I have tried to be somewhat generous about the EBS system, recognizing that a new system takes some time to implement and will inevitably have the occasional glitch upon roll-out.  That said, my experience in trying to reenroll for FSA has lead me to the conclusion that something is fundamentally wrong with the organization principle behind the current EBS system.  The steps from the human resources web site to the enrollment screens are not just poorly designed, they are unintelligible.  As far as I can tell, the steps are:

 

1)     Search the MSU site for “FSA”

2)     Click on http://www.hr.msu.edu/benefits/fsa/

3)     Locate and click on the Quicklink “FSA Enrollment”

4)     Click on “Enroll Online (EBS Portal)”

5)     Login using MSUnet credentials

6)     Arrive at a screen that has no relevance to FSA enrollment and contains few clues to the correct path forward.

7)     Establish that the “MSU Human Resources” link points back to http://www.hr.msu.edu/

8)     Try the “Finance System” tab and determine that none of the 78 web links on a single page relate to FSA enrollment.

9)     Try the “ESS Faculty” tab, having no idea what “ESS Faculty” are.

10) Click on the “Benefits” link.

11) Click on the “Enrollment Services” link.

12) Click on “FSA Open Enrollment” link.

13) Search the MSU web site to determine what “DCSA” and “HCSA” relate to.

14) Click the selection box under “HCSA”

15) Click on the “Flexible Spending Accounts” link and arrive back at http://www.hr.msu.edu/benefits/fsa/index.htm

16) Double Check that the Quicklink “FSA Enrollment” leads back to step #4

17) Back Track to step #14 and click “Add Plan”

18) Success at last – a single form field labeled “Contribution Amount”

19) Try to recall what last year’s Contribution amount was.

20) Click on the “Show PlanTypeofTodayView” link

21) Enter the same amount for the new plan and click “Add Plan to Selection” button.

22) Click the “Log off” button

23) Wonder about the pop-up message “You have unsaved data. Are you sure you want to log off?”

24) Click on the “Review Enrollment” button.

25) Click on the “Save” button

26) Click the “Log off” button

27) Wonder about the pop-up message “Are you sure you want to log off?”

28) Click “Yes”

29) Look for the Asprin.

 

Does this process really need to be so obtuse?

 

Laurence A. Bates

College of Education

Michigan State University

217E Erickson Hall

East Lansing

MI 48824

517-355-2178

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An exuberant rationalist...  (most of the time)