Once the transaction is approved, the student is reimbursed within a week. Under the old system, reimbursement could take as long as a month.

Sound complicated? Ross thinks so. But what's even more surprising to her is how administrators like her first learned this and other complicated processes.

"We have been inundated with training courses, but in the end, you figure out what you specifically need to do, on your own," she says. The first time Ross had to reimburse a foreign national, she spent about three hours navigating the system.

Ross says she understands the University's need and desire to obtain as much information as possible.

"Project ADAPT is all about getting more info from all levels of financial administration," Ross says. "In time, the different programs and processes may well become more streamlined, but in the meantime, the burden of identifying, and using, the correct reporting tool rests on the shoulders of each individual administrator."

One change that particularly challenges financial administrators like Ross is the new 33-digit account code system.

In the "good old days," account strings were only 14 digits long. Transactions that were made regularly in the lab were identified by a series of about 20 2-digit object codes.

Now, Ross sifts through 63 pages of codes to find the right numbers to use for purchasing.

"The four digit object codes [that designate the kind of purchase being made] are extremely specific," she says. "Finding the correct one can be a challenge in itself."

Ross's department has created a "cheat sheet" of over 100 codes for the that are used for items that are routinely purchased.

One of the most disturbing problems, according to Ross, is that mistakes are easy with the longer 33 digit code. One simple keystroke error can cause much bigger problems for her lab later on.

In the last three months, says Ross, she has caught about 5 different errors in her detailed reports.

"Finding and preventing the mistakes is like playing detective, which is time consuming, but kind of fun." Ross adds.

In principle, ADAPT applications themselves are supposed to catch problems like this, but in fact, many typos and digit transpositions can still get through.

Lab administrators try to help each other out by sharing the gems of information they can learn only by trial and error.

Ross says her department and others have been working feverishly to set up new programs that can make the University-designed systems easier to use for their individualized purposes.

"Communication between local financial administrators, departments, and schools is essential during this adjustment period. We can't wait for all solutions to trickle down from above," she says.