Forms Tracking Utility (FTU) - General Information About Responsibilities, Permissions, Groups, and Access Requests

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• How does FTU know who can approve for a particular unit, or for a specific account number, organization, etc.?
• My area "owns" certain account numbers. But forms for those account numbers do not seem to be routed to my area, and are actually being approved by another area. Why is this happening?
• My unit/department is new to FTU. What should we do to begin using FTU?
• How do I get authorized to use FTU-enabled form applications like eGradFel and J1 Scholar?
• What should I do if my unit's approval responsibilities change?
• What happens if all approvers of a form are absent or unavailable and it is critical that a form be approved immediately?
• How do I know which FTU groups I am a member of?
• Who is responsible for maintaining the memberships (people) in the groups for my unit?

How does FTU know who can approve for a particular unit, or for a specific account number, organization, etc.?

Each form contains a route-determining "key" value, such as organization or Account, which determines how the form should be routed for approval. In advance, approval groups are set up for each unit/department and given permissions which allow the group's members to approve for one or more of these "key" values. (For example, a unit may have an approval group which will approve all forms for Org Unit 12345678.) People within the unit are made members of these approval groups, based on their job positions and responsibilities. When a form is submitted, the form application passes this "key" value to FTU. FTU then creates a route and looks up the people in the approval group who are responsible for the form's "key" value.

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My area "owns" certain account numbers. But forms for those account numbers do not seem to be routed to my area, and are actually being approved by another area. Why is this happening?

It is possible that those forms are being routed to you and your area, but someone else is approving them before you actually see them in your Pending Actions list. Check your Rear View for these slips. The routes for your area's account numbers have been analyzed and set up by your department. You should talk to your supervisor or the form-owning department about this.

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My unit/department is new to FTU. What should we do to begin using FTU?

Contact the MSU IT Service Desk at 517-432-6200. They can direct you to the appropriate person to discuss how your department wants forms routed and who should be approvers.

The route must be configured within FTU prior to your attempted use, otherwise a slip can be created with an approval action which no one is authorized to approve (a "stalled" slip). Normally at least two approvers are set up, so that slips do not stall because a single approver is not available. See "Adding People to the Route" FAQ section for more information.

Viewing the web-based FTU Dashboard training modules is strongly recommended. Training may also available for FTU-enabled form applications. See KB 873 (link) for more information.

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How do I get authorized to use FTU-enabled form applications like eGradFel and J1 Scholar?

Fill out an IT Services ARM (Access Request Memo) - for assistance, contact the MSU IT Service Desk at 517-432-6200.

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What should I do if my unit's approval responsibilities change?

Many situations can arise which require additions and changes to a unit's responsibilities. A few examples:

• Someone with FTU approval responsibility has left MSU.
• Someone has changed departments.
• Someone has been promoted or their job responsibilities have changed.
• A department is newly created or has merged with another department.
• A department has been completely reorganized.

Contact your unit administrator or the unit owning the form(s) you use. Adjustments to responsibilities will need to be made. Your unit administrator can request the change or removal of form access.

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What happens if all approvers of a form are absent or unavailable and it is critical that a form be approved immediately?

First of all, groups are generally set up to have at least two people, in order to minimize how often this situation occurs. But in an emergency, contact the MSU IT Service Desk at 517-432-6200 and someone can be given temporary membership in the group that is supposed to approve the form.

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How do I know which FTU groups I am a member of?

Check with your Security Contact or contact the MSU IT Service Desk at 517-432-6200.

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Who is responsible for maintaining the memberships (people) in the groups for my unit?

Check with your Unit Administrator.

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