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Phase 3 Implementation begins with Discovery work

June 2025

The PEAK Project Office began working with Phase 3 colleges and administrative units in April-May by preparing and engaging leaders to participate in implementation. Units selected their Transition Teams who gathered for a formal kickoff on May 22. 

Leaders from Phase 3 units at the PEAK Kickoff 2025
Leaders from across Phase 3 Units and Finance and HR met on May 22 to introduce PEAK Implementation process and begin work.

What's Next

The first part of the PEAK implementation is called “Discovery,” which is a series of activities, workshops and meetings for all participants to gather information to help lay a foundation of shared understanding for how work is currently done today and how it aligns to the future.

Discovery Overview

Discovery begins a path to creating what unit-based processes will look like in the future when supported by Finance and HR shared services teams. Together Academic and Administrative unit Transition Teams, employees and PEAK Project Office teams will gather and validate key information, such as:

  1. How work is performed today
  2. Who supports it
  3. How much time is spent on work that will move to shared services teams
  4. Preview how work will be performed in the shared service teams

The output from all of these activities will help teams think through what work processes and roles can look like in the future. Which will be the focus of the next Design part of the PEAK project. Throughout these activities we will uncover specific unit needs and develop an understanding of how much time is spent on the work that will be shifting to shared service teams.

Depending on your role you may be asked to participate in several meetings or activities:

Pre-work: June 17-30

Leading up to discovery workshops the PEAK team will be sending out some pre-work and process documentation requests. This pre-work will be sent from Finance and HR project managers Dan Schlegel (Finance) and Angie Hanson (HR).

Discovery Information Session: June 24

An overview session covering what to expect and how to prepare for Discovery workshops. Calendar invites were sent to participants on June 10. 

  • This session will be recorded and posted here after the event.
  • If you have questions please contact Kris Woll ([email protected]). 

Current State Discovery workshops: TBC July-August

A series of workshops bringing together unit-based employees and PEAK Office facilitators to comprehensively map the processes across each unit using Visio flows. Pre-work for these sessions is mentioned above

Through conversations and using PeopleSoft/EFS transaction data to validate, we will learn who is currently supporting this work today and how much time is spent on the work that will be shifting to shared service teams. 

The output of these workshops will be clear process maps and estimated unit and employee-specific change impacts for validation. This will support realignment (comparing current and future state planning at the unit level) and inform staffing and future Workforce Realignment workshops.

Discovery Survey: TBC early-July 

Two surveys being sent to employees who use current unit Finance and HR services regularly (think end users) and employees who play a role in bringing the request to completion. These will help round out process flows and gather information that will help leaders compare current and future state for opportunities. This will help with work realignment.

Finance and HR To-Be workshops: TBC July-September

A series of workshops led by Finance and HR shared services teams to review new service model structure, preview how work is done together, and understand if the future state processes will support unit needs. 

These workshops will be organized by service area (eg. Procure-to-pay, accounting, billing, Talent Acquisition, workforce/ employee data)

The output of these sessions will be a gap analysis and plan of action for moving work from each unit to a shared services center. Additionally, this information will be a starting point for design work to be through Workforce Realignment workshops. 

Stay Informed

Please keep an eye out for communications from [email protected] and from your college or administrative unit Transition Team. These could include requests  to complete a survey about your experience or perspective on current state work, or an invitation to attend an information session or workshop. 

Finally, please email the PEAK Project Office directly at [email protected] with any questions and we will find the right person to connect with you.