Long days, colorful flowers, fresh produce, empty stores on
the Corner, kids on bikes and in pools, sweltering humidity… yep, summer is
here! I hope that you all have time
planned away from the office to rest, relax, explore, be with family, and catch
your breath.
Jumping ahead to September, please mark your calendar for
the United Way
Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring on Wednesday, September 16. For the first time, we will look to have a
division-wide Day of Caring project. Last year we had two groups volunteering
at the SPCA
and Scottsville Elementary School. Stacey Rittenhouse and Kobby Hoffman
have agreed to be project leads for our group.
Please email Stacey and Kobby to let them know that you will
participate. We will need to have a
headcount in order to make sure we select the right size project. As you may know, participants tackle diverse
projects including office work, painting, landscaping, construction, arts and
crafts, tutoring and more! Last year, more than 1,000 UVa employees volunteered
and completed over 100 projects.
We are midway through the year and we have accomplished so
much! Now is a great time to take a look
at our goals for the year. See below for
how much you have accomplished!
AVP Finance Team
2015 Goals, June Update
1.
Support
University priorities, including:
a.
participate
in the implementation of a tuition pricing and financial aid model that
provides a sustainable multi-year financial model for academic excellence and
preserves affordable access. Affordable
Excellence approved by the Board of Visitors in April 2015, including
Guaranteed Tuition Program, reduction in loan debt and two step tuition
increases.
b.
continue
process of selecting, configuring, and deploying robust and usable decision
support tools and modules, including but not limited to Research UVa, a data
repository, a reporting tool (Discoverer replacement+), financial
planning/modeling, SIS Collections. ResearchUVa, phase 1, was deployed May 4
with high satisfaction being reported. As of 6/15 there are 337 users, 208
of them are faculty. Vendor Demos for
Business Intelligence tool procurement were held May 19-21.
c.
participate
in the organizational excellence initiatives, including implementation of
recommendations related to research processes, intercompany transactions, and
the role of the manager. We have held
research forums with faculty groups; participated in the Bacharach Leadership
Group’s Leading a Legacy program and in the Jennifer Garvey Berger workshops on
Simple Habits for Complex Times and Supporting, Motivating, & Managing
Others; and initiated discussions with George Mason University and federal reps
about replacing Effort@UVa with a much simpler approach.
d.
submit an
updated Federal Disclosure Statement (DS-2) and a Facilities &
Administrative Cost Recovery rate proposal and prepare to negotiate this rate
with our cognizant agency. Will submit June 26, 2015.
2.
Upgrade
business processes to improve service, reduce inefficiency, and provide the
high quality work product, including:
a.
establish
a process that rewards and recognizes finance team members who identify
ineffective practices, propose solutions, and help implement new approaches
that will eliminate re-work, clarify reporting, and minimize time on
follow-up. Project
Collaboration Tool in discussion; Coffee with a Colleague initiative implemented;
Plan to implement new rewards and recognition program geared toward this idea.
b.
continue
phase two of Orange Team work to develop and implement solutions to identified
issues. Continue to identify improvements
with cost transfers; develop proposal to create a GA transfers expenditure
type.
c.
collaborate
with key stakeholders to develop a robust data governance approach. Data governance
framework developed and initiated a pilot test of the approach related to
expenditure type. Data Strategy Committee formed.
d.
evaluate
cost transfer and LD review processes in Accounting Services and OSP to
determine effective way to streamline work and appropriately manage risk. Beginning July 1, OSP/FOC will begin to limit
reviews to costs moving on to a G/Z award or between G/Z awards. We will no longer review transfers between
projects on the same G/Z award or charges that are moving off G/Z awards to
non-G/Z awards.
e.
evaluate
financial statements, including a consideration of how to develop individual
school financial statements and including all foundations as component
units. Working
with SOM as a pilot; added College Foundation as a component unit. Exploring the development of online Financial
Report and a plain language guide to the financial statements
f.
develop a
streamlined tuition process from proposal stage through approval to applying to
student bills. Project in process, led by AVPF
office and including SFS, ITS, Budget, Provost, and school reps
g.
Other: The Student Aid
Funding Model’s (SAFM) integration phase was implemented in May. Peer Transfer implementation started in April
for incoming foreign payments. Comptroller’s Office to review Equipment Trust
Fund process as well as Recon@ potential enhancements.
3.
Improve
communication and transparency with internal and external stakeholders,
including:
a.
increase
internal office communications and division-wide events. Formalized blog
process. Incorporated Staff Senate updates for entire division. Created an
events committee to plan a summer division-wide event and a division-wide
effort for Day of Caring. Formalized the
Managerial Reporting Project communication plan and have deployed a periodic
e-newsletter, presented to 2+ constituent groups each month, and held a Town
Hall meeting that reached over ~125 people.
b.
create a
finance, research, and student dashboard displaying key performance metrics;
c.
consider
communications with students and parents on student financial matters,
especially incorporating recommendations from Strategic Communications; SFS partnered with Admission and Curry faculty on a
texting pilot for low income students. Continued involvement with University
Communications on their branding results, enhancements related to Blue Ridge
Scholar materials and detailed creation of micro-sites for targeted customer
information.
d.
deepen
collaborations and partnerships with:
i. central service units such as Procurement, UHR, ITS, Budget,
Treasury and others. Collaborating with UHR and Center for Leadership Excellence
on employee development/training. Collaborating with Procurement and OE to
improve insight into and compliance associated with international travel. Collaborating with ITS on IT Security
Initiative. Sponsored Finance Forward – attended by 175 professionals across
the Academic Division. Collaborated with Audit on employee development.
Initiated Coffee with a Colleague. Continued to sponsor Business Officers
Council.
ii. schools and academic units Worked
with Curry to address challenges with on-/off-grounds rates and payment of rent
on sponsored programs. Began implementation of the Scholarship Management
System, which includes participation from other central offices such as
University Advancement and all of the schools. Sponsored Finance Forward –
attended by 175 professionals across the Academic Division. Initiated Coffee
with a Colleague. Continued to sponsor Business Officers Council.
iii. related organizations such as Medical Center, UVIMCO, and
others. Met
with Medical Center and UPG to discuss connections with the Managerial
Reporting Project. Invited Rick Skinner
and Sean Jackson to join the Managerial Reporting Executive Committee.
iv. state agencies such as SCHEV, DOA, DPB, and others. Participated
in FOCUS Conference. Co-sponsored the 2015 Impact of Export Controls on Higher
Education & Scientific Institutions with VT and GMU. Assumed leadership role in VASFAA (Virginia
Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators).
e.
develop a
comprehensive finance training and outreach plan. Hired Patty
Marbury as Training Manager. Deployed
first Advancing with Excel class, initiated needs assessment process, and began
conversations with other training providers, such as CLE and SCPS.
4.
Maximize
organizational effectiveness of the overall finance team, including:
a.
evaluate
impact of planned retirement (including succession) of AVP Research
Administration, Associate Comptroller, and other key positions. Transition for
AVP Research Admin and Associate Controller retirements in place. Working to consider the impact of ERIP
retirements.
b.
participate
in the development of service level agreements to articulate what we do for
units and how well we will do it. SLA drafts are in process.
c.
consider
finance team organization and ways to break down silos, share services
internally, and appropriately address the role of managers (with Center for
Leadership Excellence); Consolidated
training and compliance efforts into the Finance Outreach and Compliance
Office.
d.
create a
development plan for each employee including internal and external training
offerings, the role of the manager (with Center for Leadership Excellence), and
appropriate compensation. Goals/development plans are in progress. Upcoming salary process to address market
ranges and compensation needs.
e.
document
finance team-specific HR practices and guidelines. SFS
updating its rewards and recognition process through a manager-level team.
Congratulations!! And
have a great summer.
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