eTravel: University of Hawaii

New Releases / Mod List

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RELEASE 3.0

Implementing April 1, 2015 :
Handout
Powerpoint Presentation
Q&A

RELEASE 2.3

Implemented September 6, 2011 :
Added foreign currency converter to the itinerary and expenditure sections on the completion for foreign trips only.
For more information, click on the "Help?" icon above the itinerary or expense sections.

RELEASE 2.2

Implemented August 11, 2010 :
Added a checkbox in the Justification field to note whether the Traveler is presenting a paper and/or conducting a presentation.
Added a checkbox in the Source of Funds field to note whether the trip is being funded by the University Research Council (URC).
Changed the Itinerary section titles to "Proposed Business Itinerary" and "Actual Business Itinerary". Majority of users input just the airline itinerary, however, the purpose of the itinerary section is to reflect the location that the business is taking place. And the Federal Allowable Rates (FAR) inputted in the itinerary should reflect the business destination, not the airport destination.
In the Expense section, added a new expense type for Baggage since this is a standard charge on most airlines.
RELEASE 2.1

Implemented April 29, 2009 :
On Step 1,
  • Added "Process Via" field so users can select UH Disbursing or UH Foundation. For those using eTravel to process UH Foundation-funded trips, this makes the process easier as Disbursing is excluded from the workflow and documents stop at the Fiscal Office.

  • Added "Number of Accounts" field which drives the Accounting Method. Users continue to select Manual Accounting unnecessarily which creates additional work for the Fiscal Office and Disbursing as more stringent audit is required.

  • Added "Fixed Amount" Accounting Method. Users may input flat dollar amounts by account code and the system will do all the work of distributing subcodes and dollar mounts.
Within the Itinerary, added calendar images to simplify date and time inputs.
Implementing a direct feed to FMIS to eliminate keypunching for Disbursing. This includes:

  • New document status of "Released".  Note: The Voucher status will continue to be used for all documents that cannot feed electronically (documents using frozen accounts, final accounts, advances where a stop check was issued).

  • JVs will feed electronically to FMIS Screen 014. Previously JVs were keypunched to Screen 025 and credited in lump sum based on how it was paid out.  Using Screen 014 means the JV section will look and be processed differently as there will be matching debit and credit entries.
Integration with the new ePayment application so future travel payments can be via EFT (electronic funds transfer to the traveler's bank account) vs. paper check. EFT will be released systemwide at the start of the 2010 fiscal year.
Various usability enhancements, including maximizing the screen width for higher resolution monitors.
RELEASE 1.10

Implemented February 1, 2007 :
Changed the description of the Accounting Method options as follows:
    - From  Percentage Split Across Accounts  to  By Percentage (1 or MORE account codes)
    - From  Manual Accounting  to  Manual (2 or MORE account codes)
Reason:  Users were getting confused on which method to select.  The instructions were also updated to better clarify each option.
Within the Reports link from the Main Menu, a report has been added called "Employees Currently On Travel Status". This provides each user/department the ability to input criteria such as travel dates, traveler name, destination, to dynamically generate a report of travelers on travel status for the University.
Added a new 00 Bargaining Unit for non-compensated employees who are in Peoplesoft and travel on behalf of the University.
RELEASE 1.9

Implemented June 9, 2006 :
Changed the Payment Method listing so that all University payment methods are pre-fixed with "UH". The previous listing was confusing to some users.
Modified the stats table on the Main Menu to display counts for Active documents only, i.e. documents that are routing and travel that still requires a Completion to be finalized.
Automated 45-Day and 55-Day notices for outstanding travel advances. The notices will start running sometime in July but Disbursing will be working with the Business/Fiscal Officers to clean out old data in eTravel first.
Added a new Gross Income Reporting document. This will be initiated by Disbursing when a Traveler receives an Advance but fails to do the Completion or return monies received.
Fixed a bug related to the Per Diem value in the Itinerary. In some cases the Per Diem field was blank when it should have been adding the Lodging and M&IE together.
Fixed a bug related to users being unable to retrieve their documents. In some cases the Itinerary wasn't being saved properly so the document could not be retrieved.

RELEASE 1.8

Implemented December 12, 2005 :
Related to NEW TRAVEL POLICY FOR BU 07, for travel ocurring on or after January 1, 2006:
  -- Added NEW BARGAINING UNIT RULES FOR UNITS 07 and 87, based on the attached matrix.
  -- Modified ITINERARY FORMS SO PER DIEM FIELDS DO NOT DISPLAY for Units 07 and 87.  (#259)
              
On Step 2 within the Traveler section, A FLAG    WILL DISPLAY NEXT TO THE BARGAINING UNIT NUMBER IF IT DIFFERS FROM WHAT'S IN PEOPLESOFT.  This will appear on documents with status of SUBMITTED OR APPROVED.  (#271)
Added COVERAGE OF DUTIES field between Justification and Source of Funds because many departments require this information, i.e. Faculty must specify who will be teaching their classes, Department Chairs must specify who will be acting on their behalf.  (#216)
Added ability to VOID AN "APPROVED" TRAVEL REQUEST & REQUEST+ADVANCE. Voided documents will remain in the database but will not count as Outstanding so will not require a Completion.  (#79)
Changes to the ITINERARY SECTION:
  -- Changed SAME DAY ITINERARY SO IRS RATE IS PRE-FILLED WITH 0.00.  Reason: There is no Federal Allowable Rate for Same Day travel so saves users one step from having to input 0.00 all the time.  (#249)
  -- On the Completion, the following message "This trip is taxable, so IRS Rate fields are required if using System Calculated Per Diem." will display in ORANGE INSTEAD OF RED.  Reason: Users were interpreting the message to be a fatal error.  (#274)
  -- On all Itineraries, changed the COLUMN HEADER TO DYNAMICALLY DISPLAY EITHER "BU RATE" OR "FAR" DEPENDING ON WHAT APPLIES so it's less confusing for users.
  -- On the Completion, within the EZ and Itemized Itineraries, the ACTUAL RATE FOR LODGING WILL DISPLAY TO 3 DECIMAL PLACES WHEN NECESSARY.   Reason: Previously it was displaying only to 2 decimal places which made the calculation of Lodging Cost divided by Lodging Days seem incorrect.  (#267)
  -- Within all Itinerary sections, on both the static and print versions of documents, DOTTED LINES WILL DISPLAY TO DENOTE FIELDS THAT ARE USER-INPUT vs. system calculated.  This is to assist users who must audit the information.  (#269)
  -- Updated all ITINERARY HELP SCREENS to reflect the above changes.  (#266)
Fixed a PRINTING PROBLEM WITH MOZILLA FIREFOX where not all sections were printing properly.  (#192)
Changed the COMMENTS SECTION TO ACCEPT 2,000 CHARACTERS AND ADDED A COUNTER. Previous limit was 1,000 characters.  (#241)
RELEASE 1.7

Implemented September 21, 2005:
Changed the BUSINESS OFFICE LIST to be grouped by campus so it's clearer to users which to select. (#202-Profiler)
On the DOCUMENT SEARCH pages, moved the fields around due to changes to the Business Office list (see above) and removed the option to search by Depart and Return Date. (#210)
For Travelers with dual appointments (i.e. multiple records) in PEOPLESOFT, the logic has been changed to pull the employee record that has the lowest record number. This typically identifies the employee's primary appointment. (#104)
On the PRINT VERSION: 1) Removed the legal notice from the Travel Request since it only applies when Travel Advances are received. 2) Moved the "University of Hawaii - eTravel" title to the left to conserve space at the top. Users wanted the Travel Request to print on one page.
Implemented September 20, 2005:
Changed the ITINERARY SECTION so the initial Depart and final Arrive destination defaults to the City and State on the Traveler's General Profile. (#200)
Changed the ACCOUNT SECTION so the Campus field defaults to the campus that the Business Office is associated with. (#143)
Since eTravel uses Profiler, FYI to users that various changes were made to PROFILER, including implementing a new look.  
Implemented September 12, 2005:
MILEAGE RATES for Units 07 and 87 were increased from 40.5 to 48.5 cents, effective September 1, 2005 per an IRS announcement on September 9, 2005. (#201)
For NO COST TRAVEL, changed the validations within the Itinerary section so that only destinations and dates of travel are required. Previously the BU or FAR were also required. (#189)
Implemented August 29, 2005:
Changed the SORT ORDER on the Search Results page to be by Doc#, then Create Date of the document. The listing should now display Requests or Request with Advances first, followed by Completions. (#194)
Implemented August 26, 2005:
Changed the APPROVAL SECTION to only display on the Print Versions since that version is used for signatures. (#149)
Fixed a bug with the EMAIL FEATURE. User reported getting an "invalid email address" error message when the "Send a copy of this e-mail to myself" box was checked.  (#150)
Implemented August 12, 2005:
Separated BARGAINING UNIT 88 into two categories: "88 - E/M Academic/Non-Academic" and "88 - E/M APT".   Previously there was one set of rates for all BU 88 employees, however rates differ for members within the unit.  (#142)
Modified FIELD SIZES to accept expense amounts over $99,999.99.  (#146)
Fixed the SAME DAY ITINERARY to display the correct BU Rate for Per Diem.  A mod that went in for Release 1.4 changed the P/D field to be auto-calculated (sum of Lodging + M&IE). For units entitled to a flat dollar amount for M&IE, the same amount was displaying in the P/D field which was incorrect.  (#140)
Fixed the COPY feature so that if a document is copied and the Bargaining Unit is changed, the Itinerary section properly reflects rates for the new BU.  Previously rate information from the original document was displayed.  (#141)
In the APPROVAL SECTION, increased the row height of the signature lines.  (#137)
Added CAMPUS CODE in the upper right corner next to the Request+Advance and Completion document type (on the Print Version only). Purpose is to assist Disbursing/Pre-audit when interfacing with FMIS.  (#145)
RELEASE 1.6

Implemented July 27, 2005 :

NEW USER-FRIENDLY LOOK FOR THE MAIN MENU.  (#126)
For NO COST TRAVEL, added DENY capability for Disbursing so the status can be changed back to IN PROCESS if the field needs to edit.  (#124)
Changed EFT FIELD on the Request+Advance and Completion to be read-only. This is to accommodate the upcoming feed to FMIS, for which additional mods are forthcoming.  (#127)
RELEASE 1.5

Implemented July 13, 2005 :

ACCOUNT VALIDATIONS are now based on the new fiscal year.  Users should not be receiving invalid account warnings for 2006 accounts.  (#121)
The APPROVAL SECTION will now be displayed on all documents where status = SUBMITTED and status = APPROVED.  Previously it only displayed when status was APPROVED which was causing routing problems for many departments.  (#119)
A new COUNTY LOCATOR WITHIN CONUS link has been added to the EZ and Itemized Itinerary help screens.  (#116)
RELEASE 1.4

Implemented July 1, 2005 :

NEW LOGIN PAGE URL.  If you book-marked the eTravel Login page, the URL will change to: https://its06.its.hawaii.edu:9584/loginDisplay.do.   Reason: Previously the site was switching between non-secure (http) and secure (https) pages, the latter because of screens that contain sensitive information. It's been changed to run totally secure which affects the URL.  Overall, we recommend users start at the eTravel Home Page (www.hawaii.edu/etravel).  (#108)
On the EZ and ITEMIZED ITINERARY:

           Changed column title from "Pers. Days" to "Minus Days" and added ability to reduce calculated Per Diem Days. This is to accommodate users who are willing to take a lesser Per Diem amount than they're entitled to.  (#101)
In the "BU Rate or FAR" column, changed the Per Diem field to be auto-calculated. Users may input just Lodging and M&IE and the system will calculate the Per Diem.  (#100)

In the EXPENDITURE section, added "Other" as a Payment Method option. May be used for other University payments not covered by existing options.  (#99)

        
In the APPROVAL section, added appropriate traveler certification statements.  (#102)

        
Added new PRINT VERSION option - ability to Print w/ Lines in addition to Print w/ Shading.  (#95)

        
On the Completion when using Manual Accounting, TOTALS BY SUBCODE section -- changed "????" that displays in the Subcode column to "Form 4C Req."  (#111)

Note:  Numbers in parentheses are for internal tracking purposes only.
RELEASE 1.3

Implemented March 11, 2005 :

Changed the process to obtain Traveler's name from Peoplesoft, not Profiler.
Changed Document FO Code to be a required field.
For No Cost travel, changed the final status to be Approved, not Vouchered.
Changed the page scrolling, i.e. after refreshing a page or hitting an action button, the user is returned to where he/she was. Previously the user would be taken to the top of the page.
On all documents, changed the Expenditure section to make adding multiple expenses easier. Separated the Payment Method and Payment Detail into 2 columns.  
On the Advance and Completion, added a "Due Traveler" total in the Expenditure section to help the user match totals with the Account section.
On all documents, the Approval section will only display when status = Approved.
On all Print Versions, the Approval section will display below the Traveler/Document Info section (not at the bottom of the document) and only when status = Approved.
On the Completion, changed Step 1 to display Travel Request data on the left, Travel Completion options on the right.
On the Completion, moved the Tax Calculation section from within the Account section to just below the Itinerary.
On the Completion for Manual Accounting, changed the Totals by Subcode section to display Flat Rate P/D amounts so the total matches the Expenditure total. Subcode column will display ???? for these entries if taxability applies since the system does not have subcode breakouts.
RELEASE 1.2

Implemented January 31, 2005 :

Removed Search All option on the Main Menu and replaced it with ability to search by T-document number.
Changed the statistics on the Main Menu to reflect counts for unique T-document number. Previously counts included all revisions.
Added new edits/validations in the Itinerary section that requires BU/FAR rates be inputted for all non-connecting flights if any Flat Rate per diem is used.
Added email capability from within a travel document.
Added ability to click IRS Rate text within the Itinerary to view current Hi/Lo rates.
RELEASE 1.1

Implemented January 5, 2005 :

Redesigned the Home Page (http://www.hawaii.edu/etravel/)
Consolidated the Travel Request and Travel Advance into one document.  Involves significant process changes and eliminates many screens.
Added ability for the Business Office to create Travel Requests. Previously this was limited to the Traveler and Preparer.
Modified the Print Version of all documents so the Doc# prints at the top of every page.
Changed the timing of final validations so they occur only when the Business Office Approves. Previously all validations occurred on Calculate and Submit.
Simplified many of the error messages displayed to users.
Added user references and help guides, located on the Home Page and on the Main Menu (after login).