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Hierarchy Change Request Form
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Overview
The Hierarchy Change Request Form enables users to request changes to their Departmental or Financial hierarchy structures. This process replaces the previous excel-based form provided by VPF, and should be used in place of sending an email directly to dept-request@mit.edu. Use of the form will enable better tracking of change requests, and provide a single point of contact for the requester.
After the form is submitted, a coordinator will follow up to obtain additional information required to support the change. Once all information has been collected and approved, the process for making the requested changes will take place.
Note: The changes proposed in the new form must be approved by the Office of the Provost or Vice Chancellor prior to any changes taking place.
Generally, these requests require participation from various 'Participating Groups’ including HR, VPF, OSP, etc. Each of these groups will have to make modifications to their respective systems, in order to support the requested changes. The coordinator will work as a liaison between the requestor and each respective group in support of the proposed changes.
Accessing the Form
The Hierarchy Change Request Form can be accessed from the Atlas Full Catalog.
Using the Form
Users should fill out the form to the best of their ability, providing as much information as they have in both the provided checkboxes as well as the free text area.
- Enter a description of the changes needed, the date the changes are effective, and the primary point of contact:
- Check the appropriate box to indicate which hierarchies are affected by the requested change(s):
- If known, check the boxes to indicate which additional areas or groups may be affected by the proposed change(s):
Submitting the Form
Click Submit at the bottom of the form to submit the request for review. You will see a confirmation message like the one shown here:
Once the form has been submitted, it will be routed to a Change Coordinator who will contact the requester for any additional information needed. An RT ticket will be created and sent to the requester as well as any additional contact(s) listed on the Form.
 | The form will not autosave a version of your work, so be sure to save your documentation elsewhere. Submit the form when you have provided all information. Do not hit back or close the page as you may lose any entered information. |
FAQs
See the Hierarchy Change Request Form FAQs page
Terminology
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Authorizations |
A rule that lets a person perform a specific business function within some of MIT's HR and financial programs. These include SAP financial reporting, requisitioning, etc. Authorizations can be broken down into the following: 1) Person (who): Kerberos. |
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Cost Object (a.k.a. “cost collectors”) |
Cost Objects are the MIT accounting designations used to categorize costs and revenues for every MIT project or activity undertaken by your DLC. Cost Objects are comprised of cost centers, internal orders & WBS elements or occasionally, projects. Cost objects are 7-digit numbers, commonly preceded by a "C", e.g. 1710010 or C1710010. |
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Custom Fund Center Hierarchy |
In the Custom Fund Center hierarchy, the smallest objects are individual cost objects. Nodes in the Custom Fund Center hierarchy are typically include a "FC" prefix, followed by a custom department name. |
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Department |
An MIT organization that is accountable directly to its dean, area vice president, or other leader. It develops its own annual budget, and negotiates for general funding as a separate entity. Departments may be academic, administrative, a research unit, a collaboration, student-related, or an enterprise. A department generally has a distinct subject matter or area of work, or, when different areas of work join together, a basis for connection, i.e., similar work, subject matter, methodology, approach, or research tools. Each department is assigned a six digit Department number in the MIT Payroll System. All employees are assigned to one MIT home Department. |
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DLC Dept Hierarchy |
Generally representative of an org. unit, or group of organization units. All department related information, as well as the departments sub-sets are managed here or within the organization unit hierarchy. The DLC hierarchy is used for, among other things, management of authorizations, spending groups, etc. Departments in the DLC hierarchy begin with "D_", followed by a custom department name, e.g. D_CMSE. |
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EHS Room Set Data |
Used to manage room set information, PI data registration, training relationships & lab Cx. |
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Fund |
Funds usually represent the same thing as the corresponding cost object. (The exception is in the Sloan School, where one Fund can be associated with several Cost Objects.) Funds are grouped into Fund Centers. Funds are 7-digit objects, typically preceded by an "F", e.g. F1443300. |
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Fund Center Hierarchy |
Fund Centers are a collection of SAP cost objects that have been grouped for authorization purposes. Every cost object is assigned to a fund center. The Fund Center Hierarchy is used primarily for controlling spending, e.g. who can approve requisitions. In the Fund Center hierarchy, the smallest objects are individual Funds. There are two Fund Center Hierarchies: the Standard Fund Center Hierarchy & the Custom Fund Center Hierarchy. Fund centers are typically 6-digit numbers preceded by an "FC", e.g. FC100017. |
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KUALI/COEUS |
MIT's Award management system used by the Office of Sponsored Programs. e.g. wbs parent 6931164 |
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NIMBUS, NIMBUS BAGs |
Nimbus is MIT’s budget database and system of record for General and Auxiliary budgets. A Nimbus BAG, or Budget Area Group is a preassigned group of cost objects (often, but not always aligned with profit centers) that represent specific school units from a management perspective. Cost objects, as they pertain to NIMBUS, will be shown with a "T" at the end, e.g. 1405101T. |
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Organizational Unit |
A representation of a department in SAP-HR system. Organizational Units are used for grouping, managing, and tracking employees; each employee is assigned to one home Organizational Unit. |
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Organizational Unit Hierarchy |
The Organizational Unit hierarchy groups similar departments together for use by HR. At the 'Parent' level, Organizational Units are 8-digits, followed by a description of the overarching department. At the lower level, they are 8-digits, followed by a description of the department as well as that department's associated profit center. Employees units are lowest level. E.g. 10000760 Registrar (446700). |
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Primary Authorizer (DLC) |
The Primary Authorizers in DLCs are responsible for maintaining authorizations over the resources of the DLC. As it relates to this form, the primary authorizer may differ from the primary point(s) of contact for the proposed HR/or Financial changes. See the following for more information about DLC Primary Authorizer responsibilities: http://web.mit.edu/rolesdb/www/paresponse.html |
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Profit Center |
SAP mechanism for grouping cost objects to align with financial reporting needs. Profit centers are used to manage the granting of reporting, but not spending, authorizations. In the Profit Center hierarchy, the smallest objects are individual Cost Objects. Profit Centers are displayed as a 6-digit department or sub-department number, commonly preceded by a “P” or "PCMIT" (as is shown in the PMIT roles hierarchy) or, more commonly "PC", e.g. PC069890 or P069890. |
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Profit Center Hierarchy |
A grouping of related Profit Centers within the Profit Center Hierarchy. All Profit Centers must be associated with a node in the hierarchy. The node represents the department which has responsibility for the Profit Centers associated with it. Nodes in the Profit Center Hierarchy are preceded by an "0H", e.g. 0HPC0000637. |
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Release Strategy |
Levels of review and approval within an allocated Spending Group. Release Strategies are broken down into 1 of 4 "Models". See here for details on release strategies: http://web.mit.edu/sapweb/busrul.html. |
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Spending Group Hierarchy |
Represent organizations or subsets of organizations. Each 'SG_' object in the Spending Group, matches an 'FC_' object in the custom branch of the Fund Center hierarchy. The Spending Group hierarchy contains only Spending Groups; it has no Fund Centers or Funds. There are technical reasons for storing Spending Groups and Custom Fund Centers in separate hierarchies with different names. For most purposes, they can be considered as representing the same thing. E.g. SG_BIOLOGY |
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Standard Fund Center Hierarchy |
In the Standard Fund Center hierarchy, the smallest objects are individual Funds. In this hierarchy, Fund Centers are grouped together into bigger Fund Centers, depending on the purpose of the fund. The purpose of the fund is usually identified at the Fund Center level. "GO" represents "General Operating"; "GNO" is for "General Non-Operating", "DH" for "Department Head", and "PI" for "Principal Investigator". Nodes in the Standard Fund Center hierarchy typically mirror the Fund Center, followed by the fund purpose, e.g. FC101112 GO-AUDIT DIVISION |
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Sub-Department |
A subdivision of an MIT department. |
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Roles/Authorizations |
The Roles Database stores access rules (user authorizations) for applications like SAP, Data Warehouse, and the Graduate Admissions System, among others. Specially authorized Departmental and Central Administrators use the web-based Roles Database application to view and manage user authorizations. |
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DACCA or SANDI Reports |
The DACCA report is a report which departmental certifies sign to certify that paychecks have been distributed. Supervisors in the departments are required to sign the DACCA for audit trail reasons. There is one addressee per profit center. That person distributes to the supervisors who sign them. eDACCA certification is quarterly. SANDI is a fiscal year summary report generated for an HR Organizational Unit (department) that includes HR appointment, salary distribution and estimated payroll data. The data is displayed for each monthly exempt employee (with or without salary), affiliate, fellow and graduate student that holds an appointment in the Org Unit. |
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Campus Map or FIS Space Allocations |
Managed through Facilities, the Space Accounting database contains vital information that Facilities monitors to track space usage on campus. The information also helps academic and administrative departments with their space change requests. The Facility Information Systems (FIS) team maintains and reproduces the geographic and building information presented in the MIT campus map. |
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Space Management System |
Managed through the Provost's office, the Space Management System or SMS was developed to record and analyze the use of research space at MIT at the level of the Space Supervisor, or Principal Investigator (PI). The SMS contains information about the rooms within your department's authority, the PIs and faculty who supervise these rooms, and the employees and staff supervised by the PIs and faculty. |
Access Restrictions
Access to this application is allowed only for users with the ZMIT, Financial Systems SAP role.
