St. Thomas students with on-campus jobs are recording their time on campus computer clock-ins and biometric finger scans replacing the old Murphy Online time sheet submission.

Payroll Manager Barbara Clausen explained that Murphy Online had plenty of quirks and was outdated.

“We had to replace the time clocks that were on campus, and we happened to find a system that filled our requirements. It’s easier for the supervisors to manage hours now,” Clausen said.

Sophomore Brian Holtberg said he enjoys the new time-keeping system, especially the biometric finger scanning.

“I like the fingerprint scanning, that’s pretty cool,” Holtberg said. “I feel like a secret agent.”

Payroll Coordinator Ann Hanebuth said the device actually scans the layers of skin in the finger, and it records the data as assorted numbers.

“We’re not capturing your fingerprints and giving them to the FBI,” Hanebuth said.

The system may be easier for some, but junior Nick Henderson said he still misses Murphy Online.

“(I) kind of like Banner more because you can use it on your personal computer as well,” Henderson said.

Henderson also doesn’t like the new system because an employee cannot revise hours online if needed.

“It’s kind of like a double-edged sword. It’s more convenient because it’s faster, but you can’t edit your hours online,” Henderson said.

Hanebuth said she believes students will eventually catch on and prefer the new system to Murphy.

“It takes a tremendous amount of energy to put in any kind of new system on campus. We’re lucky that we have such tech savvy students,” Hanebuth said. “We’ve hit a few road bumps on our end trying to learn the new system, but I think to our advantage, we’re working at a university that embraces education and the learning process.”

Hanebuth and Clausen said the change wasn’t made due to students cheating their hours.

Hanebuth said students work really hard for on-campus jobs.

“I personally didn’t know how hard our students work on campus, what they do and to what capacity,” Hanebuth said. “These students really do a lot.”

Geena Maharaj can be reached at maha8007@stthomas.edu.