University Daily Kansan, August 21, 1985 Page 14 KIPPS' fate unclear as payroll problems persist By Gina Kellogg Staff Reporter Three months after the University of Kansas was asked to change from the Kansas Integrated Personnel Payroll System to the new Alternate Regents Payroll Process, KIPPS still suffers problems. Ninety-one state agencies are still using KIPPS, and State Rep. Jayne Aylward, R-Salina, said recently that a group of consultants would be looking at the Sperry-Univac computer system through which KIPPS works, to decide whether the state should continue to use it. KU was part of KIPPS for two years before being asked by the Department of Administration to develop a new payroll system. June was the first month that KU was off KIPPS entirely, said John Patterson, KU comptroller. The consultants will give their recommendations to the Legislative Coordinating Council, said Ray Hauke, principal physical analyst in the Legislative Research Department. Hauke said, "Sperry-Univac is a computer, a big piece of hardware, and KIPPS in that. So if the Sperry-Univac is phased out, there is a need to replace KIPPS with something." The need is based on the fact that the programming and software for KIPPS is written in a computing language unique to Sperry-Univac, Hauke said. Aylward said that many members of the Legislature had wanted to replace the Sperry-Univac with a commercially packaged payroll system, available through many large computing companies. "This decision has been slowed down to have consultants look at the system and make their recommendations." Aylward said. Alyward said she thought the "non-biased" consultants would be able to give the committee a better basis to decision, which is due on Sept. 1, She said she didn't think it would be right to discontinue KIPPS considering the investments that had been made in it. Hauke said that the problems with the systems did not lie necessarily with the Sperv-Univac system. "It was just not big enough to handle all the state agencies being on KIPPS," he said. "So Sperry-Univac is not a problem, but KIPPS, if all the state agencies are brought in, isn't big enough." Patterson said that KU stopped using KIPPS after the Department of Administration realized that the district had some severe capacity problems. "The system worked well for the typical state payroll, but when KU went on, it couldn't handle the volume or sophisticated nature of the payrolli system here." "They knew that in order for that Martin Jones Associate director of business affairs system to go ahead and pay the people that were on the system that some people needed to get off of it," he said. "So they simply came to the University and asked us to." Patterson said, "We were eating up 33 percent of that machine's capacity. So they asked us to move in order to be able to maintain KIPPS with the current hardware until some decision could be made as to what direction they were going to go across the state." Patterson said he had not heard any complaints from employees about the new system. KU joined KIPPS in November 1983. At that time, KIPPS left more than 350 employees at KU without paychecks and between 800 and 1,100 with checks for the wrong amount Aĉœˆ later, the problems had not been corrected. More than 100 employees still had not received their paychecks from the previous month. and at least that many had received incorrect amounts. After several months of work, the problems were finally resolved so that most of the employees were paid on time. Martin Jones, the associate director of business affairs, said, "The system worked well for the typical state payroll, but when KU went on, it couldn't handle the volume or sophisticated nature of the payroll system here. "Consequently, the computer was saturated. It was being used 98 percent of the time to process payroll. The company is trying to add other universities to KIPPS." Volume does not mean the number of people using the computer, Jones said, but the changes made from month-to-month, such as split financing. For example, a professor might get paid fully by the University. Then he might get a grant to pay 50 percent of his salary. This can cause problems for the computer in two ways, Patterson said. There can be multiple appointments or one appointment with multiple financing sources. "These are very different payroll concepts. KU has multiple appointments and KIPPS was designed to handle singular positions with multiple sources of funding." Patterson said. Winter said he sent a letter to Mike Harder, secretary of the Department of Administration, in November 1983, asking for emergency financing to hire extra employees to rewrite computer programs or temporarily prepare paychecks by hand. "People called me who weren't getting checks," Winter said. "That letter was one of several attempts to get the problem solved. "We know we're going to have to spend a lot more money on hardware to run the system properly. It's certainly a mess that's still ongoing obviously. It was a bad deal, but we can resolve it." Russell Getter, director of the division of information systems and communications in the Department of Administration, said, "To some extent, the future directions are unclear. At the present time, we have a stable situation regarding payroll. KU now is calculating its own pay and checks are being written in Topeka." KU and the Kansas Technical Institute in Salina were the only Board of Regents schools to join KIPPS. The other Regents schools are Kansas State University, Wichita State University, Emporia State University, Pittsburg State University and Fort Hays State University. Getter said, "We have the usage level on the load on the Sperry system now contained to a more stable, manageable situation than we had previously. "With KU's withdrawal, KU has not only benefited KU employees, but has added greater stability for all other state employees as well." After the problems with KIPPS, the Legislature appropriated $300,000 for the Regents schools to withdraw from KIPPS. KU used its allocation, $55,000, to withdraw from KIPPS and develop its own payroll system. The other Regents schools that had not yet joined KIPPS used their allocations to develop their own payroll systems, Patterson said. Winter said that he doubted the Regents schools would ever go back on KIPPS in the future, even if the problems with it were resolved. Study Abroad can offer KU students a world of learning "The Regents system is off the central system to stay," he said. Bv Sherry Gerina Staff Reporter When Tammy Silver was in high school, she experienced open green fields, rocky beaches and the fast-paced city life of France - a few scenic reasons she wanted to return to that country during her junior year in college. Silver, Lawrence senior, got her wish after she visited the office of study abroad. The office arranged for her to attend the University of Caen in Caen, France, where she studied French, which is her major "I got the experience of meeting a wide variety of people and being exposed to another culture," she said recently. Nancy Mitchell, Study Abroad adviser, said that employees of the office of study abroad placed students in programs that enabled them to study for a semester or a year at foreign universities. "Through Study Abroad, students learn to be more flexible in ways of thinking and doing things," Mitchell said. "Even though they have been through the rough adjustments and cultural shock, they know they can do it — they've done it." She said that a student could be placed in a study program at another university no matter what he was studying. Mitchell said that the only requirement was 60 hours, or junior status. "We like to see a 3.0 grade point average, but some programs are much more flexible," she said. Glenn Schwerdfteger, a May KU graduate, was a classics major and he attended the University of St. Annes, England, Scotland, for an academic year. "It's exciting to be in a different place and to be sort of a foreigner," he said. Schwerdtfeger also said that he learned a lot about the country and received a good education. Mitchell said, "There's something for everyone. We want to serve as many people as we can." Janis Perkins, Study Abroad adviser, said that KU would receive about 45 students for the direct exchange program in the 1985-86 academic year. About 105 will participate through other programs, she said. Mitchell said that a student didn't have to know a foreign language for some of the programs. Some coursework was provided by students who speak only English, she said. Study Abroad has access to several programs with foreign universities, including direct exchanges, and exchanges through the International Student Exchange Program, Mitchell said. KU has a direct exchange with Great Britain, France and South Korea. Through the direct exchange program, the KU student pays KU fees and the foreign student pays his home school's fees. Then the students exchange positions for a semester or year. Perkins said that through ISEP, students exchange study places with other students from countries on six continents. KU also offers an academic year of study at the University of Costa Rica in San Jose. The program was founded more than 20 years ago and it is the oldest existing program in Latin America. Students also have the opportunity to study in Greece, Italy, Spain, Poland, Russia, Israel, Japan and China. Perkins said that students could study independently and make their own arrangements to go abroad. They have to have the written approval of the corresponding department at KU, and then they are charged a small enrollment fee, she said. Summer study abroad programs are also offered in Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Mexico, the Soviet Union, Italy and Yugoslavia. would earn 15-18 semester hours of credit for semester programs and 10-36 hours for the academic year. Mitchell said that students normal- Graduate students may transfer six to eight hours of graduate credit or up to 36 hours of undergraduate credit for an academic year, she said. Mitchell said, "You don't have to be rich to go study abroad." She said that scholarships and financial aid were available. KU students may apply for special scholarships through the office of study abroad if they have a grade point average of at least 3.0. They may apply for federal grants and loans through the office of financial aid. 26 Strong Hall. the deadline for financial aid applications is Feb. 15. Mitchell said that the Study Abroad program was not all study and no fun. She said that students had the chance to travel while attending foreign schools. "tell students, you are going to work hard but you are also going to play." Mitchell said. She also said that people established worldwide friendships and established contacts for future careers through the Study Abroad program. Furnish Your Room or Apartment! At your Thrift Stores in Lawrence. - Bedding - Knick Knacks - Furniture - Clothing - Appliances Experienced Merchandise - Housewares 25% Off with this ad 628 Vermont 749-4208 16 E.9th 843-1707 Boston Acoustics What the reviewers are saying about the Boston A40: BOSTON ACOUSTICS DELIVERS. dollar-for-dollar, pound-for-pound The New York Times Boston Acoustics speakers deliver what you're interested in; smooth, clear, real sound. If you were to close your eyes, you'd swear that the musicians were right in front of you. This is called "stereo imagining" and it's what Boston Acoustics is becoming famous for. Boston Airlines All-inclusive travel has to be made for valuable value in any event. Each package is supplemented by a portion of the airline's fee on children under 12 years of age. Hans Fantel Stereo Review Audio The Boston Accenture ABD delivers exceptional performance at a very expensive rate. The ABD comes with an Intel-based CPU, memory bandwidth and maximum sound quality and functionality of the IBM system and most important features. We are prominent - **Julian Horch** The Bison Edition includes a built-in computerized system with features of high performance and enhanced handling. - Richard C. Heyser HFC "BEST BUY SPEAKERS From the A40 to the A400, Boston Acoustics speakers engineering can put together a sound system of super muscidity and accuracy. The A400's amplifiers don't have to spend money on an amplifier that dims room lights just to operate speakers because Boston Acoustics speakers are so large that they can be plugged into any outlet you know you little more about Boston, you can get the kind of quality that most people buy their second or third component systems. $75 to $450 from The screen image was widely reminiscent. The Audi has to be one of the sounding toughest cars in the world for many years, but it very simply reminiscent. — Raphael Neill HI-PI GRAND PRIX AMARID AudiOdeo The Boston Acoustics A400 was honored as the 1983 Speaker of the Year in the 5th Annual Acoustics Magazine HF1 Grand Prix awards.