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| Great options for local stays |
In 2023 Procurement completed an RFP for local lodging. We now have 21 local properties on contract.
Spark Kindness Webinar, Feb. 12, 12:00 - 1:00 pm: Learn ways to practice the skill of kindness, why kindness promotes social well-being, and how to join the Spark Kindness Challenge. Register for the reward-eligible Spark Kindness webinar. NetBadge required.
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| New and enhanced reports! |
Finance Reporting & Release Notes for January 25 have been posted to the UVAFinance website.
Workday
UBI
Be sure to read the full release notes for more details about current and future enhancements!
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Related information: New Workday Research Administration Dashboard (RAD) provides insight for PIs
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| PSDS is all about outreach! |
Procurement has had a busy start to 2024. Check out the outreach they've engaged in on Grounds and in the community this January. Have an idea for an outreach opportunity? Contact Ajoni Wynn-Floyd.
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| Greeting Weider on her first day |
On Monday, January 22, Olga Weider officially joined UVAFinance as Associate Vice President of Operations / UVA Controller.
See the UVAToday article about Weider.
Guillermo Martinez Lopez was featured by UVA Pipelines & Pathways in a recent testimonial video. Check out the video for the familiar faces of Lopez, Joey Carls, Dawn Wood, and Gilly Harrison. Read more about Pipelines & Pathways on their website.
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| Report a leave of absence to keep your card safe! |
T&E Cardholders are required to report if they will be going on leave for more than 3 weeks. Their card will be suspended in their absence to ensure that the T&E Card is secure while the cardholder is away.
The cardholder should submit a T&E Card Change Request Form before they go on leave to have their card suspended and again once they return from leave to have their card reinstated.
Introducing UVAFinance is a recurring blog feature created to introduce our team to our team, a couple of members at a time. Every other week, we'll present readers with two team members to get to know. To understand how these colleagues are situated within the greater UVAFinance structure, check out this resource on the UVAFinance website. (Keep in mind that it's not an org chart, but rather a map of what functions of central finance exist in which general areas.)
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| Mandy Eames |
What do you do as a Finance Supervisor?
I supervise half of the Workday Support Team (the half that
is focused on procure to pay) and am personally responsible for payroll
accounting, business assets, projects, and cross-functional Workday
capabilities. A lot of the work I do
revolves around managing and maintaining our workflow and making sure we’re
moving forward in cooperation with other finance areas. I train our team in Workday functionality and also troubleshoot for our users via our Salesforce tickets, and perform a
lot of configuration and testing.
Who do you work with regularly?
I work closely with my team members, Donna Cruzado, Lisa
Atkins, and Jonathan Agop. Because of
the troubleshooting I do for users, I end up working with pretty much everyone
across Grounds. I’ve also spent a lot of
time working with expenses, payroll, fixed assets, and project teams.
What seasons are busiest, or what rhythms exist in your
job?
There is an ebb and flow to everything. Fiscal year-end is a
big push for Workday cleanup and closing things out. Twice yearly, Workday issues new releases.
That’s a busy time for me and my team because we must test to ensure that the
new code introduced by Workday doesn’t conflict with our existing
configuration. Workday releases the new
code to a testing tenant and we test it extensively and adjust if
necessary. We are actively engaged with
the larger Workday community, and we interact with other Workday customers all
year long to problem-solve and find solutions for our users.
What might surprise people about the work you do/this
role/your department or area?
People might be surprised to realize the volume and
complexity the team takes on, because although we’re not often thought of as a
tech group, we are the technical team for Workday. People are also surprised at how dedicated we
are to continuous improvement: we’re actively engaged in improving processes,
workflow, and configuration all the time.
We always have an impressive output, but the team puts in a lot of extra
time during the heavier seasons. We’re
getting better at the juggling act we must do . . . I have seen so much growth
in our team since going live. Our whole
team really does love helping people, and we would love to have Workday work
perfectly for UVA. We do our best to construct
solutions for users that make things work better for them. When we have to tell people “no,” it’s not
because we don’t want to give people what they want, it’s because we have to
work within Workday’s parameters.
What do you like best about working in UVAFinance?
The people, full stop.
There is a genuine camaraderie between the departments where I feel welcome
in every room. I never feel
uncomfortable working with any department, and that’s a big deal especially
because I’m remote.
How do you connect your work with the UVA Finance
Values?
I take my role seriously, and so does my team. We’re always seeking opportunities to expand
our knowledge base both with classes and learning from one another and the
greater Workday community. We constantly
improve our knowledge so that we can provide accurate solutions and a high
level of service. From a collaboration
standpoint, we work alongside departments to maintain open avenues of
communication so we can align our goals with theirs. That’s how we create an environment for
innovative opportunities. As we work
with others, we provide training and recommendations that move us toward
creative solutions that provide reliable results. The recent DISC assessments give us another
tool to hone our communication skills, tying everything together to push us to
strive for excellence. The cherry on top
of everything is that we love helping – yes, our position is very technical,
but at the end of the day it’s a customer service position. Everything we do can be done with that in
mind.
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What do you do as a Business Analyst?
I am involved in tactical processes that provide solutions for university and external stakeholders. This includes troubleshooting Jaggaer and Workday integration errors, assigning roles/access, answering customer inquiries in Salesforce, and conducting data analysis to support special initiatives for leadership decision-making. I am also involved in strategic processes that identify new technologies, and I design process improvements to enhance current business practices across various departments. As the system administrator for the UVAMarketplace, I ensure that the environment showcases suppliers who provide state-of-the-art goods and services at competitive prices. I have implemented and enhanced Punchout catalogs, such as Quartzy, Linde, Creative Office, Haberdasher, Aireco, and RGH/Staples.
Who do you work with regularly?
I enjoy working with my team from Business Solutions & Data Analysis. Our team dynamic is quite balanced, with a solid foundation of mutual respect and understanding. I love collaborating with other colleagues from PSDS on cross-functional projects. Notable projects include the “High Impact Invoice Initiative” and relaunching the “Goods & Services Guide”. My interactions extend beyond PSDS to other UVAFinance units, such as Workday Support, User Success, Change Management, and Business Systems. Shout out to them! Through answering Salesforce cases, I have developed meaningful relationships with many departments, allowing me to empathize with the issues that they go through so we can work towards practical solutions. Lastly, I work with various suppliers and lead the effort to integrate their Punchout catalogs, which ensures a seamless procurement process for all stakeholders.
What seasons are busiest, or what rhythms exist in your job?
Besides fiscal year-end when everyone is busy closing the books, the weeks leading up to the launch of each new Punchout catalog are also busy. Each Punchout launch demands meticulous planning, coordination, and communication with departments to ensure a seamless transition into the Marketplace. For our team as a whole, there are no cyclical busy seasons–there is a new challenge every day for us to tackle.
What might surprise people about the work you do?
We might not have the answer to your question. However, we will not say “I don’t know” and leave you out in the open without explanation. We go the extra mile to work with you to research the issue and create workarounds with the current tools and limitations. Because our team is a central solution and data hub, we must cater to many departments and internal functional teams. To make an informed, sound judgment, we have to think ten steps ahead to understand 1. ) the root cause, 2.) the feasibility of possible solutions and workarounds, 3.) the operational implications for various groups of stakeholders, and 4.) rules, regulations, and internal procedures that govern the process. We evaluate ideas holistically with data-driven approaches, which ensures objectivity and practicality.
What do you like best about working in UVAFinance?
I have many opportunities to work with diverse groups of people and learn something new each day. Knowing my work is valued, I like having that entrepreneurial spirit to create something impactful. Since data analysis is my second nature, I love working with data, finding hidden insights, and transforming them into compelling adventuresUVAFinance Mission & Values / UVAFinance Organizational Structure / Past Introductions can be found on our site under "Resource Shelf"
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| The updated process is live! |
The new process for requesting more than 25 finance security roles is live as of the morning of January 25.
What's new about the process? For users, not much except for where they submit their mass request: instead of sending an "Ask Finance" email, mass upload templates will be submitted via Workday.
This change will allow the Workday Support Team to automatically capture the approvals required to assign roles and will reduce manual labor. This should result in a smoother, quicker process!
We've prepared a Quick Reference Guide (QRG) to walk users through the mass upload process. Access it here.
Crystal Tapia of the Workday Support Team will also visit the February 7 Fiscal Administrator's meeting to review the update.
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| Providing PIs with a comprehensive look at their portfolio |
The Office of Sponsored Programs and UVAFinance's Business Intelligence Team have been working together to provide a version of the Research Administration Dashboard (RAD) just for principal investigators, and after much crafting and testing, it's finally here!
The Workday RAD app for PIs is a new app in UBI that offers a streamlined version of the existing RAD app. The RAD for administrators has been around since 2018, garnering rave reviews from administrators all across Grounds. After the go-live of Workday Financials in 2022, the dashboard was reassembled to pull data from Workday.
Nathaniel Hixon, Director of Research Administration in the School of Education and Human Development, says the new app will make grant-related financial data more readily accessible to faculty and staff. Says Hixon, "The new dashboard will help address a critical need that has been evident since we transitioned to Workday."
The app is simple for busy PIs to access and use. When a PI logs in, the app dynamically filters the data to show only their awards.
"We're excited about what this new tool offers," says Jingyi Fan, Assistant Director of Research Administration in the School of Engineering. "It provides our PIs and admins a comprehensive look into their sponsored research portfolio and a more user-friendly experience in accessing and understanding financial and payroll data on their sponsored funds."
The process for accessing and using the Workday PI RAD app is also simple. You can find training, resources, and videos on the OSP webpage.
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Related Information: RAD 3.0 Illustrates Great Collaboration Across Grounds
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| Tips from the "Ask Finance" Team |
Contributed by Joey Carls
Our aim in the Finance Solution Center is to provide prompt and accurate service. Your email to “AskFinance” launches our data collection and research process which may include engagement with subject matter experts.
As those monitoring cases through the Customer Portal can attest, this sometimes involves a flurry of messages between multiple individuals as we troubleshoot and collect information.
We want to remind you of two ways you can help us respond promptly.
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| You may not be as behind as it seems! |
December Account Certifications were created with the incorrect Past Due date for Rector & Visitors and Southwest Higher Education Center. As a result, all December Account Certifications for these two companies will show as Past Due even if they are completed by January 30.
The Past Due date cannot be changed once the Account Certifications are created, so unfortunately, they will continue to show Past Due regardless of completion. Please keep this in mind if you pull any data related to Account Certifications that are Past Due or were Past Due when completed.
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| 2023 W-2 forms are available in Workday |
If you opted out of a paper version, you can access your W-2 in Workday. Just log in, click the "My Pay" icon, then choose "My Tax Documents."
Paper copies will be mailed before January 31 (electronic copies of these are available on February 1).
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| Make it a priority! |
contributed by Patty Marbury, Director of Training and Development
With the start of a new year, please take the time to think about Professional Development! You have up to $2,000 of centrally-funded education benefit to use for professional development, or $5,250 to use for tuition toward a degree-seeking program. You can split the benefit between professional development and tuition, but the total may not exceed $5,250. See https://hr.virginia.edu/career-development/education-benefits-1 for more information.
Anders Coe has spent the past two and a half years in Procurement learning everything he could about how the department works with its UVA partners and vendors. That knowledge will be a strong foundation for him to build on as he now joins Procurement’s IT and Scientific Discovery Team as a Sourcing Specialist.
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| Anders Coe |
Coe began his tenure in UVAFinance in 2021 as a Customer
Experience Lead, then became a Finance Generalist on the Expense Team as the
Finance Strategic Transformation project ramped up. He says that path and his time working with
the Workday Finance project allowed him to learn a lot and get a broad sense of
how things work in Procurement and in Finance in general.
“I am a big fan of always learning more about what we do as
an organization,” he says. “It’s easy to
get siloed and just focus on our tasks and forget why we do it.”
In his new role, Coe will help the UVA community with their
requisitions and purchases, work with vendors to get advantageous terms, and
develop strong relationships with vendors. He cites his new team as one that definitely
has a lot going on and that continually seeks to bring good things to UVA. The Strategic Sourcing Team has also played a
particularly helpful role in the past as he learned about Procurement, says
Coe, because their role is so central to what Procurement does.
Coe says he’s excited to dive into his new role in Strategic
Sourcing, especially because the IT and Scientific Discovery Team is so close
to the research function at UVA. “I’m
looking forward to the outreach and relationship-building part of this role,”
he says. “UVA’s research community is out there trying to solve things in our
world, and I’m happy to be a part of helping them succeed.”
Related information: A
Warm Handoff: Anders Coe Joins PSDS / The
Mystery of A. Coe in Procurement
Introducing UVAFinance is a recurring blog feature created to introduce our team to our team, a couple of members at a time. Every other week, we'll present readers with two team members to get to know. To understand how these colleagues are situated within the greater UVAFinance structure, check out this resource on the UVAFinance website. (Keep in mind that it's not an org chart, but rather a map of what functions of central finance exist in which general areas.)
Let's go!
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Jennifer Godden, Travel & Expense Card Administrator
Jennifer Godden
What do you do as a Travel & Expense Card Administrator?
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| Dan Hoogenboom |
UVAFinance Mission & Values / UVAFinance Organizational Structure / Past Introductions can be found on our site under "Resource Shelf"
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| Look for this in late January |
Beginning late this January, users who need to request more than 25 finance security roles will be able to do so within Workday Finance’s System Access Request app, instead of emailing Ask Finance.
Users will upload the mass upload template in Workday when they make their request (they will be prompted whether their request is for 25+).
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| Syd Dorsey |
If you have a question about the small business landscape in Virginia, the chances are very good that Syd Dorsey has an informed answer.
Susan Y. (Syd) Dorsey has a profound and varied background in business leadership, governmental advising, teaching, and consulting, and she’s bringing that experience and expertise to the consulting role she has taken with Procurement and Supplier Diversity Services.
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| Released December 14 |
A new set of Finance Reporting & Analytics Release notes was posted on December 14. Did you miss it? We wouldn't blame you if you did! Here's the full release on the UVAFinance website.
Here are a few highlights you might find interesting:
Workday enhancements include two new reports:
UBI enhancements include one new app:
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| Thanks to all our testers! |
After months of collaborative work and testing with our partners across Grounds, the Travel & Expense Team is happy to announce that a new two-approver business process for expense reports is live as of January 8.
We’re grateful to our testers who partnered with us to identify the best solution possible for both compliance and ease of use (see our testers in this post). These intrepid folks helped us adjust the process based on the complications they experienced in the first trial run.
We have altered the expense approval business process so
that a minimum of two approvers must approve each expense report. Only the routing has changed, not the way you
submit expense reports. As long as
people are in the right roles, the process will proceed smoothly. Due to the previous work on this process, the
majority of schools and units are in good shape with role assignments.
During the first few weeks of the transition to the new
process, the Travel & Expense team will be carefully monitoring
transactions so that we can help out if/when something gets stuck . . . and
we’ll coach you through the changes that need to be made so there aren’t future
issues.
Thank you again for your patience and your feedback during
this process.
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| Wynn-Floyd covered topics like business licensing and SWAM Certifications in her helpful session. |
Procurement's Ajoni Wynn-Floyd was a guest speaker at the Community Investment Collaborative's entrepreneur program this December on behalf of UVA.
Wynn-Floyd and Mark Cartwright led a session on "How to Sell to Higher Education" to the 30 attendees. The entrepreneurship program is a collaboration between UVA and the Albemarle County Office of Economic Development.
Supplier Diversity has been and will continue to be on the move; watch the blog for more information.
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Related News: What's next for Supplier Diversity
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| Click here to view the report |
UVA's 2023 Annual Financial Report is available online. View it on our website.
You can also view copies of previous years' financial statements on the website.
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| Mark your calendar! |
Annual T&E Cardholder Training is required for all cardholders and will be available February 1-29, 2024. Cardholders will automatically be enrolled in the Workday training and receive a training link by email on February 1st.
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| https://mlk.virginia.edu/ |
The theme of this year's Community Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration is "The Constant Pursuit of Justice." UVA's Division for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion has lined up a series of events, free and open to the public, from January 15-31.
