Common Human Resources System (CHRS)

The Common Human Resources System (CHRS) is a CSU-wide initiative designed to modernize HR processes and unify all campus HR databases into one centrally managed system.

For the past several years, our campus has been preparing for this transition by working closely with CHRS project experts. These collaborations have focused on system changes, data clean-up, and guidance outlined in Position Papers. In addition, module documentation is helping shape the system design and highlighting key differences between CHRS and our current PeopleSoft system.

We are excited to announce that San Diego State University will soon begin transitioning to the Common Human Resources System (CHRS), a CSU-wide initiative to unify and modernize HR systems across all 22 campuses. This project is part of a systemwide effort to create a single, integrated HR platform that streamlines processes, strengthens security, and enhances the employee experience. As part of Wave 6, SDSU is partnering with the Chancellor’s Office CHRS Program Team and our own campus module teams to upgrade to the latest version of PeopleSoft (9.2) and add custom modifications that will allow the software to meet our needs as well as the rest of the California State University system. To learn more, visit the Chancellor’s Office CHRS website.

About CHRS

Common Human Resources System (CHRS) is the PeopleSoft Human Resources system that will replace current HR platforms across the CSU. With a modern interface and mobile-friendly design, CHRS will provide improved navigation, enhanced self-service capabilities, and consistent HR process for all campuses.

The new system will deliver significant benefits, including:

  • Efficiency: A united platform for HR, payroll, and benefits, reducing redundancy and manual processes.
  • Standardization: Consistent HR processes and reporting across all CSU campuses.
  • Security: Stronger protocols to safeguard employee data.
  • Accessibility: Mobile access and a more user-friendly experience for faculty, staff, and administrators.

Faculty, staff, and administrators will see changes in how HR-related tasks are completed as processes are standardized across the CSU. While this may require some adjustment, the long-term advantages include streamlined operations, better reporting capabilities, and improved support.

  • 7/27/2026 - 12/22/2026 Pass A Testing
  • 1/19/2027 - 4/16/2027 Pass B Testing
  • 4/20/2027 - 5/7/2027 Pass C Testing
  • May 2027 - Go Live
    *Timeline is subject to change

CHRS Modules

This module processes CSU absences such as sick days, vacation time, personal holidays, bereavement and other leaves. Employees enter their own absences through Self Service, and utilize forecasting to help employees determine whether they will have an available balance to take leave, and validate data. Multi-institution security ensures users only have access to data from their campus.

Key Functionality: 
  • Employees can request and enter absences up to a year in advance
  • Employees and approvers can cancel absences that have not been finalized; finalized absences can be voided by payroll staff
  • Forecast feature predicts future leave balance accrual in absence requests
  • Email communications are sent to the employee and manager

The Benefits Administration module processes and tracks CSU benefits eligibility and enrollment information, including:

  • Employee health, dental, vision, life, disability, health flexible spending, dependent flexible spending, COBRA and retiree dental
  • Employee and dependent information regarding eligibility and enrollment
Key Functionality: 
  • eBenefits provides employee access to Self Service for benefits enrollment, including Open Enrollment
  • CSU Life Events in Self Service provides a guided process for employees to initiate a change to their benefits due to a specific life event such as birth, adoption, marriage and divorce
  • Ability to submit documents electronically via MOVEit platform
  • Manages the transmission of enrollment data to Delta Dental, the State Controller’s Office (SCO) and CalPERS Systems

The primary goal for the LCD custom module is to transmit a CSU payroll expenditure journal from the PeopleSoft HCM application into the Common Financial System (CFS). LCD loads the California State Controller's Office (SCO) payroll tape data into CHRS, creates and finalizes paycheck data, then distributes payroll costs to the appropriate ChartFields. It includes correction and validation steps before creating accounting lines, exporting them to Finance, refreshing reporting tables and producing ESP extract data.

Key Functionality: 
  • Reports identify and correct errors prior to running processes
  • New Budget Expenditure reports for Actuals and Projections are available in the CFS Data Warehouse
  • Campus-defining fields make available key processes like Combo Code Build, Combo Code Fiscal Year Rollover, and Combo Code Sync

All 22 CSUs and the Chancellor’s Office are currently using CHRS Recruiting, powered by PageUp. This tool helps every university in the CSU system to attract, hire and onboard talented faculty, staff and student employees in a more effective way. PageUp is actively integrated with PeopleSoft, from and to both ends.

Key Functionality: 
  • Paperless process, end-to-end recruiting process
  • Flexible campus options to support campus-specific business needs and branding
  • Standardized recruiting processes and practices where possible
  • Ability to add selection criteria to facilitate applicant selection
  • Robust candidate search across resumes and applications
  • Position description, job, and offer electronic approvals/workflows
  • Faster job posting
  • 3rd party integrations with Accurate Background and Tracker I-9
  • Configurable onboarding portal, workflows, and tasks
  • Easy access to job and applicant reporting
  • Delivered dashboards

(Formerly Temporary Faculty)

Temporary Academic Employment (TAE) is the CHRS module used to manage temporary academic appointments. It streamlines appointment creation, printing of appointment notices, routing, approvals and employee acknowledgments through automated workflows and self-service functionality. TAE also supports mass processing to efficiently manage multiple appointments across departments.

Key Functionality: 
  • Appointments can be processed for 14 employment types such as faculty, graduate assistants, teaching associates, instructional student assistants, etc.
  • Streamlines routing, review, approvals and employee acknowledgments through standardized workflows and self-service functionality
  • Enables departments to manage large numbers of appointments consistently through mass processing
  • Enhanced reporting to assist in the management of academic employments, include systemwide inter/intra-campus sharing

Time and Labor is a time tracking and processing module for all employees’ time to create the Payroll Input Process (PIP) file to produce an employee’s paycheck.

  • Tracks, validates and processes time worked, overtime, shift premiums and task reporting
  • Integrates with Absence Management module to collect absence data
  • Data is sent to State Controller’s Office (SCO) and processed by the Payroll Information Management System (PIMS) to produce employee paychecks
Key Functionality: 
  • Tile-based interface for time reporting is mobile-friendly and accessibility conscious
  • Auto Enrollment, Real Time Rules, Application Workflow Engine (AWE)
  • Expanded Timesheet Controls (Workgroup & Time Reporting Template)
  • Approval Workflow

The Workforce Administration module is a repository for the core employee data used in all the other Modules, such as person and job data, including:

  • Person Profile Management: employee-specific data
  • Manage Employee Events: data unique to employment history
  • Position Management: position-specific data
Key Functionality: 
  • Fluid Self Service pages

CHRS Workstreams

The CHRS change management team partners with each university’s dedicated change manager to prepare, equip and support individuals to help them adapt to the changes implementing CHRS brings. Change management supports a successful transition to CHRS on campus by providing:

  • A structured change management strategy and implementation plan
  • Communication, engagement and readiness tools
  • Templates, resources and best practices
  • Timelines, guidance and ongoing support and consultation 

The Business Intelligence/Data Operations (BIDO) CHRS Reporting team is responsible for the development, maintenance and delivery of the CHRS enterprise reporting and analytics environment for the California State University (CSU) system. The team manages both the back-end data infrastructure and front-end reporting and visualization solutions, leveraging technologies such as Snowflake and Amazon Quick to deliver scalable, cloud-based reporting and analytics capabilities. The primary goal of CHRS Reporting is to provide a centrally maintained, enterprise-wide HR reporting environment that supports both Chancellor’s Office and campus reporting needs. This systemwide solution enables campuses to maintain reporting flexibility while providing consistent, reliable and secure access to workforce data and analytics across the CSU system.

Helpful links: 

The Integration team monitors integration errors and works with campuses to find solutions. CHRS facilitates connections to a variety of integrations, including internal and third-party integrations, such as PeopleSoft Integration Broker (CS/CHRS/CFS), database links, SumTotal and Snowflake. The team advises university personnel on best practices for consuming HR data in local and third-party systems.

Helpful links: 

The Application Security team is responsible for the security framework and implementation for CHRS. Security partners with campus communities to protect CSU assets to ensure confidentiality, integrity and availability of systems. This team works to design a security model that is flexible and scalable where campus may adapt with minimum customizations.

Helpful links: 

The HR Data Standardization team ensures that all campuses use common fields of employee-level data. This process is directly linked to Governance. CalPERS helps to define the common definitions by which common fields are arrived at—what they mean, how they are used and why. The team also analyzes data errors on all modules and provides data cleanup strategies to all campuses prior to CHRS go-live.

Helpful links: