ContractPro
University of California, Irvine
Application of the 2009 Larry L. Sautter Award
for Innovative Information Technology
Project Submitter
David Cortez, Employee Relations Consultant
Human Resources Department
111 Theory, Suite 200
Irvine, CA 92697-4600
dcortez@uci.edu, (949) 824-7276
christac@uci.edu, (949) 824-0076
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Project Team
David Cortez (leader), Employee & Labor Relations, Human Resources Department
Christa Chen (leader), Programmer/Analyst, Administrative Computing Services
Maria Teider, Business Analyst, Compensation, Human Resources Department.
To generate campus support and meet customer demands a campus wide workgroup was
created. The members were Harriet Whitmyer, University Extension; Kristine Evans,
Facilities Management; Phil Wang, Athletics; Michelle Johnson, Design and
Construction Services; and Alice Uyekawa, Student Health Centers.
Summary
ContractPro, an employment contract web tool, streamlines and improves compliance
with policy in the creation and approval for employment contracts. This self-service
interface utilizes workflow to automate the creation and approval of standard
employment contracts. ContractPro features include:
 Contract templates
 Look up icons
 Customization options
 Tracking
 Electronic signature for Human Resources approval
Prior to 2008, departments at UCI created employment contracts using different contract
templates with many variations in provisions and benefits levels. Consequently, Human
Resources representatives noticed increased litigation and compliance issues. This tool is
designed to standardize our language and practices and thereby reduce complaints, and
reduce campus liability.
Project Description
ContractPro facilitates the creation of employment contracts based on web templates that
save time for managers and ensure compliance with UC policies. This web tool includes
contract templates, look up icons, customization options, tracking feature for the contract
submitter, and an automatic Human
Resources signature for standard contracts.
Also, ContractPro routes contract to the
appropriate HR representative when the
customization triggers a review and
provides contract renewal alerts to ensure
contracts are renewed in a timely basis.
The Contract Tool Data Flow Diagram
(Exhibit 1) displays the contract review
process including the key steps such as
contact creation, submission to approval,
electronic approval, HR Consultant
review, and approval notification.
Exhibit 1
2
ContractPro features include:

Creation of an efficient and time-saving contract wizard application, with friendly
self documenting and flexible user interface. Exhibit 2 displays the Contract
Details page and the corresponding contract language page.
Exhibit 2
3
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
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
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Creation of look up icons such as salary pay range information to save time for
managers who don’t have salary ranges memorized or drop down option such as
the notification options termination or renewal of contract. Exhibit 2 and 3
display the look up icon salary grade (PSS-L) and the drop down options (30 days
or 60 days) for termination notice.
Creation of a rich data visualization for customization of templates
Creation of an uncomplicated amendment process
Creation of an electronic signature and routing of contracts to create a seamless
workflow. Exhibit 4 shows tracking information so contract submitter may
monitor the date contract was submitted and the date approved by HR.
Implementation of reporting functionalities for better management of contracts
Exhibit 3
Exhibit 4
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URLs:
HOW TO: Use Contract Pro- for Hiring Managers
http://snap.uci.edu/viewXmlFile.jsp?resourceID=3162
Note: includes a five minute electronic demonstration. The link is located at the bottom
of the HOW TO procedure.
Electronic Demonstration of Contract Pro
http://apps.adcom.uci.edu/expresso/econtent/Content.do?resource=3259
ContractPro
https://apps.adcom.uci.edu/expresso_hr/quickreq/ContractWizard.do
Expresso Open Source Application Development Framework
http://www.jcorporate.com/
LiquidBPM Drala Workflow Engine
http://www.cardiff.com/products/liquidbpm_sdk/index.html
Job Title and Pay Plan for Staff
http://datawarehouse.uci.edu/HRTitlePay/main.jsp
QuickReq
https://apps.adcom.uci.edu/expresso_hr/apps/components/quickreq/jsp/home.jsp
Data Warehouse
http://datawarehouse.uci.ed
Technology Utilized
ContractPro runs on Apache Web Server and Tomcat Java Application Server
environment and uses Microsoft SQL Server for database storage. Java was selected in
large part for its platform portability and vendor independence, which also makes it more
feasible to implement ContractPro at other sites. Although Microsoft SQL server is the
current database server for the application, the implementation could migrate to other
relational database with very few changes in configuration as stored procedures, database
triggers, and other vendor-specific calls are not used.
Web pages are generated using a variety of technologies including HTML, XML, XSLT,
JavaScript, JSP and Tag Library. Contract templates are stored in XML, which is the
standardized method of storing structured data that is both human and machine readable.
Contracts stored in XML are then formatted by XSLT to be displayed on the web.
Separating content from its formatting makes it easier to reuse the content in other
applications or for other presentation environment.
ContractPro is J2EE compliant, built on top of the Expresso open source application
development framework and followed the Model-View-Controller architecture which
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allows the user interface to be separated from the business rules. Access control is
maintained by SAMS (Security Access Management System), a system built in Java to
support campus de-centralized security access management. Access authorization is
delegated to security officers in campus departments.
ContractPro also utilizes the DRALA Workflow Engine to manage the lifecycle of a new,
as well as renewed contract. Automating processes using workflow results in improved
efficiency, tracking, and throughput. It also provides the availability of an audit trail.
ContractPro also relies on OpenLDAP and uPortal to surface the workflow tasks to
campus Portal users.
In addition, ContractPro is coupled with other homegrown online tools for compliance
with UC policies. For example, QuickReq is used to ensure the contract has passed
budget and classification review. Job Title and Pay Information for Staff is queried by
ContractPro to validate salary and grade inputs. Data Warehouse is used to look up and
populate user related information.
Timeframe of Implementation
Phase I and II of ContractPro was released to production. An enhancement request has
been submitted to incorporate customized Athletic Department contracts in the future.
Phase I release: 01/16/2008
Major features: manage the life cycle of an employment contract, automatic signature.
Phase II release: 02/04/2009
Major features: contract renewal, reports.
Phase II enhancement target release date: 08/2009
Customize templates for the Athletic Department.
Customer Satisfaction
I have used ContractPro several times and found it a very useful tool. There are two
main advantages. First, I only have to fill in pertinent information- all other verbiage is
there and consistent with University policy. Second, the HR authorization (signature)
comes back electronically- this is huge, as in the past I had to send it over to central HR
and on occasion the paperwork got lost.
Kristien Evans
Facilities Management
Human Resources Manager
(949) 824-9392
kristiee@uci.edu
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ContractPro has been very convenient. When it first came out, there were a few glitches,
but we were able to work around them with the help of the HR office and the
programming staff from Administrative Computing Services. This time around, it has
been very easy. I especially like the renewal application. That has made it incredibly easy
to revise the contract slightly and renew it. Plus, the turn around time from HR is very
fast. All in all, it's a great program and the enhancements have made it even better.
Peggy Munhall
Personnel Manager
Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences
Irvine, CA 92697-3425
Phone 949-824-1963
mmunhall@uci.edu
I’ve used ContractPro and was very excited when this was developed. The template is
great and I love the fact that we can edit to suit our individual needs. The salary
calculations from monthly to hourly is definitely a plus. This certainly is better than the
old cut and paste system we’ve had in the past.
Alice Uyekawa
Administrative Assistant
UCI Student Health Center
Ph: 949-824-7010
ContractPro has streamlined our contract creation process in a several ways. The
wizard makes it easy to input data and by linking it to the requisition I feel that the
potential for errors is reduced. Additionally, ContractPro offers us an immediate
turnaround from HR for signatures on standard contracts. I also like having the
flexibility to customize the contract if necessary. It’s been a very valuable process
improvement tool.
Michelle Johnson
Office Coordinator
Design & Construction Services
949-824-7998 phone | mkj@uci.edu
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