3 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(11/02/05 12:00pm)
With the introduction of Your Employee Self Service (YESS), the Human Resources Department (HR) at the College has given faculty, staff and student employees the ability to check their paychecks from virtually anywhere.
"Everyone who gets a paycheck has the ability to use this system," Pete Camp, HR business analyst, said.
Launched this fall, YESS is an online module of the Oracle HR and payroll system the College implemented in October 2003.
It allows users to review current and past employment information, pay statements, compensations history, W-2 tax status, direct deposit account information, original hire date, benefit information and voluntary deductions.
Users can also view and update personal information, such as name, home address, e-mail address, emergency contacts, phone numbers, social security number, ethnicity and education level.
"All the updates are immediate ... when you log in (to YESS) you are actually in the HR database," Camp said.
YESS saves employees the paperwork and time traditionally needed to process and update such information.
Users also have the ability to make updates in advance by inputting a date on which to make the changes effective.
"When people begin working here, we ask for emergency contacts, people who have been working here for over 20 years don't think to update their emergency contacts," Camp said. "People go through divorces or move locations and our contacts are no longer correct."
The YESS system also serves as a double check between HR, payroll and the users.
"It sounds good, but how secure is it?" Iris Cedeno, junior biology major and Information Desk Assistant at Brower Student Center, said. Cedeno is not a YESS user.
The College assures a high level of security in the system. "We worked extensively with IT (Information Technology) to meet all campus security guidelines," Camp said.
The network has a high level of encryption and is password protected to verify for valid users. Accordingly, passwords will become locked if a non-user attempts to access anyone's data.
"It's similar to online banking," Camp said. "We have had no security leaks thus far."
Another feature of YESS is direct deposit, which saves employees the trip to payroll by depositing paychecks directly into their bank account.
"With self-service you would be able to review the amount of your paycheck immediately and begin to use the money right away," Camp said. "You do not have to worry about lost checks or going to the bank to deposit or cash your check."
Direct deposit, and the ending of paychecks in print form, also saves the College money.
"One of the benefits from a financial standpoint is that, in the future, payroll will discontinue the printing of the advice statement which will result in a savings of $10,000 annually," Camp said.
The primary users of YESS are faculty and staff. According to Camp, the College employs 1,200 to 1,500 students.
"If those students enrolled in direct deposit, we wouldn't have to send up to 1,500 paychecks by mail at the end of the year and that cost alone would save the College a large sum of money," Camp said.
Lisa Williams, sophomore journalism major, works at the Access Services desk in the New Library and received the campus-wide e-mail about YESS.
"This sounds way easier than having to go to the bank," Williams said. "I'd much rather view my paycheck from my room."
For more information about YESS, HR has posted online tutorials accessible through the YESS icon next to the WebMail, SOCS, TESS and ARTIE icons in the bottom right corner of the College's Web site.
(10/19/05 12:00pm)
On Oct. 7, the ongoing collaboration of College and Community Relations (CCR), Information Technology (IT) and students of the College to revamp the school's Web site was revealed.
A main focus for CCR is keeping the College connected with its students, faculty, staff and outside surroundings and acting as a predominant outlet for such communication is through the College's homepage.
"(The maintenance of the Web site) is a 'live-being,' or ongoing process, in continuous evaluation, which we intend to update on an annual basis," Cindy Friedman, assistant director of CCR Marketing and Publications, said.
Much research went into the functionality, appearance, convenience, marketing and imagery of the College's homepage.
Over the summer 2005, seven students worked with CCR and IT to collect research questions, usability data and design recommendations.
"Categories and links on the old Web site seemed to be all over the place, with no real proper scheme," Derek Haas, senior computer science major and one of the Web application programmers for the project, said.
The team worked to create a more user-friendly system, employing the use of a portal system with landing pages for different users.
"Along with the homepage, we developed these pages to better suit the needs of these groups of people," Vinny Cerpa, senior business information systems major and information architect for the project, said.
According to Matthew Winkel, IT information architect, behind the homepage and admissions, the student homepage is the third most popular page on the Web site.
"My bookmarked TCNJ homepage is actually the 'Resources for Students' page, as it really has different, more focused content and better suits my needs as a student," Cerpa said, "It really has most everything a student is interested in from the homepage, and much more."
The redesigned homepage also allows for much more flexibility. The team found that the old Web site had limited space for delivering campus news and announcements, as well as highlighting campus beauty.
In the research and design phases, the homepages of other universities were used to determine how to make the College's homepage "as attractive as possible with functionality," Friedman said.
The homepage features a series of three rotating pictures displayed across the top: a campus image, followed by a people shot and a seasonal photo on the far right.
"It was a tricky task because it had to be coded to dynamically pull in a new set of random photos every time someone goes to the page," Rob LaPlaca, senior interactive multimedia major and Flash designer for the project, said.
The center image layers a campus photo with a fading image. "This is where we display our 'third-party endorsements,' or nice things said about us," Friedman said. "The fading aspect allows us to pat ourselves on the back without being showy."
The visual identity to the design also incorporates subtle branding, emphasizing name recognition through careful placement of both "The College of New Jersey" and "TCNJ."
However, "the real benefit to this Web site is its fairly consistent appearance in different browsers," Friedman said.
The degree of clarity on Web sites can vary within different screen resolutions and Web browsers, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari. For example, many browsers won't pick up the third image in the picture series.
"It was hard to make sure that the Web site looked correct in all different browsers," Scott Carpenter, senior computer science major and one of the Web application programmers for the project, said.
The team placed a strong focus on the liquidity of the Web site and designed it so the quality and sizes of images and text blocks are maintained in different screen resolutions. Unlike the old site, the size of this homepage can be shrunken without collapsing the design.
"I think the resulting home-page is much better looking, more usable and an overall better product than the previous homepage," LaPlaca said.
(10/12/05 12:00pm)
The Music Building Concert Hall was filled with the talents of 16 of the College's faculty members Oct. 4.
"We have a wonderful faculty who showed themselves very well tonight," James Lentini, dean of the School of Art, Media and Music, said. "There was a great diversity in compositions."
The Music Educators' National Conference (MENC) and Shannon O'Connor, the MENC chairperson, organized the Faculty Music Gala.
"The first time I saw the professors perform was during my freshman year and I was just amazed ... I thought that this was a great way to share that with everyone," O'Connor said.
MENC is an organization designed to encourage the study and making of music among students and educators. The concert was held as a way to increase participation and awareness and help raise money for the College's chapter.
It began with Linda Dempf, librarian; Kathryn Mehrtens, adjunct professor of music; and Tomoko Kanamaru, assistant professor of music performing "Goldcoast Harmony" composed by Eric Ewazen. Kanamaru's animated choreography behind the piano was followed by 11 more astounding performances.
Ruotao Mao, adjunct professor of music; Robert McMahan, professor of music; and Kanamaru received a standing ovation for "Romp," a one-movement piece composed by McMahan.
McMahan premiered the piece for the first time in New York about one month ago. "One of the obscurities of music is you can spend months and months working on a piece to perform it once," McMahan said.
The audience clapped excitedly as Suzanne Hickman, associate professor of music and department chair, and Lynda Saponara, assistant professor of music, walked onstage to perform "Je Suis Titania from 'Mignon,'" composed by Ambriose Thomas. Hickman sang directly to the crowd, capturing their attention with vivid facial expressions and hand gestures.
"(When performing vocally), the important part is telling the story and conveying the translation, especially when it's in a foreign language, of every word to the audience," Hickman said.
The Gala resumed after the intermission with a performance by William Trigg, adjunct professor of music, on the timpani. Trigg demonstrated his precision and technique with a two-part piece composed by Elliot Carter called "Suite from Eight Pieces for Timpani."
Lentini performed one of his own works "Westward Voyage," a piece written for William Kanengiser, guitarist. The song, completed in September 1999, is reminiscent of the time Lentini spent living in Los Angeles.
"(When on stage), you never know exactly what's going to happen," Lentini said. "That's what makes it exciting, like walking a tight rope ... you just try to entrance yourself in the music."
Earlier, Lentini had performed "Mother Songs" with his wife, Dana Lentini. The performance had a personal touch to it, as Lentini wrote the song about a woman who, like his wife, is expecting.
Ruotao Mao and Kanamaru performed a two-part piece composed by Cesar Franck.
"They have great interaction with each other," Kathleen Phelan, alumna of the music department, said.
The night concluded with a jazz ensemble performance. "We're more of a classical school, so I thought the jazz trio was a good change," Jason Price, junior music education major, said.
Overall, the night was full of great interaction between the students and the faculty. "It was really fun to play for the students," Wayne Heisler, assistant professor of music history, said. "I hope they enjoyed it."