Faculty investigators and staff project managers will find it easier to track and manage their project expenditures thanks to significant upgrades to the Faculty Business Information System (FBIS).
Users will find that the tool, which was developed at Clemson University and has been in use for many years, now is much faster and easier to navigate. While it still is called the Faculty Business Information System – originally designed for sponsored research projects – it also is used by staff to manage Fund 10 through Fund 20 projects.
The new tool was a collaboration of the Office of Strategy & Analytics, part of Finance and Operations, the Office of Budgets and Financial Planning, the Data Warehouse and Grants and Contracts Administration.
The team removed repetitive steps and the need for multiple screens and added drop-downs to make it easier for users to examine project summaries, add new projects and review journal entries and payroll detail. Also, users can download data to Excel with the click of a button and everything is backed up every night.
Assistant Professor of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences Sudeep Popat uses the system continually and appreciates the improvements. His main concern – loading speed – is fixed, and as a superuser of the system, he recognizes this as a key improvement to his job.
Department administrators can get access to the FBIS to help faculty and managers with their projects, too.
That’s especially important to Alex Villano, an accountant for the chemistry and biological sciences departments in the College of Science.
“In the admin page, the access allows users to find all of the projects they’re linked to even if they’re not the main manager,” Villano said. That’s important for her to be able to access information without having to stop everything and manage an added step of contacting the project manager or department head.
She agreed with Pokat that the system is faster than before. The navigation also is more user-friendly, she said.
The FBIS upgrade is among recent Clemson University projects intended to ease the workloads of faculty and staff through efficiencies designed to remove both wait times and added steps. Another is the recently announced decision to adopt Watermark, which will streamline and centralize the management of faculty activity reporting, faculty evaluation, as well as promotion and tenure processes.
To learn more about the upgraded Faculty Business Information System, download the condensed User Guide, access the tutorial video or request in-person training for individuals or departments. Questions about FBIS? Send them to fbis@clemson.edu.
