DirectLine User Group Topic Summary
Purpose: This document is a listing of DirectLine User Group agenda items and status of each request.
Audience: Any DirectLine user.
User Group background
A formal DirectLine User Group was formed in 2019 for the purpose of evaluating user recommendations for software updates. The group is composed of two members from Operations and Facilities Council (OFC), two members from Budget Accounting and Reporting Council (BAR), and one member from the SBCTC Capital Budget department. OFC and BAR representatives are asked to serve a 3-year term. A representative from Megamation is available for consultation.
The group meets monthly (as needed) via Webex. The agenda consists of DirectLine community member's recommendations for updates that would impact global portions of the software application. Each proposal is evaluated from many perspectives including facilities, business office, procurement, and inventory management. The collective experience of the user group helps to refine each request to best meet business needs and provide the best user experience.
Summary of proposals
| Request Topic | Outcome | Date Approved |
|---|---|---|
| HVAC fields added to room records |
Approved - implemented | July 2019 |
| GASB 83 fields added to equipment / building records | Approved - implemented | Aug 2019 |
| Linking Equipment and fixed asset records | Approved - implemented | Nov 2019 |
| Physical inventory scanning with tablet device | Approved - implemented | Nov 2019 |
| CR2128 report update for Construction In Progress projects < $100K | Approved - implemented | Aug 2019 |
| Standardized disposal and status codes | Approved by User Group Approved by Data Governance Implementing with each college in PeopleSoft deployment group order |
Sept 2019 (User Group) Dec 2019 (Data Governance) |
| Automatic summing of square footage from each room record | Rejected | Jul 2019 |
| Membership term length | modified from one year to three years | Nov 2020 |
| Required training and updated security roles for Location ID maintenance | Proposal from Data Governance agreed by user group. Canvas training will be assigned to every user and Megamation will create security function. | Nov 2020 |
| Restrict building drop-down search lists to include Active or Temporarily Out of Service by default. Option available to include other building status codes if desired. | Approved - implemented | March 2021 |
| Equipment Inventory module updates: add "Division", "Location ID" to the input screen. Add "Campus", "Department", "Division", and "Program" to search options. | Approved - implemented | March 2021 |
Additional Information for each topic
HVAC field added to room records
Located on the Room Details 2 tab. Can be used for preventive maintenance work orders or staff preference requests.
GASB 83 fields added to Equipment / Building records
GASB 83 relates to Asset Retirement Obligations (ARO). Additional background information is available in SAAM 85.74.45. In summary, GASB 83 applies if disposal costs will be incurred when retiring an asset with potential pollution remediation. Other circumstances could also apply.
Adding this feature allows the college to identify current or new assets that may fit this criteria at the time it is retired or disposed. A checkbox is available to indicate this asset might apply to GASB 83 and a comment box is available for freeform text.
The field can be found on the Equipment Entry screen on the FAE/Cost tab:
And in the Building record in the header that displays at all times:
Linking Equipment and Fixed Asset Records
Sometimes the same piece of equipment is listed in the Fixed Asset module for work order and maintenance purposes as well as in the Equipment Inventory module for asset tracking and depreciation purposes. There was no method to link these two records for the same piece of equipment. Fields have now been created to identify
Refer to Link Equipment Records in DirectLine user guide for instructions.
Physical inventory scanning with a tablet device
A college asked if a bar code reader could be used with a tablet device connected to wi-fi to perform a physical inventory. This would allow colleges to take advantage of DirectLine functionality and make any record updates during the course of the inventory instead of written notes to be processed later.
Features include:
- list of assets that should be located in the current building/room
- list of assets already scanned in the current building/room
- list of assets not yet scanned in the current building/room
- any updates made in the scan entry screen will automatically update the equipment record
- automatic date stamp of each record when scanned
See Scan Inventory Items in DirectLine user guide for complete instructions.
CR2128 Report updates for Construction in Progress
As capital projects are constructed and expenditures are recorded for each year, the entries are recorded in Commodity Code 0200 Construction in Progress. Sometimes, early accounting entries were not included in the CR2128 report because the total was less than $100,000. In order to match financial statement reports, Commodity Code 0200 is now reported for any amount.
Standardized Status and Disposal Codes
Over the years, colleges have created status codes for buildings and equipment beyond the original global set adopted in the legacy FAE database. When all college data is collected for the State Board data warehouse, the wide assortment of possible status codes causes confusion and sometimes conflict. The same characters can mean opposite things for each college. For example, "IN" can mean Installed or Inactive. Data analysis of current spaces was inaccurate.
The DirectLine user group, and the State Board Data Governance committee approved the use of the following status codes:
| Code |
Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Active | Active | Any asset currently owned or in use by the college |
| Inactive | Inactive | Any asset retired or disposed |
| Demo | Demolished | Used for a building that has been torn down |
| TOS | Temporarily out of service | Building or equipment temporarily offline for renovation or repairs. Will be returned to service. |
Cheryl is working directly with each college in deployment group order to refresh building and room records to the appropriate status codes. Deployment group 4 colleges are complete (Jan. 2020) and group 5 will be contacted soon (Feb 2020).
Automatic summing of building square footage
DirectLine building records contain fields for "Gross Square Feet" and "Assignable Area". For a period of time, the "Assignable Area" was calculated on the sum of all room spaces created for that building. Not all colleges create non-instructional spaces such as corridors, mechanical rooms, etc. The "Assignable Area" is understated in that case.
The criteria for "Assignable Area" was changed to a normal data entry value entered on the AMS tab by facility staff that had access to the building plans.
A request was made to return to the original calculated method for the purpose of assisting colleges in identifying the need for additional space coding. The user group voted to reject the proposal.
Building drop-down search lists
This revision establishes a default building search filter to include Active or TOS (Temporarily Out of Service) in the Building/Site Entry and Room Entry screens. The user has the option of including other status codes by unchecking a filter box.
Equipment Inventory Updates
This update added "Division" under Program Information for additional college options. The "Location ID" was also added tot the Location Information section to coincide with the building and room selected for the asset.
Additional search options to include "Campus" and "Division".
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