Important Update for Oct. 11-14, 2013

Several online applications commonly used by students, faculty and staff members will be out of service this weekend while the hosting vendor performs system maintenance.

The following will unavailable from 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11, through 8 a.m. Monday, Oct. 14:

  • Galaxy portal.
  • Orion.
  • PeopleSoft Finance (FMS) and PeopleSoft HR/Payroll (HCM)

On the 14th, users will need to clear their Internet browser cache so that Galaxy can load properly. 

 

Some of the online tools that students, faculty and staff use most will get an upgrade when a new version of UT Dallas’ Galaxy page rolls out on Feb. 21.

The familiar intranet page will become the launch point for Orion, the online application that students use to track their class schedules, grades and more. Galaxy will also continue to be the entry page for staff and faculty members seeking access to payroll and benefit information.

The changes are part of a campuswide overhaul of data systems designed by PeopleSoft specifically for human resources and financial operations. The University is the first UT System school to install the systems, which are known broadly as enterprise resource planning programs. 

The overall PeopleSoft installation at UT Dallas has been named the Gemini project. As part of the Gemini transition, some online tools will be temporarily disabled as follows:

Students
Orion will be shut down at 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 18, and students will not be able to access their accounts. Regular access will resume at 8 a.m. Feb. 21 via the new Galaxy portal, which students can use to access Zmail, eLearning and all the Orion tools they’ve become accustomed to using.

Faculty/Staff
Beginning Feb. 21, pay stubs can be viewed, and personal information and direct deposits can be managed through the system. Online time reporting will be staged by unit, starting Feb. 21 with parts of Business Affairs, and ending in May with a complete conversion of all University offices to the new system. Faculty members will be able to use class rosters, grade reports and eLearning through the new Galaxy. Faculty and staff will retain the same Net IDs and passwords as always. Training on the new Galaxy system will be available; for more information on courses, visit the Gemini training page.

Finance
The FRS mainframe application that has been used to manage University financial information was closed to new transactions on Feb. 11 to convert historical data for use in the PeopleSoft system.  FRS will remain online for several months to allow viewing of data.  Financial transactions will be handled by the Gemini/PeopleSoft system beginning on Feb. 21. 

Human Resources
The HRS mainframe application, which manages human resources functions, was closed to new transaction entries on Feb. 11 to convert historical HR data to PeopleSoft. HR, payroll and personnel data will be administered through the Gemini/PeopleSoft system beginning on Feb. 21. HRS will remain online for viewing information for several months. 

Training
Throughout this process, timely training will be offered with Web support, online assistance and Help Desk assistance also available.

As the University continues to move to the new PeopleSoft and SciQuest/eProcurement systems, periodic updates will be provided to the campus.

Gemini training team members are ready to help. Contact them via email at pstraining@utdallas.edu or by phone at 972-883-6167 or 972-883-5227. 

Information Resources is also offering practice sessions on SciQuest for individual departments. Call 972-883-5235 for additional information.