In a move that will affect nearly every Dartmouth organization and department, the finance and administrative computing departments will replace the College's 23-year-old accounting software between now and July 1 as part of the Optimum Accounting Strategy and Information Systems project.
The computer program that recorded and processed accounting and budget information for the last two decades -- the software Financial Accounting System General Ledger -- will be phased out by a new Oracle program.
"The new system will give us better reports of data for decision making," OASIS project sponsor and College Chief Financial Officer Adam Keller said. "It will give us new tools that will help management throughout the school, not only at the center level."
Keller outlined both risk-averting and efficiency-enhancing reasons for the project. The current FAS vendor no longer supports its software, which will have limited support in coming years.
"There is sufficient risk so we cannot maintain that system," Keller said.
OASIS also plans to streamline and expand the College's abilities to report accounting details and budgets with its new program.
The system is comprised of a "chart of accounts," the record of accounting information for each department. Each account is identified by a particular number, currently six digits followed by a short sub-code. Because the College is much more financially active than it was in the 1980s, the replacement software will contain 25 digits for each account, allowing for more accounts, making it easier to identify exactly where money is spent.
When generating accounting reports, the current system requires individuals to copy information from the outdated FAS program into Microsoft Excel. Individuals must then format and modify that information to make an accounting report in a labor-intensive and tedious process.
Most administrative assistants will need to attend five training seminars to learn the intricacies of the Oracle program.
The OASIS project will also streamline the way various departments order office supplies by establishing a College-wide online-shopping system that grants certain office supply companies an exclusive contract in exchange for discounts. This automated office supply will replace a system of printed catalogs from which departments ordered their supplies.
Those spearheading the OASIS project have explained and marketed the new programs to College employees familiar with the soon-to-be-replaced system.
Sarah Morgan, the Rockefeller Center administrative assistant for student and public programs, has attended several of these informational events and believes them to be focused on marketing.
"They seem like cheerleading sessions," she said. "They want to make sure that everyone is onboard with the program."
