April 2, 2020
Administrative units develop remote work solutions
The shift to virtual learning and remote operations has created many complex and challenging issues. Kansas State University faculty, staff and students have responded by working together and staying #kstatestrong.
The transition to online learning required faculty and staff to act swiftly and creatively to develop and deploy virtual instruction to our students. Faculty demonstrated their commitment to teaching and learning by becoming worldwide leaders in remote learning.
Our limited university operations status also required a significant shift in internal business practices. Traditional paper methods were no longer efficient or feasible. In order to facilitate remote operations, staff in the Division of Financial Services implemented alternative electronic business processes. Behind the scenes, staff worked in partnership with Information Technology Services to develop new ways to conduct critical business to keep campus functions running smoothly in the background.
These business process enhancements allow campus users to submit paperless payment documents to the Division of Financial Services. External vendors can submit tax and bank information securely through a vendor upload portal. An online bid submission upload portal enables vendors to submit procurement bids electronically. Lastly, ITS and DFS are working diligently to develop an electronic signature workflow for final contract review and approval.
These are only a few examples of the creativity and innovation the university community has shown. Many of the solutions that have been developed will continue to improve university and business processes long after normal operations resume. We celebrate the collaboration and process improvements made thus far and remain committed to improving key processes that affect university business operations in the future.