State Sen. Kathleen Vinehout, D-Alma, released a statement Wednesday condemning the University of Wisconsin System’s payroll system inefficiencies.
Vinehout sits on the state Senate Audit Committee and said in the statement she was disappointed with the lack of planning for the UW System’s human resource system, citing statistics from the Legislative Audit Bureau that claim the UW System overpaid millions of dollars in employee health insurance and retirement benefits.
UW approved its human resource system in 2009 and implemented it by 2011.
“All who share responsibility for the oversight of large, expensive, state computer systems should heed the lessons learned from the experiences of the UW System,” Vinehout said in the statement. “First and foremost, officials should pay attention to the results of audits and internal planning and progress reports.”
Auditors found problems with the System’s implementation, including inadequate computer staff training, lack of complete system testing and failure to heed consultants’ warning.
Vinehout called for the legislature to convene its Joint Committee on Information Policy and Technology to ensure fiscal responsibility and oversee future state information technology projects.
UW Service Center officials have outlined an improvement process after the LAB published its findings.
