Student employees weigh in on new paperless payroll system

By SARAH GRAMMER

Student opinions are in on MyTime, the new paperless payroll system at the University of Mary Washington. MyTime was introduced at the beginning of spring semester in an effort to make the payroll process more efficient and cut down on the excessive amount of paper that the manual system required.

Though the system has not been in use long, student employees have already begun expressing opinions about MyTime.

Senior psychology major Emma Leheney works as both a tour guide and tutor for the university. Leheney described MyTime as “user-friendly.”

“I don’t have to take time to come in and sign my time sheet and can just approve it during my last shift of the pay period,” said Leheny. “So far it has not posed an inconvenience to me.”

While Leheny said that the new system has not made a substantial impact on her work experience, she acknowledged that it is more efficient for others.

“I know it makes my boss’ life easier,” said Leheny.

Other students, like junior biology major Alex Priest, expressed having a difficult time adjusting to the new system. Priest is an employee with the UMW Writing Center, where paper timesheets had always been used until this semester.

“It takes too long to log in to, and I’m already six minutes into my shift before it acknowledges that I have shown up for work,” said Priest.

Priest’s technical issues with the system were the same on any Internet browser, but he said, “Some older computers take up to 10 minutes to log into, using the [MyTime] system.”

While Priest noted that Internet connection could be part of his problem, he went on to say that he saw no reason for the switch to MyTime.

“The old system worked just fine, especially since we have the honor code, it’s expected that no one would lie on their timesheet,” said Priest.

According to Priest, he feels that time spent deciphering the MyTime system could be used more efficiently while at work.

But from the perspective of the payroll department, MyTime seems to be an improvement.

“So far, we have successfully processed one student payroll and two wage payrolls using MyTime,” said Associate Payroll Manager Lilly Lee.

Payroll is currently working on processing the second student payroll, and, according to Lee, everything seems to be in order. While she acknowledged some students are struggling with the new system, Lee said that in general there has been a positive review of the new system.

“Overall, comments have been extremely positive, but as with any change, there is a learning curve. As problems and questions have arisen, they have been addressed,” said Lee.

Some students may not see the potential benefits of MyTime at this point, but Lee said she sees them happening already.

“Two of the biggest improvements, in my opinion, are that paper timesheets have been eliminated and students are being paid every two weeks,” said Lee.