Kansas State University

Concur implementation moved up to Feb. 26; new universal time and attendance system also being fast-tracked

Submitted by Debbie Mercer and Ethan Erickson

Dear colleagues:

We write today to share information with you about the implementation of two important operational initiatives – the adoption of the Concur travel and expense-management tool and a new, universitywide time and leave system.

Last fall, we announced the university would begin using Concur for travel and expense management later this spring. Work also took place throughout the fall to review time and leave processes across the university, leading to the development of recommendations for a universitywide time and leave system. The recent IT interruptions have only reinforced the importance of moving forward with both of these projects, accelerating implementation this spring and summer.

These initiatives align with the Next-Gen K-State strategic plan, which challenges us to establish a culture of continuous improvement and excellence across our business operations. This includes modernizing and standardizing our processes and the systems that support that work. 

While these advancements will benefit our university and our employees, moving quickly on these projects will require significant effort by many business units and require all of us to learn new processes and systems. That’s why we’re calling on the entire K-State community to embrace these two operational excellence initiatives, learn the new processes required with each and focus on being One K-State in all that we do.

Concur implementation moved up to Feb. 26

Concur will modernize our entire travel and procurement card process, from request approval to booking to reimbursement. It also offers a mobile-friendly way to manage expenses. 

Concur’s implementation Feb. 26 will occur in tandem with two additional improvements:

• Anthony Travel: K-State has partnered with Anthony Travel to assist with booking through Concur's platform. This assistance includes an on-site agent at the K-State Union who will be available starting in March to help faculty and staff with their international and domestic travel needs. The use of Concur will be required for international travel and optional for domestic travel.

• U.S. Bank: K-State has transitioned our current procurement cards from UMB Bank to U.S. Bank. U.S. Bank will better meet the diverse needs of our travelers and improve the automation of banking information. All employees who currently have university procurement cards will receive new ones from U.S. Bank. The Division of Financial Services will coordinate the distribution of the new procurement cards this month.   

Initial training on the Concur system begins next week, with key stakeholders receiving training notifications. Multiple training options will be provided in a variety of ways throughout the spring. The Concur system will be implemented the week of Feb. 26.

For more information, visit the Concur Travel and Expense Management website.

Universal time and attendance system to launch this summer

Since last April, a working group has been in place to lead the implementation of a single time and attendance system, which will consolidate and standardize time and leave systems across the university, replacing the seven different systems that have been used by various business units. Following the recent IT disruptions, all university employees have been moved to a single time and leave system, E-Time, and we expect to select a new system in March to replace it. Implementation will be completed within six months. 

You can follow progress on this initiative on the Administration and Finance strategic initiatives time and leave webpage.

We thank the many people who have been working to bring the Concur and unified time and leave systems to fruition over the past summer and fall. As you can see, incredible progress is being made, even as we navigate the recent IT disruptions. Working together, we continue building the foundation to be a leading next-generation land-grant university.

Thanks for all you are doing!

Debbie Mercer
Interim provost and executive vice president

Ethan Erickson
Vice president for administration and finance