NEWS: UC Office of the President, Improving the Union Roster interface – A collective effort

Photo of people collaborating around a desk - UCPath success story in text

August 29, 2024All Articles, ,

Some great news out of UC Office of the President, Technology Delivery Services (TDS) group. 

UCPath Center and TDS Team in collaboration have completed a major upgrade to the Union Roster interface, which manages crucial data about union members and their agreements.  

HR/Payroll is now more efficiently reporting employee appointment and contact information to unions as required by AB119. This has equated to an improved process, eliminating manual efforts, and speeding up the reporting process.

Faster delivery, improved readability, and more

According to the team, the previous Union Roster interface had two main problems: it was slow and had several unresolved defects, making the process inefficient and unreliable. To address these issues, the team undertook a major rewrite to enhance performance and functionality. 

This initiative aimed to resolve critical issues, with a primary focus on improving reporting compliance for unions. The old process relied on outdated logic that didn’t meet updated reporting requirements, resulting in incomplete information. 

Additionally, the process was unreliable, frequently failing and requiring weekly manual intervention. It also needed translations through the mainframe to map values back to the legacy payroll system. The goal was to modernize the logic and improve reliability, reducing the need for constant manual fixes. 

Benefits for business partners and customers include: 

  • Faster Information Delivery: The new system processes information much quicker, reducing the average report generation time from 200 minutes to just 20 minutes. 
  • Improved Data Readability: Reports are now available in Excel format, making them easier to read and verify. 
  • Streamlined Reporting: Each bargaining unit receives its own report directly, eliminating unnecessary steps and delays. 
  • Performance boost: Performance improvements have been significant. In fact, the average runtime for the new interface is just 19 minutes, compared to 3 hours and 39 minutes for the old system. This means a much faster and more efficient process overall. 

The effort behind the upgrade

This major upgrade didn’t happen overnight. It took a dedicated team about seven months to complete, including phases for development, unit testing, system testing, and user acceptance testing. 

Here are the team members who made this possible: 

  • Project Sponsors: Annette Garcia – Labor Relations, Assistance with Michelle Snyder 
  • Project Manager: Timothy Rodrique 
  • Solution Delivery Manager: Tara Cook 
  • Business Systems Analysts: Hina Gilani and Angelic Navarro 
  • Development Technical Lead:  Mohan Yeddanapudi 
  • Development Team: Rajesh Jaykumar, Vishnu Kalakata, Off-shore: Sudhanshu Mishra and Venkita 
  • Test Lead: Karuna Numburi 
  • Product Manager: Melody Smith 

Their collective effort ensured that the new interface met high standards and delivered real improvements. 

“This is an awesome operation efficiency here by a great team!  Thank you, Vishnu, Rajesh, Tara and Hina for your amazing contributions,” said Bhanu Polakam. 

Lessons learned

According to Mohan Yeddanapudi, Technical Supervisor, one key takeaway from this project was the importance of continuously seeking ways to enhance user experiences.  
 
“By focusing on the needs of the user community, we can ensure that our applications remain effective and valuable,” he said. 

What’s next?

Looking ahead, the team has three releases planned per year, which are prioritized through a steering committee. The following projects are in progress: Applicant Tracking System Integration for UCI and UCLA Health, Direct Entry project for Hires and Rehires, Automating Inter location Transfer Security Deprovisioning,  UCPath Upgrade, Improve Self Service (Manager & Employee). 

“We’re proud of what we’ve achieved with this rewrite and are excited about the future projects that will further enhance our systems. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to solve business problems and drive efficiency across our organization,” said Yeddanapudi.  

Contacts

Terri Barton   
Information System Manager (ITS) 

Tara Cook   
Manager – UCPC – ITSS 

Author

Judi Baker
Digital Risk Communications and Events Manager  
UC Office of the President