Announcement

In January the University-wide implementation of the automated expense management system (GEMS) was completed. We appreciate the support we received from all areas of the University as we put into operation this new travel and expense reporting tool. GEMS replaces our paper-based travel reports and the DPV reimbursement requests for employees. The paper TRV forms will now only be needed to report non-employee travel and reconcile outstanding travel advances.

Consistent with our ongoing strategy to automate and streamline back office processes, Financial Services is undertaking an initiative with Concur, the system provider, to upgrade GEMS. The upgrade will address many issues identified by our GEMS users in focus group meetings and includes other improvements that make the system more user friendly.

Expect additional communication about the new system and what it will mean to you. A pilot group has already started testing the new GEMS user interface (UI) to ensure the smoothest possible rollout when we launch University-wide in late May. There will be some new processes to learn and there will be many opportunities for training and education. Though the new UI is very intuitive, we highly encourage everyone to participate in the online or classroom training sessions. This is particularly important for faculty and staff who travel often and for administrators who oversee GEMS in their respective departments/units.

The Human Resources Training and Development group will hold initial training sessions for GEMS administrators April 13, 14, and 16. Subsequent classroom training opportunities and the online modules will be announced soon.

Please contact me at 2-1941, or Patti Ferriter at 2-9393, if you have any questions regarding the upcoming GEMS upgrade.