II. Articulating a Strategic Framework

Table 3: Tying goals and strategies to planning principles

GOALSSTRATEGIES
Planning Principle #1: Design for the future
Localize financial accountability
  • Departmental online access to campus transaction systems
  • Departmentally accessible decision support system
  • Online transaction processing
Planning Principle #2: Design for ease of use
Reduce training time and effort

Integrate systems to interact seamlessly across campus functions

  • Graphical user interface and sophisticated online help
  • User-friendly reporting templates and natural query languages
  • Common user interface and data dictionary across applications
  • Data warehouse with single interface
  • Software "hooks" across applications
  • Mapped process and information flows
Planning Principle #3: Design for efficient, effective internal controls
Reduce the number of "shadow systems"

Improve campus financial management

  • Separate transaction processing from analytical processing
  • Implement easy access to local (e.g., departmental or individual) information
  • Assure the timeliness and quality of financial data in campus systems
  • Embed process controls in systems to streamline approvals
  • Provide secure, clear, and easy-to-understand audit trails in transaction processing systems

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