Katrina Sargent

“It’s a SNAP,” says the South Dakota Board of Regents when it comes to the Systems Navigation Access Portal, or SNAP. Students employed by the university have mixed feelings about the program.

“I don’t really like it. It makes more work,” said Owen Lebrie, a civil engineering junior who works at the Briggs Library.

According to its login page, “It will serve information to all users throughout the state on a state-wide level, as well as a campus-wide level.”

SNAP is used for different functions such as Banner, Web Timekeeping and PeopleAdmin.

The program was created by SciQuest and PeopleAdmin to combine various aspects of Human Resources and Financial systems throughout the Regental System.

The portion students generally deal with is Web Timekeeping for payroll purposes.

Lebrie does not like having to punch his time card and fill out the SNAP information. Some places like the library and the HPER Center require their employees to fill out both types of records. Outback Jacks, on the other hand, now only requires its employees to keep track of their time with SNAP.

“It’s a lot easier than the mess we had before,” said Emily Murphy, a communication studies sophomore who works at Outback Jacks. “Now that it’s just SNAP I really like it.”

Murphy also appreciates the convenience offered by the online access. She can access her time card from home to check the hours she has put in and make changes.

“All you have to do to login is enter your name, username and password and you’re good to go,” said Murphy.

Zari Alishiri, a nontraditional biology major who works at the HPER Center, also appreciates the accessibility of SNAP.

“Now I can do it at my own convenience,” said Alishiri. If she has to leave quickly to get to a class on time, she can just go online to enter her hours when she has time.

Every month, employees need to have their hours in the system and submitted to their supervisors for approval. Alishiri thinks this makes more work for the supervisors because they have to check their records of employee hours with those entered by the employees on SNAP.

“It’s better than the old systems with punch cards and sheets ? I think most like it,” said Alishiri.