This article provides an overview of Opus from an administrative perspective. For a similar overview of Interfolio, see the article Interfolio in a Nutshell, linked below.
Summary
Opus is a web-deployed system (accessible via web browser) that manages academic personnel data at UCLA. It is comprised of the data itself, reports that access it, and tools that work with it. Opus is also integrated with external systems that provide additional functionality, most notably with Interfolio, which handles much of the work associated with running cases.
What is Opus?
Opus tracks and manages academic personnel data for UCLA. It does so by:
Storing information about academic personnel
Providing access to this information
Featuring tools to create or change this information
And also, by Integrating with external systems to facilitate the above
About External Systems
Opus features integrations with many UCLA and third-party systems. Most notable is the integration with Interfolio, which provides key functionality for online academic review. Because cases are a core function of Opus, Interfolio is often understood as being “the same as” Opus, but understanding the distinction is often important (for example, review candidates log into Interfolio's website, and cannot log into Opus).
Parts of Opus
Synonymous with the bullet points listed above, there are three “parts” of the Opus system:
Data
Reports
Tools (as part of Opus' case tool, Interfolio falls into this category)
Data
Opus data is recorded in profiles for all academic appointees at UCLA. These profiles consist of personnel data, appointment data and academic history data. Personnel data includes things like UID, email address and original hire date. Appointment data includes things like school, department, title, salary and tracking dates. Academic history data consists of reference to past cases.
Reports
Reports allow users to view data from Opus profiles in useful ways. Each one is named after the type of data it displays:
Cases
Salaries
Roster (Appointments)
Eligibility
For more information about Opus reports, see the section covering individual pages on the Opus website, linked near the bottom of this page.
Tools
Academic personnel data in Opus can be created or modified by tools, of which there are currently just two types: Case and Request a UID. Out of these two, the Case tool is the most powerful and also the most commonly employed — running cases is the main work of Opus.
Case
Cases perform two functions. They: (1) Facilitate academic personnel actions, and (2) Modify Opus data. Different types of cases perform different actions, and update Opus data in different ways. Cases are primarily distinguished by their action type — a case’s action determines the case's type.
A case can be seen as an "object" that users start, work with, then complete. When a case is started, it’s based on current data in Opus. When it’s completed, it (usually) updates this same data.
As a case moves from start to completion, it relies heavily on Opus’ integration with Interfolio. While cases are created in Opus, the bulk of academic review work is handled through the Interfolio interface. For more information, see the article Interfolio in a Nutshell, linked below.
Request a UID
In contrast to the case tool, the University ID (UID) requesting tool presents a quick process with just one outcome. This tool allows users to query the UCLA UID system, to receive a new (or in some cases, existing) UID, and to associate it with an Opus record. The fact that Opus features such a specific tool speaks to the urgency of ensuring that Opus data remain synchronized with the rest of campus — the Request a UID tool is indispensable.
That’s a Wrap
The above covers the basics! However, there’s still plenty to learn. You may want to know how to do a specific task, you might need to read up on a particular feature, or you can try browsing for answers to common questions. The Opus Support Site (the site you’re reading now) contains articles for each of these activities, which you can find by following the links below, or by browsing at the “Solutions” link at the top of this page.