Dear Stony Brook Faculty and Staff,
I am writing to provide you with an important update regarding the WolfieONE project timeline. As you know, we launched this critical initiative in September 2023 to modernize our financial and administrative systems at Stony Brook.
Since then, we have made significant progress and as we have increasingly learned about the capabilities and limitations of the Oracle product, we've changed our scope. The purpose of this message is to communicate that we anticipate the project go-live date to be July 2026. Please note that this date is subject to change as we continue to refine our approach, and we will keep you informed of any further adjustments.
Two key factors have contributed to this revised timeline:
- Expanded Scope and Business Transformation: As we progressed through the project's various phases, we identified several opportunities to align with our guiding principles and critically evaluate our existing business processes in order to identify areas for improvement. This commitment to institutional transformation, while essential, needs sufficient time to design, build and test. Furthermore, we have identified and integrated several parallel initiatives into the WolfieONE project, such as the myTIME initiative. These integrations, while enhancing the overall value of WolfieONE, also necessitate sufficient time.
- Stony Brook’s Nuances: The unique nuances of our flagship institution require a thoughtful and deliberate approach to building and implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system like WolfieONE. We are committed to ensuring that the new system meets the specific needs of our diverse community, and this requires thorough planning, development, and testing.
Since the project's commencement in September 2023, there have been numerous discussions and speculation regarding the go-live date. Previous estimations included July 2025 and December 2026; however, a definitive date had not been established until now. This agreed upon go-live date should allow us to absorb the expanded scope, work on process improvements and provide a better overall solution to our community.
Throughout this process, we have been cognizant to remain true to our WolfieONE guiding principles, ensuring that our decisions are aligned with the project's overarching goals. We are confident that this adjusted timeline will allow us to implement WolfieONE in a way that benefits Stony Brook now and for decades into the future.
We are committed to maintaining transparent communication and providing consistent updates. Should you have any inquiries or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out. We appreciate your continued support and understanding as we proceed with the transformation of our financial and administrative systems and processes.
Sincerely,
Jed M. Shivers
Senior Vice President
Finance & Administration
Stony Brook University
