OAKS Executive Message
Darlene Wells, OAKS Executive Program Manager

The OAKS program management office continues to build a solid “steady state” team as consultants continue knowledge transfer activities as they roll off of the project. The original OAKS project is complete with the recent releases of the asset management, budget and planning, payroll modeling, and time and labor modules. Additional enhancements currently in the planning stages include e-procurement, enterprise learning management system and shared services initiatives. We also are developing a three-year roadmap for OAKS with a new vision and mission.

OAKS End of Year Reminders:

• OAKS will be available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., M-F through June 20.
• OAKS will be available on Saturday, June 14 and Sunday, June 15 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• The last day for correcting payroll entries for all payrolls that posted prior to June 6 is Friday, June 13.
• June 13 is the last day to submit vouchers and supporting documentation to State Accounting to enter into OAKS.
• Monday, June 16 is the last day for agencies to submit warrant and EFT cancellation requests for FY08.  Requests received after 4:30 p.m. on Monday will be held until Tuesday, July 1, 2008.  Please carefully review issued warrants to avoid appropriation losses in FY2009.

HCM Memorial Day Payroll Processing Schedule
Monday, May 26, 2008, OAKS HCM access hours will be from 3am - 7pm normal hours.

OAKS will process all TCD files received by 7 p.m. Monday during the Monday nights batch process with the exceptions being available to work by 3 a.m. Tuesday morning.

OAKS HCM access hours will be normal hours but no online or live helpdesk support will be available Monday, May 26th.

The rest of the week will be normal HCM core user operation hours:

Tuesday, May 27, 2008, OAKS HCM access hours will be from 3am until 7pm.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008, OAKS HCM access hours will be from 3am until 7pm.

Thursday, May 29, 2008, OAKS HCM access hours will be from 3am until 7pm.

Friday, May 30, 2008, "VIEW ONLY" OAKS HCM access hours will be from 3am until 7pm.

http://www.oakspmo.ohio.gov/oaks/Oaks_System_Availability.asp

Modified Hours of Availability for EPM on Saturday, April 12
On Saturday, April 12, OAKS EPM will be available from 7 a.m. - 12 noon.  Normal operating hours on non-payroll Saturdays is 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.  This is a one-time change to accommodate performance testing of the Cognos reporting tool.  EPM will resume the regularly scheduled weekend availability on the next non-payroll Saturday.

FIN and HCM will not be affected by the Cognos testing; they will maintain the usual schedule as posted:
http://www.oakspmo.ohio.gov/oaks/Oaks_System_Availability.asp

President’s Day Holiday - OAKS HCM and FIN Availability
In observance of President’s Day, the State of Ohio has designated Monday, February 18, a state holiday. Due to the holiday, the OAKS Financials (FIN) and Human Capital Management (HCM) systems are available to users over the three-day weekend, but neither the OAKS Help Desk nor the OAKS program management office staff is available for functional support on Monday.

Agencies will be able to send interface files to the OAKS HCM FTP site and the OAKS Batch Team will be running a HCM nightly batch cycle. There will not be a Financials (FIN) batch as well as the FIN FTP site will not be available.

Second release of eBenefits occurred today
Kudos goes to the Department of Administrative Services Benefits Administration Services and Ohio Administrative Knowledge System (OAKS) Program Management Office staff members for another successful launch!   The first release of eBenefits, which occurred in April 2007, allowed state employees to use eBenefits during the open enrollment period to make health care elections. 

Starting today, state employees can now use the OAKS eBenefits Self-Service module to:

• View a summary of your health benefits.
• Add or remove dependents on your health insurance coverage following a life event, such as birth, adoption, marriage or divorce.
• Enroll you and your dependents in health, dental and vision coverage after you become eligible.
• Enroll or waive coverage in the event your spouse loses or gains coverage at his/her place of employment.

NOTE: If you enter your eBenefit pages (using the icons on the OAKS Self Service page), be sure to click the "sign out" button (upper right corner of the page) to avoid making any changes to your enrollment selections.

Job aids for employees to use while initiating life events, enrolling dependents or reviewing their benefits summary are available at http://oakspmo.ohio.gov/oaks/training/supportkit/. If you have a life event, please contact the Office of Employee Services at 466-2136 for further instructions. 

Check out the DAS Time Reporting Web site
The new Time Reporting Web site can be found at http://extranet.das.ohio.gov/oakstimereporting.

This site is a one-stop resource containing all of the information Department of Administrative Services (DAS) employees will need to use the new OAKS time reporting system, which goes live Monday, January 28. The site contains training courses, job aids, simulations and information regarding implementation.

This page will be available for a few months until employees have adjusted to the new system. Please periodically check this site to read new questions and answers added to the “Frequently Asked Questions” section. 

Please be sure to check out this page at http://extranet.das.ohio.gov/oakstimereporting and mark it as a favorite!