Talon

Guiding Principles

These principles serve as the foundation for decision-making in the Talon implementation, and guide project team members as they partner with the University community to achieve the new human resources and finance system goals and objectives.

Governance, Transparency and Inclusion

The implementation of the Talon system will be led by an executive committee who will work closely with all stakeholders throughout the University. The Talon executive committee will communicate frequently and fully to ensure accurate information and data are shared with the wider Tennessee Tech community and will seek input and feedback throughout.  

Simplification and Standardization

Talon will simplify human resources and finance operations and processes while ensuring end-user needs are met. Processes will be redesigned based on higher education best practices and Talon functionality. Standardization of processes and data definitions across the university will maximize the opportunity for collaboration and consistency.

Measurable improvements

Improvements to transformed business processes will be measured by quantitative and/or qualitative standards as appropriate—for example, by the number of approvals eliminated or by stakeholders’ judgment that reports contain more useful data.

Integrating Technology

Tennessee Tech will maintain our current culture of continuous improvement through technology. We will work to adopt enhanced functionality in the new system, rather than configuring the software to current operations. Increased operational efficiency will be achieved while maintaining compliance with state laws and Tennessee Tech policies. The University will first use the Talon platform functionality to its fullest extent before considering additional software packages or alternative business processes.