, August 15, when you log into PeopleSoft you will see version 8.9.

For more information about the upgrade process and how to use the new Student Center in PeopleSoft 8.9, please visit the PeopleSoft Upgrade Status page:

http://www.csum.edu/IT/PSupgrade.asp

Don't hesitate to contact a member of the Upgrade Team (listed on the PeopleSoft Upgrade Status web page) if you have any questions or concerns.

July 27, 2007

The Upgrade Team has nearly completed testing Pass 3 and is in the final stages of coordinating our MTP -- move to production. 

On Wednesday, August 8, at 5pm, PeopleSoft 8.0 will be turned off.  The following day a "non-updateable" database will be available for query only.  No changes of any kind can be made to PeopleSoft during the MTP, so please plan accordingly.

On Wednesday, August 15, at 8am, PeopleSoft 8.9 will be released to the campus community.  You will still be able to log on by going to Cal Maritime's homepage:

http://www.csum.edu

There, choose Online Services from the Quick Links drop-down box.  Sign in with your userid and password, and you will be in PeopleSoft version 8.9

Documentation will shortly be available online explaining how to navigate through 8.9.  We trust you will find it easier to use, though the speed may be less than what we hoped for, at least at first.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask one of the CMA Upgrade Team.

June 25, 2007

The Upgrade Team is about to start working on Pass 3, the final pass before the move to production (MTP). We are on schedule for our anticipated go live date of August 8-15, 2007. The team will meet on Monday, July 30, to make the "go-no go" decision; results will, of course, be announced here.

April 19, 2007

You should notice flyers going up around campus announcing the upgrade in PeopleSoft. A modified version of the flyer is here. The flyer illustrates the new Student Center, however, faculty will also see a significant change when they log in after the upgrade.  They will see the new Faculty Center.  Both Centers are easier to navigate than the current version of PeopleSoft.

March 28, 2007

On March 21, 2007, the following email was sent by Stephen L. Frazier, CMA's Chief Information Officer:

Dear Faculty, Staff, and Students,

As you may know, Cal Maritime is in the midst of a major upgrade to our administrative system called PeopleSoft. This intensive effort involves the combined efforts of IT and many other departments on campus. Our target completion date is August 15, 2007. To keep everyone informed of progress, we plan to periodically send updates to the campus community. I’ll use a question and answer format in this update.

Q: What is PeopleSoft?

A: PeopleSoft is CSU’s Enterprise Resource Planning system of choice. The Oracle/PeopleSoft suite of services as implemented at California Maritime Academy consists of two suites: Finance and Human Resources/Student Administration (HRSA). Finance is currently at version 8.4; HRSA is currently at version 8.0.

Q: Why are we upgrading?

A: To upgrade means to replace a software program with a more recently released, enhanced version. The CSU's Chancellor's Office has mandated that all campuses must either implement or upgrade to the HRSA version 8.9 (now called HCM, Human Capital Management) by 2008.

Some of the benefits to upgrading to HCM 8.9 are: CMA will be able to develop new business practices to better utilize PeopleSoft; queries are easier to write in 8.9; frequently-used pages can be bookmarked and returned to easily; class and grade rosters can easily be sorted and saved to Excel. Most significantly, self service for both faculty and students is easier to navigate.

Q: Who is directly impacted by the upgrade impact?

A: The upgrade will be a time- and labor-intensive process for all involved. We ask your patience during the next few months as various departments cope with their day-to-day responsibilities and the pressure of configuring and testing the upgrade. Human Resources, in particular, will have all their resources strained, and Financial Aid staff members are concerned because our go-live date is during the Fall disbursement, which will have to cease for approximately one week in August.

Q: What does it mean to those of us who are not directly involved in the upgrade?

A: The next version of PeopleSoft brings a number of improvements, especially for students and faculty. Although IT and the upgrade team will be working on the upgrade throughout the spring semester and summer, the campus community won't notice any changes until we go live in mid-August, just in time for Fall 2007.

Q: How can I find out more about the upgrade?

A: To learn more about the progress of the upgrade, please periodically check this website or speak to any member of the upgrade team:

February 5, 2007 The CMS Baseline Upgrade Team has completed converting Cal Maritime's PeopleSoft data into an 8.9 version of PeopleSoft. IT is now cloning the converted database to two development environments, one for testing and one to preserve the original conversion. Next, we will configure the database and set up security. By the end of this week or early next, the campus upgrade team will begin data validation.

The upgrade has truly begin!

An early and very important step will be a series of "fit gap" sessions; to learn more about these key meetings, please see the Introduction to Fit Gap sessions Powerpoint.

The timeline for the upgrade is being firmed up and will be posted here early in 2007.

This website will be updated regularly with news about the status of the upgrade. Check back or, if you have specific questions, contact the project manager, Dr. Margo Axsom by email or at x1721.

First posted 20 December 2006;
Last updated 24 May 2007