In this post, information about the recent Town Hall meeting is covered along with a status update including the official project timeline, progress completed so far, and things we are getting excited about.

What are the goals for Project AURORA?

While we are still early in the implementation process to replace VIU’s core administrative Finance, HR, Payroll, and Student systems, it is important that we look forward now to the benefits we hope to achieve through Project AURORA. A Benefits Realization Framework has been developed that forms direct links between the project components and both the foundational and strategic benefits we hope to realize.

Finance

System configuration has begun for the Finance system, which includes the redesign of the Chart of Accounts structure.  Consultation meetings will be arranged with areas once the initial configuration draft is complete so that individual requirements can be discussed.

*not all team members are pictured in the photo.  For a complete list with contact details, go here.

It takes a lot of people to transform VIU’s administrative systems! There are 19 people who are directly working on the project either full-time or part-time through the implementation period. There are many more people who are participating in the project from across the institution, including Subject Matter Experts and Special Assignment Team members.

Work has officially begun on the implementation of the Finance, HR, and Payroll systems. Starting September 11th, members of the Unit4 team have been on campus to conduct “Alignment Workshops” with both VIU and Selkirk College. During these workshops, project team members are learning more about the software and Unit4 is exploring how the systems will be configured to meet our needs.

The kick-off for the student system implementation is tentatively scheduled for mid-January 2018.

Town Hall meetings are being held over the summer and fall months at all VIU campuses with the intent of announcing the vendor and raising awareness about Project AURORA.

After a 16-month assessment and evaluation process, we are pleased to officially announce that VIU has selected Unit4 Business Software to replace our core administrative systems. A seven-year agreement has been signed, which includes support for the implementation of the new systems.