Quinnipiac University Earns Top Marks for Productivity Gains and Improved Compliance Using Kronos® Solution
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Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut, has been cited as one of the country’s top 100 “wired universities,” a distinction that attracts some of the most technology-savvy students and faculty in the northeastern United States — and from beyond. The university’s diverse workforce includes full- and part-time faculty, administrative staff, unionized clerical and facilities workers, seasonal sports center staff, work-study students, employees in the university’s polling institute, and workers in security and at an on-campus health center.
Putting technology lessons into practice campuswide
To stay abreast of advances in automation and Web-based technology — and eliminate manual processing of paper timesheets and payroll — Quinnipiac looked at ways to improve management of its 1,800 full- and part-time employees other than faculty and administrative staff. A multidisciplined committee from the human resources, payroll, and IT departments evaluated ways to modernize the university’s workforce management processes. Members reviewed the facilities department’s time and attendance system, as well as products from other vendors, and selected the Kronos Workforce Timekeeper solution, even though this meant sacrificing the university’s investment in the other system.
“We concluded that the system used by facilities wouldn’t do everything we wanted,” says Anna Spragg, associate vice president of Human Resources. “We wanted something that would integrate easily and have the flexibility to grow and evolve with our employee base.”
Helping to cement the committee’s decision was an extensive list of references from the academic world. “Kronos came highly recommended,” adds Spragg. “It has a good reputation and demonstrated that it had an excellent product that could handle the level of information we had in mind.” The result has been a streamlined workforce management process that has increased productivity, controlled labor costs, and ensured consistent application of work and pay rule policies.
Automated solution increases workforce productivity
Since Quinnipiac first implemented its Kronos solution, its polling institute has expanded from 30 to 150 seats for polling interviewers. During this time, the number of work-study students, many of whom work at the polling institute, has grown from 900 to 1,200. During the summer months, when students are at home, another 320 employees work up to 20 hours per week at the institute. Other seasonal employees include those who work events during the academic year at the university’s recently constructed sports center.
Even with a 30 percent increase in work-study students and the addition of staff at other facilities, Spragg says the efficiencies of the Kronos solution have allowed the university’s payroll staff to remain at 3.5 full-time equivalents. “I don’t think we’d be able to meet our critical deadlines if we didn’t have Kronos,” she notes. “It’s not just the increase in the number of employees, but we have different categories of employees with complex pay rules that Kronos helps us manage.”
Onboarding of new employees at all levels is also easy. The user-friendly Kronos interface helps new hires — from students who are tech-savvy to others who are less so — get up to speed quickly and use the system comfortably.
Accurate pay and consistent work rule application supports compliance
The university’s paper-based time and attendance process was not only slow but held great potential for payroll errors. Using its automated solution, Quinnipiac has ensured payroll accuracy — even in handling complex pay policies — and eliminated any concerns about violations of labor laws or the bargaining unit contract. “Kronos is certainly helping us keep compliant,” offers Spragg.
The university has a rigid rule that “casual” employees cannot work more than 20 hours per week in the polling institute. “With Kronos, we can easily monitor that,” she says. “If anyone in payroll notices that someone is approaching or has gone over 20 hours, the supervisor is called immediately. We also use it to make sure clerical staff is not exceeding its budgeted salary, by using genies to monitor hours.”
Clerical staff uses a Web-based option, while facilities and security staff uses a time clock to review its time and attendance information and check its accrual balances. “Employees like self-service and being able to see their paid time off,” explains Spragg. “They don’t yet schedule their vacation time at the clock, but that may happen in the future.”
Integrated solution streamlines scheduling process
Scheduling work-study students and other employees for the polling institute’s 150 seats by using spreadsheets was complex and difficult before. Quinnipiac is implementing the Workforce Scheduler application at the polling institute to streamline this process and looks to expand its use in other areas on campus.
The university’s Kronos solution is integrated with Datatel’s higher education platform, an ERP solution that blends the administrative and academic areas of the campus. Spragg says they may use this integration to populate the system with the class schedules of work-study students, allowing supervisors to easily see when students are available to work. In addition, Kronos interfaces with Blackboard, the university’s ID card system.
Timekeeping for multiple campus positions easily tracked
Quinnipiac is in the process of implementing the Kronos Multiple Jobs Application Tool, which simplifies the timekeeping process for student employees with multiple jobs on campus through a single badge or login. “This tool will provide big benefits because it will eliminate paper timesheets for the second position for students,” says Spragg. “Supervisors have been reluctant to hire a student who already had a job, because of the paper timekeeping system. Once this is eliminated, we will probably see more students working in multiple departments.”
Before, only one supervisor could sign off on a student’s hours from multiple positions. Using the multiple jobs tool, each supervisor can view and approve employee hours worked in his or her area.
A lesson plan for expanded use
“We have a complex population, and as we continue to grow, I anticipate we will have more variables,” says Spragg, referring to the university’s addition of a medical school in the future. “Kronos has been able to adapt to all the different populations that we have brought on over the years, which makes the process pretty seamless.”
Quinnipiac University Summary
Industry: Higher education
Employees: 3,000
Products: Workforce Timekeeper™, Workforce Scheduler™
PROJECT BENEFITS
• Use automated time and attendance to enhance staff efficiencies, even as employee numbers expand considerably
• Control labor costs of hourly staff with increased visibility
• Enforce complex pay rules more equitably and uniformly
“It’s not just the increase in the number of employees, but we have different categories of employees with complex pay rules that Kronos helps us manage.” - Anna Spragg, Associate Vice President of Human Resources
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