New Business Intelligence Director in Town: Mark Anderson Joins Finance

Mark Anderson

This month Mark Anderson joined the UVAFinance team as the Director of Business Intelligence as well as the Finance Strategic Transformation (FST) Reporting and Analytics Lead. Anderson came to UVA in 2014, serving in several roles related to data and analytics. Most recently Anderson was the Associate Director of Institutional Research and Analytics (IRA) and worked extensively on the University Business Intelligence (UBI) project.

“I see FST, and specifically the reporting and analytics workstream, as an opportunity to build on the work that the UBI team has been doing for the last few years,” says Anderson.

Indeed, Anderson’s work on UBI and previous experience, working for companies such as General Electric sets him up for success in his new role in Finance and his team lead duties for FST. He specifically has experience working in finance on technology projects and states he embraces the challenge of learning new things in order to help improve people’s work.

Anderson says, “I often tell people that I’m neither an accountant nor finance professional nor am I a programmer/technology infrastructure expert. What I’ve always enjoyed, and been successful at, is working at the intersection of the two to translate and generate solutions. The FST project is perfect for me.”

During UBI, Anderson and the team forged strong partnerships across Grounds and helped solve or improve issues for users. According to Anderson, he hopes to build on that foundation with Workday Financials and Finance Transformation.

When asked what factors contributed to him joining the FST team, Anderson says, “I really like the focus and energy that comes with working on projects like this where we will have a lasting impact on the organization. This really can be transformative if we stay focused on the long-term goals.”

In his FST role, Anderson will partner closely with stakeholders to capture reporting and analytics needs and collaborate with his team to develop the necessary reports and dashboards.

“I’m really excited that leadership has acknowledged the importance of thinking about data, reporting, and analytics from the very outset of this project because so often it is an afterthought. By having conversations about how we want to use the data upfront, we can better ensure we’re capturing information we need in ways that will be useful.”

According to Anderson, stakeholder input was important during the UBI project process, and it will be again for Finance Transformation. He’s already hearing questions about how Workday Financials will impact or interact with other systems.

He says, “We’d like to keep people working in a single system whenever possible, but wherever Workday may not meet all our needs, we’ll look to the data warehouse and UBI to fill any gaps.”

With his other hat on as Director of Business Intelligence, Anderson will be working with Associate VP for Financial Strategy Bill Ashby and University leaders to help ensure the Finance Transformation supports a more comprehensive approach to reporting and analytics for the institution. The intention is to put the data and information necessary for decision making in easy reach for leaders. To achieve that end, he looks forward to continuing to collaborate with colleagues from IRA and UBI on data governance and an integrated data and reporting approach.

While Anderson only formally started his new roles on March 3, he’s already been involved in Finance Transformation in meaningful ways. He has been a member of the FST Advisory Group since the earlier project phases, as well as participating in a number of the Foundation Data Model (FDM—the Workday Financials term for chart of accounts) and Cost Center planning discussions. By attending data gathering sessions, Anderson acknowledges he’s got a greater understanding of the ins and outs of finance work at UVA in more detail.

“I think I understand the challenges that teams are facing as we start on this journey,” Anderson says.

While he grew up in California, Anderson has a history as Hoo because he earned his bachelor’s degree from UVA and has remained in Virginia ever since. Outside of work, Anderson is an avid UVA sports fan.

“I enjoy attending all the home football and basketball games,” he says, “especially when we beat Duke and Tech!”

Anderson takes in the view during a summer hike in Colorado

Anderson and his wife Margaret reside in an old house on a farm and manage quite the menagerie, with four goats, three dogs, and a cat in their care. For vacations, he frequently heads to his former stomping grounds out west and enjoys skiing in winter and hiking in summer.