EASI

Enterprise Applications and Solutions Integration

News

Posted on

Creating and Managing Course Sections and Meeting Sections – Upcoming Session

Date: February 08, 2024
To: ROSI Users
From: Enterprise Applications & Solutions Integration
Re: Creating and Managing Course Sections and Meeting Sections – Upcoming Session

 

Dear SIS users,

Please join us for a Connect+Learn session on Creating and Managing Course Sections and Meeting Sections in ROSI on Thursday, February 22 at 11 a.m.

This session will be helpful for staff in academic units and Registrars’ Offices who are responsible for setting up or maintaining course scheduling and instructor information in ROSI each academic session. It may be of interest to new staff who have not performed the function yet as well as continuing staff who may want a refresher on this cyclical activity.

Topics to be addressed:

  • Preconditions and downstream dependencies
  • Creating course sections and meeting sections
  • Enrolment Controls
  • Managing instructor data
  • Academic activity downloads (time permitting)

Registration is not required for this event. Please use the Connect+Learn iCal attached to add the event to your calendar. You can also access the meeting via the Teams Meeting Link.

Sincerely,
Student Information Systems

Posted on

SIS Training Resources & Support Session on February 1 @ 11:00 a.m.

Date: January 30, 2024
To: ROSI Users
From: Enterprise Applications & Solutions Integration
Re: SIS Training Resources & Support Session

 

Dear SIS users,

If you are new to Student Information Systems (SIS) or are a new ROSI user,  please join us for a Connect+Learn session on SIS Training Resources & Support on Thursday, February 1 at 11 a.m.

The Student Information Systems (SIS) group manages enterprise student and curriculum applications, and processes for the University. SIS provides reporting tools, enhancement and production request forms, and support for the SIS applications.

In the session, we will discuss:

  • Student Information Systems – What we do and how to get help
  • ROSI and OASIS Training Materials & Resources
  • What we support and what we do not (and where to go for those)
  • When to use ESC and how to write a ticket and use ESC appropriately

Note: This session is not a ROSI screen tour.

Registration is not required for this event. Please use the Add to Calendar link to add the event to your calendar. You can also access the meeting via the Teams Meeting Link.

Thank you and have a good evening.

Sincerely,
Student Information Systems

Posted on

AMS System Outage – March 16 from 5:00 am to 2:00 pm

Date: February 20, 2024
To: AMS Users
From: Enterprise Applications & Solutions Integration 
Re: System Outage – March 16 from 5:00 am to 2:00 pm

 

Dear AMS Users,

Please note that the systems below will be unavailable on Saturday, March 16 from 5:00 am to 2:00 pm due to system maintenance:

  • Academic Administrative Appointments (AAA)
  • AMS SAP GUI
  • Capital Project Portal
  • Employee Self-Service (ESS)/Manager Self-Service (MSS)
  • Employees@UofT
  • EvoSuite Applications (EvoOrder, EvoPlan, EvoNotify)
  • Expense Reimbursement Direct Deposit (ERDD)
  • Fiori Launchpad Reporting
  • Invoice Workflow
  • My Customer Account
  • My Research (MR/Portal)
  • SAP Asset Manager Mobile (sync will not work)
  • uSOURCE

See our System Availability page for a list of ongoing information on system status.

Sincerely,
Enterprise Applications & Solutions Integration (EASI)

Posted on

ROSI Database Quarterly Maintenance – Friday, Mar 15

Date:   February 14, 2024
To:   ROSI Users; Registrar’s Offices
From: Enterprise Applications & Solutions Integration
Re: ROSI Database Quarterly Maintenance – Friday, Mar 15

 

Dear ROSI users,

Please note that we will need to take ROSI and most associated student information systems offline on Friday, March 15 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. to perform quarterly maintenance on the database. We will return the systems to service sooner if the work is completed earlier than 9 p.m.

In addition, while ROSI-REPLICA on the Managed Instance (MI) will remain accessible during the maintenance, data will not be synced with ROSI starting at 5 p.m. It will be synced again at 9 p.m. when maintenance is complete.

The following systems will be affected:

  • Accommodated Testing Services (Student and Admin)
  • ACORN
  • Course Information System
  • Degree Explorer (Student and Admin)
  • EASI Institutional File Transfer
  • eMarks
  • Online Administrative Student Information System (OASIS) – including Absence Declaration, and the Timetable Builder and Transfer Equivalencies database administrative screens
  • ROSI
  • ROSI Express
  • ROSI Files
  • Safety Abroad Student Registry
  • Varsity Blues Registration System
  • Web services/APIs

 

Timetable Builder (Student) will remain available.

A notice will be posted on the ACORN launchpad and social media so that students are aware of the outage.

Thank you for your patience as we make these improvements.

This email has been sent from a service account and does not accept replies. Please direct any follow up questions to the Enterprise Service Centre http://www.uoft.me/esc

Sincerely,
Student Information Systems

Posted on

Changes in Google Chrome affect Microsoft Teams in 2024

According to Microsoft message center notification, starting in early 2024, Chrome will begin gradually rolling out privacy sandboxing in the web to 1% of their users, with general rollout happening in late 2024. This will impact some Teams experiences in Chrome. The recommendation is to use the Teams desktop client if you are part of the rollout cohort.  

When this will happen: 

Starting in early 2024 and continuing through the remainder of 2024. 

How this will affect you: 

Team’s users who are using Google Chrome with this recent change will start seeing the following experiences: 

  • The new Teams web app will display a banner and require users to click it every 24 hours to remain signed in. This will impact users in your organization who can’t use the Teams desktop app. 
  • The new Teams web app may include embedded experiences, such as apps, that no longer work. When this happens, Teams will give users the option of opening the embedded experience in a separate browser tab, or using the Teams desktop app. 
  • Classic Teams will show options to switch to the new Teams web app, and/or to use the desktop app. 
  • Other affected experiences include Teams chat in Outlook web app and Dynamics 365. The ‘Share to Teams’ dialog found in Outlook and other web apps or sites is also affected. 

 

What you need to do to prepare: 

We are providing this information for your awareness. If you access Teams in the Chrome browser, you may start being affected by this change. The recommendation is to use to the Teams desktop client. 

 

Kind regards,  

Microsoft 365 Team

Enterprise Apps & Solutions Integration (EASI)

Information Technology Services (ITS)

University of Toronto 

 

Posted on

New OneDrive Storage Limit with A1 Licenses

Date: February 9, 2024
To:  InfoTech, EITU
From: Enterprise Applications & Solutions Integration
Re: New OneDrive Storage Limit with A1 Licenses

Dear colleagues,

Microsoft has begun communicating changes to storage allotments for Office 365 accounts. We have been informed that users with Office 365 online-only status will now have a limit of 100GB for OneDrive Storage.

Users will begin receiving warning notifications when approaching the new OneDrive storage limit. The default notification level is at 90 per cent storage capacity. At 100 per cent capacity, the user’s OneDrive will be limited to read-only access. Users can still download files, delete files, and empty recycle bins; however, no existing files will be available for editing and new files cannot be saved to OneDrive.

Below is the notification to the 141 impacted users (A1 licensed casuals/non-appointed faculty and staff). If you would like a list of your users, please contact me.

Thank you,

Vicki Vokas

Senior Manager, Digital Workplace

**********

EMAIL to be sent to impacted end users (141 A1 online apps users) 

Microsoft has begun communicating changes to storage allotments for Office 365 accounts. We have been informed that users with Office 365 online-only status will now have a limit of 100GB for OneDrive Storage.

Users will begin receiving warning notifications when approaching the new OneDrive storage limit. The default notification level is at 90 per cent storage capacity. At 100 per cent capacity, the user’s OneDrive will be limited to read-only access. Users can still download files, delete files, and empty recycle bins; however, no existing files will be available for editing and new files cannot be saved to OneDrive.

Please note that our records indicate that you have exceeded the 100GB storage limit. It is crucial that you promptly begin managing your file storage to continue to use your OneDrive. Please take immediate action to prevent any disruption to your OneDrive by Monday, April 12, 2024.

Recommended next steps:

  1. Check your storage:
    • Log in to your webmail (mail.utoronto.ca).
    • Select OneDrive from the app launcher (waffle-iron shaped icon) at the top left.
    • Storage use and total available appears in the bottom left corner.
    • Click on the storage to see details for cleanup in step 2, below.
  2. Delete or move files no longer in use such as:
    • Files older than two years or unnecessary versions of files.
    • Large videos or recordings.
  3. Store your personal files separately from UofT files:
    • Move personal files already saved to your school’s OneDrive to a personal account or to your local computer.
    • Music/photo should be removed and saved to a personal OneDrive or elsewhere.

If you have any questions or need support managing your OneDrive, please reach out to the Information Commons Help Desk by sending an email to help.desk@utoronto.ca.

Thank you,

Vicki Vokas

Senior Manager, Digital Workplace

Enterprise Applications & Solutions Integration, University of Toronto

Posted on

EASI Go Prod AMS & Enterprise Shared Services Updates – Oct. 1, 2023 to Jan. 31, 2024

Date:  January 31, 2024
To: AMS and Enterprise Shared Services Users
From:  Enterprise Applications & Solutions Integration  
Re: EASI Go Prod AMS & Enterprise Shared Services Updates – Oct. 1, 2023 to Jan. 31, 2024

 

Hi everyone,

Enterprise Applications & Solutions Integration (EASI) would like to update you on the latest major production releases and updates for U of T’s Administrative Management Systems and Enterprise Shared Services.

The following are major changes from October 1, 2023 to January 31, 2024:

Financial Information System

Electronic Funds Transfer – Phase 3 (October 19)
In August 2022, the University launched the first phase of the Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) project to transition vendor payments by paper cheque to direct deposit. Work on Phase 3 of the project, which began in June 2023, has now been completed. This phase involved streamlining processes for reviewing and approving supporting documentation for EFT and cheque payments. This phase also continued the strategic onboarding of existing U of T vendors.

Enterprise Shared Services

PEASI Alertable Notification System Launch (November 2023)
In November 2023, the University transitioned from Blackboard Connect to the PEASI Alertable notification system for sending mass, time-sensitive communications to the University community. PEASI has developed the highly rated Alertable system used by communities across Canada for emergency and day-to-day public notices. The Office of Safety and High Risk and University of Toronto Communications (UTC) office will be the primary users of this system as it provides fast and flexible notification options, including SMS text, email, and a mobile app. UTC coordinated a communications campaign updating the University community about the new Alertable system in late October 2023.

Microsoft Copilot (December 4)
On December 4, 2023, the University of Toronto made available to all eligible faculty, librarians and staff a new enterprise version of a generative AI-powered chatbot and search engine, Microsoft Copilot (formerly Bing AI). For more information, visit https://its.utoronto.ca/microsoft-copilot/

Research Information System

University of Toronto Research Account (UTRAC) (December 2, 2023)
The Division of the Vice-President, Research & Innovation (VPRI) launched the University of Toronto Research Account (UTRAC) on December 2, 2023. UTRAC is the first part of a multi-phase initiative named My Research Funds (MRF) that will modernize the University of Toronto’s research funding administration tools. UTRAC is the successor to the Funded Research Digest (FReD) and serves as the primary tool for users such as Researchers, Business Officers, and Academic Administrators, to access detailed information about funded research awards. This initiative is part of U of T’s renewal of its SAP systems under the U of T Enterprise Modernization Program. 

Human Resources Information System

SuccessFactors Recruitment (October 15, 2023)
SuccessFactors Recruitment for Librarians went live on October 15, 2023. Previously, University of Toronto Libraries (UTL) posted positions externally. Now UTL has a dedicated page on U of T’s career website, which will provide a more consistent experience for recruiters and applicants.  

Payroll Posting Enhancement (December 2, 2023)
Enterprise Applications & Solutions Integration implemented a technical back-end update to the payroll posting program. This enhancement was primarily a technical change that helped to streamline payroll operations. As a result of this update, moving forward the AMS GUI system will close at 5:00 p.m. instead of 6:00 p.m. on payroll nights. View system availability for more details.

UTime
U of T will be upgrading to Ultimate Kronos Group’s (UKG’s) Pro Workforce Management timekeeping solution in advance of Kronos Workforce Central’s end of life in 2025. Rebranded by U of T as UTime, this new and modern solution will offer users an improved user interface, while continuing to provide the robust timekeeping functionality currently available in Workforce Central. A project to modernize and migrate to the new timekeeping solution was initiated in November 2023 with full implementation targeted for the fall 2024. Throughout this initiative, Information Technology Services will be working in collaboration with People Strategy, Equity & Culture, and participating faculties and divisions across the University.

Posted on

Incredible connections, contributions: Fond farewell to Pamela Harris after 25 years of dedicated service

Diligent, fiercely loyal, and no-nonsense. Words that her colleagues say clearly describe Pamela Harris, Associate Director of EASI. When Pamela joined the University 25 years ago it was not the behemoth that it has become. During her time here, she has been instrumental in building Enterprise Applications, or EASI, into the department it is today and helping the IT community navigate the broad and blue waters of our current enterprise systems.

We are eternally grateful for her guidance. As she prepares for the next chapter in her life, we have gathered an online photo album of Pamela over the years, we thank her for all her good works, and wish Pamela, her partner and the corgis, Willow and Dylan, many happy adventures.

Swetlana Signarowski
Executive Director, Enterprise Applications & Solutions Integration (EASI)

Headshot of Pamela Harris

Pamela Harris, Associate Director, Enterprise Applications & Solutions Integration (EASI)
Joined U of T: November 10, 1998
Last day at EASI: January 31, 2024
Retirement: February 29, 2024

Describe your background and how you arrived at EASI
I have always worked in the Information Technology field. I started in the banking industry as a business systems analyst, moved to retail systems in a similar role, spent a year working with a large consulting firm, then moved on to the City of Scarborough IT department (pre amalgamation) as a senior analyst/data analyst.  While I was at the City of Scarborough, they hired a new IT Director, some of you may know him – Graham Kemp – who I got to work closely with for about a year. Then the big City amalgamation happened, and Graham left for the University of Toronto to head their Administrative Management Systems department. About 6 months later, I got a call from Graham telling me I might be interested in a data analyst type of position at U of T in his department. I applied, got interviewed by Graham, Cathy Eberts and the head of HR, and ended up getting the job. My first assignment was to work on the “White Paper Planning” project where I was tasked with gathering, cleaning and reporting on the last 5 years of financial and hr data. It was extremely stressful for a number of reasons, but I got to meet and work closely with some wonderful people who became and remained friends and allies throughout my years at U of T.

Why did you decide to stay at EASI and how has it changed over the years?
I can answer that easily – I stayed for 25 years because of the people and because of the vastly different types of projects I got to work on. U of T is a great employer, lots of diversity and very smart, dedicated people but I stayed specifically because EASI itself was and still is a fantastic department to work for. The staff and leadership have always been so supportive of each other. The department has been a positive, safe and fun environment, and I have loved my time here because of that.

Also, because a lot of my earlier career at U of T was focused on data, I got exposed to many different business areas of the University. Having the opportunity to learn from and work with so many different departments and people at U of T really appealed to me and kept me engaged for all these years.

How has EASI changed? Well, it has changed a lot! When I started, the department I worked for was called Administrative Management Systems (AMS) and our focus was primarily on the SAP systems. A restructure to form the CIO Portfolio saw us joining the ROSI SIS team to become EASI. Our IT Director, Graham, eventually retired and Cathy became our Executive Director. We took on NGSIS, enterprise architecture, the O365 and Digital Workplace portfolios, moved our SAP infrastructure to the Cloud and started managing that, and grew to over twice our original size. The change in some of the technology has been so significant. But through it all, EASI’s best asset continues to be its great people and their capacity to rise to the challenge and make things happen.

What were some of the key projects that you were most proud to work on?
Establishing and growing the first Business Intelligence team and infrastructure for U of T, and then years later establishing a new team to support an expansive Analytics and Reporting technology platform for the university.  I really enjoyed, got great exposure and learned a lot from my participation on the U of T Job Evaluation committee, where I advised on the University’s IT positions, their classifications and ratings. And although not a project, I have to mention working closely with Cathy and EASI’s leadership team on strategy, organizational plans, staffing opportunities, etc.

What will you remember most about working at EASI and U of T?
The many great people I’ve had the pleasure to work with; EASI’s leadership team and the close bonds we formed; the super fun EASI holiday parties we organized over the many years; being able to mentor managers and staff; the pride I felt every time I told someone I worked at the University of Toronto.

Over the years, you were involved in the Mentorship Program and other U of T initiatives. Why were these activities important to you?
I was a mentor in U of T’s Rose Patten mentorship program for 8 years, could be even a little bit longer than that. (I’m now old and forgetful!) And I volunteered for a number different committees over the years. Doing this kind of stuff, putting yourself out there, giving back to the U of T, working with and learning from other divisions, just felt right and allowed me to meet so many people, make some incredible connections throughout the University and just feel good about what I was doing at U of T.

What advice would you give to those working in IT at U of T?
Put yourself out there, volunteer where you can, get to know others throughout the University. Learn from your peers in other departments, see what others are doing, etc. There is so much going on and so many opportunities to learn and help yourself and others. Don’t be afraid to try something new.

What do you plan to do in retirement?
Definitely going to hang out at my cottage as much as possible. Travel a bit and drink red wine in a bunch of different countries, lol. And just take some time to learn more about myself and what I want to tackle for this next phase of my life. Maybe a sommelier course or two? 😉

Posted on

Schedule for the production of the 2023 Tax Forms

Date: January 8, 2024
To: ROSI Users
From: Student Information Systems
Re: Schedule for the production of the 2023 Tax Forms

 

Dear ROSI users,

*** This e-mail is sent on behalf of Student Receivable and Accounting Office ***

Following is the schedule for the production of the 2023 Tax Forms.

T4A: 

  • Monday, January 8, 2024 – (night) details updated on ROSI.
  • Tuesday, January 9 – Friday, February 2, 2024-Divisional updates for T4A details on ROSI.
  • Tuesday, February 6, 2024 – file sent to Moore Wallace for printing and mailing of the T4A’s.

T2202: 

  • Tuesday, January 30, 2024 (night) -details updated on ROSI.
  • Wednesday, January 31st – Tuesday, February 13, 2024, Divisional updates of T2202 details on ROSI .

Feb 21, 2024, T2202 & T4A available on ACORN for students and ROSI/ROSI Express for staff.

For questions regarding the Education Credit details or overall schedule, contact Enterprise Service Centre (ESC): https://uoft.me/rosi-support

For questions regarding T4A details or Tuition Credit details, contact Student Receivable and Accounting Office: studentar@utoronto.ca

Sincerely,
Enterprise Applications & Solutions Integration (EASI)

Posted on

ROSI Files Proxy Error; ROSI Time Out

Date: January 5, 2024
To:  ROSI Users
From: Student Information Systems
Re: ROSI Files Proxy Error; ROSI Time Out

 

Happy New Year

Several ROSI users have contacted us about two issues:

ROSI Files Proxy Error

Some users receive a Proxy Error message when attempting to access ROSI Files. This is a standing error that has been reported to the vendor of the file management service on which ROSI Files sits. A fix has not yet been made available. Clearing the browser cache or using private browsing normally resolves the issue. Instructions can be found here also available from the Student Information Systems Help & Support page and the Enterprise Service Centre knowledge base.

ROSI Time Out

For security reasons ROSI does have a standard time out after XX minutes of inactivity. Some users are reporting a much shorter period when using Chrome and Edge. We are looking into the problem and the possibility that this is related to recent updates with those browsers. In the interim, if you encounter the issue and it becomes problematic for you, we recommend switching to Firefox.

Support

If you encounter issues with any of the Student Information Systems, you can find a number of resources available in the SIS eLearning, and SIS Help and Support pages as well as knowledge base articles in the Enterprise Service Centre (ESC). If you do need to submit a support ticket to the ESC, you may find these shortcuts helpful. When submitting a ticket, please provide us with complete information (error message received, detail about what you were doing before you received the error, and what you expected) but please be careful about any confidential information. Provide student numbers but avoid including names and other personal or confidential information.

Thanks.

Student Information Systems