Introduction - MIT - Massachusetts Institute of …web.mit.edu/ssit/wga/Grad_Appointments_Interface... · Web viewSuccess. The appointment was created in SAP. Payroll will be processed

MITSIS to SAP Graduate Appointment Interface

MITSIS to SAP Graduate Appointment Interface Information for Web Grad Aid Users

Contents

Introduction..........................................................................................................................2

Process Overview................................................................................................................3

Results of the Graduate Appointment Interface Process.................................................4

Confirmation Emails to Graduate Administrators...........................................................4

Who Resolves Problems..................................................................................................5

New Error message in Web GradAid..............................................................................6

SAP considerations..........................................................................................................7

Emergency Requests........................................................................................................8...........................................................................................................................................

Copyright © 2008 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. All Rights Reserved

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Introduction

The Graduate Appointment Interface is an SAP program that runs daily. It receives new graduate student appointments from Web Grad Aid/MITSIS and creates corresponding new graduate student appointments in SAP Payroll. This program:

Occurs daily in the morning after the MITSIS Student Biographic feed to SAP Payroll.

Creates new SAP graduate student appointments, provided the appointments pass validation rules. Appointments which could not be created or completed are posted to an SAP log for subsequent review and correction by HR Payroll Service Center staff.

Sends Email summary reports on the results of the Interface program to the departmental Web Grad Aid users and to HR Payroll Service Center staff.

Provides an SAP log of appointments processed by the interface program. HR Payroll Service Center staff can view this log on-line in SAP to review and resolve issues. The log can also be printed or emailed to appropriate personnel.

The Graduate Appointment Interface program does not process graduate appointment updates, cancellations, or terminations. These transactions will continue to print in batches at the HR Service Center printer, and the HRPSC staff will still need to manually enter these transactions into SAP.

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Process Overview

Department administrators process graduate student appointments and awards using Web Grad Aid, a web-based interface to the MIT Student Information System (MITSIS). On a daily basis, the newly created appointments are batched in MITSIS and sent to SAP. The Graduate Appointment Interface program creates the new grad appointments in SAP.

If an appointment coming from MITSIS contained problems that prevent the appointment from being created or completed in SAP, error messages are generated that identify the nature of the problem. An SAP Interface Log details the information about all successes, warnings, and errors – the log can be viewed online in SAP, enabling effective problem research and resolution.

At the completion of the Interface program, email status reports are sent from SAP to the Web Grad Aid users (when appointments have been processed the previous day) and the HR Payroll Service Center staff. Web Grad Aid users will continue to receive email notifications from Web Grad Aid for each grad appointment or award entered in Web Grad Aid.

The following diagram illustrates this process flow:

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Results of the Graduate Appointment Interface Process

Each time the Graduate Appointment Interface program runs, it processes new appointments that have been created in Web Grad Aid since the previous run. The interface process validates the data for each appointment. This validation can generate three possible results:

Success. The appointment was created in SAP. Payroll will be processed and the costs distributed for the appointment.

Warning: The appointment was created in SAP. Payroll will be processed and distributed for the appointment. There are, however, issues with the data that should be corrected. For example, a cost object that terminates during the appointment period will result in payroll being distributed to suspense after the cost object is inactive.

Error. The appointment could not be created or completed in SAP because it contained error conditions. Errors prevent pay and/or distribution. Immediate investigation is required to resolve the problem.

Notification emails generated by the Interface program summarize and communicate the results to Web Grad Aid users and the HR Payroll Service Center.

Confirmation Emails to Web Grad Aid Users

Each time the Graduate Appointment Interface program runs, it will automatically send email messages to the Web Grad Aid users who have processed appointments during the day prior to the program’s run. This email will provide summary information about the appointments (those entered into Web Grad Aid under their user ID).

Subject: Graduate Appointments: SAP notification 08/19/2008

Total Number of Students: 3Total Number of Messages: 3Total Successful Messages: 1Total Error Messages: 1Total Warnings Messages: 1

Appointments Successfully Processed in SAP.MITID 999999991 Doe, Pat NEW APPT 9898989898 TA 10/01/08-01/15/09

The following appointments encountered errors during processing in SAP.MITID 9999999992 Doe, John NEW APPT 9797979797 FE 09/01/08-01/15/09 Error: Active Monthly Grad Student record not found for MIT ID 9797979797.Service Center will determine if student is active, then create the student record and appointment in SAP.Total Error Messages: 1

The following appointments were saved in SAP with warnings.MITID 999999993 Doe, Joan NEW APPT 9696969696 RA 06/01/08-08/31/08 Warning: Cost object 1234567 not active, distributed to suspense Please identify proper cost object & enter change in ESDS.

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Disclaimer: If you believe this report is incorrect, please contact the HR-Payroll Service Center (617-253-4255) or send email to [email protected].

The email provides summary information on the number of students processed and number of messages generated. The total messages may be greater than the total students – some students may have multiple appointments, and some appointments may contain multiple warning and/or error messages.

The detail section of the email provides a listing of each appointment processed, and groups them into the following categories:

Appointments Successfully Processed in SAP: These appointments were created in SAP. They contained no warnings or exceptions. Payroll will be processed and the costs distributed.

Appointments Encountered Errors in SAP: These appointments could not be created or completed in SAP because they contained error conditions. The email message will identify appropriate next steps required to resolve the error.

Appointments Saved in SAP with Warnings: These appointments were created in SAP. Payroll will be processed and costs distributed. Issues with the data will need to be corrected. For example, a cost object that terminates during the appointment period will result in payroll being distributed to suspense once the cost object is inactive. The person responsible for cost distribution would fix the problem by entering an active cost object in the Electronic Salary Distribution System (ESDS).

Who Resolves Problems

Web Grad Aid users are not responsible for resolving all error messages generated by the Web Grad Aid/MITSIS to SAP interface.

If the Web Grad Aid user is responsible for taking action on an error condition, the message will clearly provide instructions.

If WGA user is not responsible for taking action, s/he will receive a generic warning/error message that there was problem creating the record, but they are not responsible for taking action. Sample error message:

The HR Payroll Service Center has the action item to determine how WGA users will be notified when a problem has been resolved.

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New Level of Effort Check in Web Grad Aid

Web Grad Aid users will get an error message if entering an RA, TA or IG and the cumulative total of all the student’s appointments for the time period of the appointment being entered exceeds 100%.

Previously, if a student had an existing appointment at the time the WGA user is processing another appointment, the user would see a warning, but could still proceed to process the appointment. This new level of effort check will not allow an appointment to be processed if the cumulative total of all the student’s appointments exceeds 100% for the period of the appointments.

This level of effort check does not include Fellowships. No message is generated if a fellowship is entered and the total percent effort for the student exceeds 100%.

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SAP considerations

1. In SAP, a student may only have up to 3 appointments of each type for the same period. A student can have up to 3 Fellowships and up to 3 RA/TAS/IGSs. For purposes of this rule, RAs, TAs, and IGs are considered one type of appointment.

Note: This rule currently exists, it is not new with the implementation of the Grad Appointments Interface. This rule applies even if student’s cumulative total level of effort for all grad appointments is less than 100%, as in the examples below.

Examples:

9/1/08-1/5/09 FE 35%

9/1/08-1/5/09 FE 15%

9/1/08-1/5/09 FE 15%

If a user tries to enter a fourth fellowship appointment during the period 9/1/08-1/5/09, an error would be generated.

9/1/08-11/30/08 IG 35%

9/1/08-1/5/09 TA 15%

9/1/08-1/5/09 RA 15%

If a user tries to enter a fourth appointment for an RA, TA, or IG during the period 9/1/08-1/5/09, an error would be generated.

Here is a sample of the message that would be received by the Web Grad Aid user:

Although it has not ever occurred that a student has more than three appointments of the same type, should it come up, the DLC administrator should contact the HR Payroll Service Center to discuss possible solutions to the situation.

2. Proration rules:

Fall/Spring – full term appointments

Monthly pay rate is paid for each full month, and exactly half of the monthly rate is paid for the period 1/1 – 1/15 (end of the Fall term), and 1/16-1/31 (beginning of the Spring term).

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Example:

For a grad appointment for the Fall Term period, 9/1-1/15, at a monthly rate of $2,300:

9/1-12/31 student will be paid $2,300 per month. For the period 1/1-1/15 the student will be paid $1,150.

Partial months are prorated in SAP using a daily rate:

Examples:

For a Partial Term grad appointment in the Fall Term, 9/1-11/10, the student will be paid at the monthly rate in September and October (9/1-10/31). The period from 11/1-11/10 is paid using the daily rate: monthly rate / (# days for the appt / # days in month),

For the period 11/1 – 11/10, with a monthly rate of $2,300

$2300/(10/30) = $766.66

For a Partial Term appointment dated 12/1 – 1/10, for the period 1/1 – 1/10,

$2,300/(10/31) = $741.93

Note that the daily rate changes according to how many days there are in the month.

Emergency Requests

Administrators with and emergency request to process an appointment for immediate payment, which would require cutting an off-cycle check, should follow the procedure outlined here:

1. DLC administrator emails the HR Payroll Service Center Representative to request an emergency (off-cycle) check.

a. Note: Students should not contact the HRPSC; requests for checks must be made by the department administrator.

2. If the request is approved, the DLC administrator emails the Web Grad Aid email confirmation of the student’s appointment to the HR Payroll Service Center

a. Email address: [email protected]

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mailto:[email protected]


3. HR Payroll Service Center Representative will manually enter the appointment.

4. Payroll will cut the off-cycle check.

5. HR Payroll Service Center Representative will notify the DLC Administrator of the date and time the check will be ready for the student to pick up at Payroll.

Points of Contact:

Pre-Payment Issues:

Contact the HR Payroll Service Center

o Email: [email protected]

o Phone: (617) 253-4255

Questions about the SAP email summary report should also be directed to the HR Payroll Service Center, at the email address or phone number provided above.

Post-Payment Issues:

Questions about taxes or total amount of pay,

o Email: [email protected]

o Note that an email sent to this address generates a ticket in the Request Tracker system, and the issue is assigned a case for attention and resolution.

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Documents

Introduction - MIT - Massachusetts Institute of …web.mit.edu/ssit/wga/Grad_Appointments_Interface... · Web viewSuccess. The appointment was created in SAP. Payroll will be processed