Administrators Discuss Changing Travel Reimbursement System

Harvard's vice president for finance and other central administrators discussed a redesign of the University-wide System for Travel and Reimbursement (STAR) with the Faculty Council Wednesday.

STAR was implemented last July 1 as part of an overhaul of the University's information systems--called Project ADAPT--and has often been cited as one of the University's most problematic new systems.

During the fall and winter, the council has repeatedly considered the concerns of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences with the new system.

Council members--comparing the discussions to those of a year earlier--said they were pleased to be consulted, and they think the central administration is becoming more responsive to faculty concerns about the much-debated system.

Some, however, expressed confusion over the process that will be used to enhance the system.

Communication has been repeatedly cited as a major problem with the implementation of the new financial systems, which have over 4,000 users.

"I think that there's been progress," said John M. Doyle, Loeb associate professor of the natural science.

University vice president for finance Elizabeth C. "Beppie" Huidekoper said she hopes the meetings demonstrate the central administration's increased emphasis on communication. She said the changes to STAR will involve extensive user input at the design, prototype and pilot levels.

She added that departments will have flexibility to the use the newly redesigned travel system in ways that best meet their needs.

Huidekoper said her team is in the process of compiling lists of changes users need for STAR. She estimated that all the changes will be put into place by next February. Refinements will be phased in over time, and Huidekoper said departments will have access to many of them as they become available.

"Basically, they said everything's important, so we're going to do it all," she said. "We are ensuring that the things they care about most are being done soonest."

"We're trying very hard to improve communication processes," she said.

The central administration will provide each school's financial dean with details of the implementation. The deans will in turn disseminate the information to users at their schools.