Upcoming Webinar!

Kelly Morrison, Director of Pre-Award in Sponsored Programs, will lead a national webinar on cost sharing, a major topic in research administration.  Register on the NCURA website at https://onlinelearning.ncura.edu/

Introducing UVAFinance's new 'Go-To' Team

In every department or office, there always seems to be a person or two who knows the answer to any question, the location of any item, or the right person to go to for any concern. These “go-to” people are invaluable, as we all realize when one of them is on vacation or otherwise occupied when we need help.

Chances are, the person who came to your mind as your own area’s “go-to” might be on the newly formed UVAFinance Administrative Services Group.

Formed in response to the UVAFinance Appreciative Inquiry process and made up of administrative professionals from all departments, the ASG team will provide comprehensive, coordinated administrative services to all of UVAFinance.

The team has been hard at work for several months, identifying their strengths, coordinating efforts, and solidifying how to execute roles and responsibilities to best serve UVAFinance going forward. The official launch date for the ASG team is July 1.

According to team leader Disha Venkatesan, Director of Administrative Services and Strategic Initiatives, the team is focusing on building an infrastructure that will improve productivity and efficiency.

Organized around basic administrative functions such as finance (Recon@, FTE management, cost transfers, etc.), Purchasing, Human Resources (onboarding and offboarding, etc.), physical space, travel and expense, records management, events, budgets, and communications, the team will be cross-trained, collaborative, and able to back one another up at a moment’s notice.

“The contact for each unit won’t change,” said Venkatesan. What will change, she clarified, is how the work gets done.

“We’re working on standard operating procedures and cross training,” she said; adding, “for staff, this means that when your ‘go-to’ person isn’t available, you’ll still have help available – someone who will know exactly how to assist and will already be in the loop, because they’re part of our team.”

Stacey Rittenhouse, “Mayor of Carruthers” and longtime “go-to” person, says that the team’s organization means that things won’t fall through the cracks.

“There will be a greater continuity of service,” she said.

Another benefit of the new team, said member Patrick Wood, is that because the team works so closely together, they will be able to quickly identify processes that need improvement and address them.

About his fellow ASG members, Mike Beverage said, “the things we do in our roles have always impacted one another. Now, the processes are running more smoothly and we can collaborate and streamline everyone’s workload. It’s enlightening, and definitely a good thing.”

Directions & Connections: Exploring the UBI Roadmap with UVA Wise

UVA Wise is a 4.5-hour drive from Charlottesville.

Association between University of Virginia and The University of Virginia’s College at Wise began in 1954, and in that time, the College at Wise has experienced campus-wide growth, from the curriculum (up to 30+ majors), infrastructure (new buildings and significant renovations), as well as the enrollment (currently over 2,000 students). This growth period also coincides with building stronger operational – and logistical - ties to UVA, with 285 miles of highway separating the two institutions.

Across the University and its colleges, Discoverer has been the primary reporting system at UVa-Wise. As part of the University-wide financial initiative, the Managerial Reporting Project (MRP) team at UVA developed a dynamic new data reporting environment, known as UBI - or Universal Business Intelligence – to replace Discoverer.

Judy DiVita, Director of MRP, and Matt Douglas, Training Developer on the MRP team, recently embarked on the four-and-a-half hour drive from Charlottesville into the mountains of Southwest Virginia for training UVaWise staff on the UBI reporting tool.

Read more here about the journey to Wise.

____________________________________________________

As Discoverer approaches the August 31 sunset for GA, GL, and LD reporting, and the December 31 sunset for SIS reporting, UBI adoption continues increasing across the University.

Already a UBI User?

Get more information in the UBI Community.

New to UBI? Get Access and Training

You will need to sign up for the Intro to UBI – GA or GL focus course in order to gain access to UBI. Go to the UBI training page to register for an available Intro to UBI – GA or GL Focus training session.

Additionally, it is suggested but not required, that you begin the ESHARP access prior to attending training. View the Get Started page to learn more.

Car Service now available in TravelUVA

Click image for larger view

Need a ride to the airport, hotel, or meeting site? Car service is now available to book via TravelUVA’s online booking tool.

TravelUVA makes booking car service quick and painless, as the system reads any existing travel plans and suggests car service when you add ground transportation to your itinerary. You can also book car service independently, or for guests. Just click on the car service icon in TravelUVA!

Questions? Need help? Call 924-4212 and select option 2 or email travel@virginia.edu

SWaM Business Enterprise Day showcases 24 firms

Visitors and exhibitors mingling during
SWaM Business Enterprise Day

Procurement and Supplier Diversity Services invited over 20 well-established, multi-million dollar firms to their annual Small, Women-owned, and Minority-owned (SWaM) Business Enterprise Day on June 6.

This year’s event featured firms specializing in security, cyber security, batteries and bulbs, promotional items, consulting (management, IT, environmental), storage and material handling, IT peripherals, design and graphics, relocation services/household movers, engineering, workforce and technical educational solutions, measurement and weighing, and supplies (lab, industrial, electronics).

Several hundred visitors from across Grounds took the opportunity to meet with representatives from these businesses, learning more about the goods and services they offer.

In addition to the afternoon showcase in the Newcomb Hall Ballroom, exhibiting SWaM vendors were also treated to an intensive networking event that morning.

Jenn Daughtry, President of Greener Concepts, an outdoor furniture provider, said the opportunity to connect with other vendors was much appreciated.

“The setup of this event has been great,” she said, adding, “We’ve really enjoyed the one on one interaction.”

Supplier Diversity Champion and event coordinator Jack King said “This annual event was created to provide an intimate business atmosphere where UVA schools and departments could draw on a diverse community of well-established, multi-million dollar small businesses – the innovators and doers who power the economic engine across the Commonwealth and beyond – to learn more about the goods and services they offer — goods and services our schools and departments need. This event is just one of many ways UVA’s team of Procurement and Supplier Diversity Services professionals, is committed to helping our Virginia business community — the backbone of our economic landscape and the cornerstone of our communities — grow and nurture their businesses while remaining strong, vibrant, and successful.”

T-Minus 30 days until Office 365 launches within UVAFinance!

On July 12, Office 365 will go live for UVAFinance, a long-anticipated upgrade that includes email/calendar and Skype for Business. Users will see immediate benefits such as

• A more robust Outlook Web App (OWA) that will look and function more like the desktop version, including access to tasks and shared calendars.
• An increased email quota (50GB compared to today’s 6B)
• The ability to download and use the Microsoft Outlook Mobile App, which, among other benefits, will provide a perfectly synced calendar 
• Fully supported Skype for Business, including instant messaging, voice and video calls, desktop sharing, and much more. 

Watch for more emails with additional information from the Office 365 Project Team as go-live draws near. In the meantime, you can prepare for the upgrade by

• Checking out the Office 365 Project website which is updated daily for schedules, upgrade details, and FAQs, and 
• visiting the UVA Office 365 Resource Portal to learn more about some of the apps that will be available to you over the course of the project (login is your computingID@eservices.virginia.edu and your Eservices password), 
• signing up for a general demo session where Office 365 specialists will show you all the cool things these new apps can do (note that some sessions are located here in Carruthers!)

Ufirst: What's in it for you?

Ashley Feero, UVAFinance
HR Consultant

Ufirst puts you, our customers, at the center of our future HR services. Through collaboration, creative problem-solving, and best in class HR systems, HR will support UVAFinance's efforts as the valued and trusted financial partner that the University turns to first.

What’s in it for you? Between now and summer of 2018, HR will transform into our new delivery model, providing you consistent, exceptional HR service through our Communities of Expertise. We will deliver powerful technology, simplified processes, and teams empowered to work more strategically together.

Interested in learning more? Please visit the Ufirst website or reach out to me at am6pm@virginia.edu.

ACDA adoption gives UVA the competitive advantage in research

The Office of Sponsored Programs is building upon UVA’s recent entrance into the Accelerated Clinical Trial Agreement (ACTA) by adopting the Accelerated Confidential Disclosure Agreement (ACDA). Both agreements can significantly shorten the time it takes to start up a clinical trial.

Developed using terms similar to the ACTA, the purpose of the ACDA is to streamline the contracting process when initiating studies with industry.

The ACDA is a pre-negotiated agreement that, when used, gives researchers access to protocols without the delays of confidentiality agreement negotiation. Access to that protocol is the first step in potentially initiating a clinical trial. Participation in clinical trials is increasingly very competitive so the reduction in start-up time can be a big advantage.

To learn more about accelerated research agreements such as ACDA and ACTA, visit www.ara4us.org

Contact Kristy Hall or Lynn Koplin in Sponsored Programs for more information on UVA’s participation.

Building a better University experience: UVAForward 2017 a great success

Over 300 people attended this year’s UVA Forward conference on May 25, enjoying a day of networking and learning how they can be a part of “building a better University experience.”

Led by Tom Kim (HR) and Erika Priddy (UVA Finance), the UVA Forward planning team included Kathleen Aliff (Ufirst), Kirby Armentrout (Darden), Matthew Darring (School of Medicine), and Keith Donnelly (ITS). Over many months, the team developed a robust program "for professionals who wish to lead, learn, and collaborate."

Session attendees learn about Data Strategy at UVAForward

From effective written communication and data strategy and visualization to mindfulness and even the lessons we can find in jazz, this year’s conference had something for everyone.

Priddy said the planning team is just beginning to sift through feedback from attendee surveys, but both the energy from the event and comments emailed to the team afterward indicate a high level of satisfaction with and excitement for the conference and its content.

“The overall energy level I felt at the conference is one of my markers for success,” she said.

“I have also received comments via email that say things like, ‘I wanted you to know how much yesterday meant to me,’ and ‘I feel so reinvigorated and refreshed,’” she added.

The planning team had that sort of inspiration in mind when they planned the conference content, in addition to a strong focus on providing practical skills that could be put to effective use immediately. The focus on practical skills, incidentally, came from feedback from last year’s conference.

As the planning team considered speakers and sessions that might be a fit with the concept of “building a better University experience,” they focused on fostering the sense that every individual has a role to play in making a great experience at UVA.

Thank you to the planning committee for their commitment to providing an energizing event, and thank you to those attendees who are in their offices now, applying new knowledge and acting on their inspiration!

See more photos from UVAForward on our Flickr page.

Procurement supports UVA's research mission

Reducing administrative burden for UVA researchers is a priority for Procurement and Supplier Diversity Services (PSDS). The PSDS team has established hundreds of new contracts with research and development companies to better meet the needs for specialized goods, services, and equipment, with a continued commitment to good, old-fashioned customer service and going the extra mile.

The UVA Center for Advanced Biomanufacturing needed a rheometer to pursue their work in bioengineering. If you’re wondering what a rheometer is, you’re probably not alone – suffice it to say, it’s a highly specialized piece of equipment available from very few sources.

Not long ago, a purchase like this would require sole source justification, a tedious process. However, thanks to PSDS’ innovative new Research and Development RFP process, Anton Paar, the supplier of the rheometer needed for this work, was set up as a contract vendor. This made the buying process much easier for the researchers and entitled them to the advantages and protections that come with working with a vendor under contract.

If the story ended there, it would be a success, but there’s more: PSDS was also able to help the researchers navigate another complex process.

With a contract relationship established, it made sense for other researchers to know more about the types of specialized equipment the company offered. Dr. Steven Caliari, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Science and Center

Anton Paar's mobile lab during its recent visit to UVA.

for Advance Biomanufacturing steering committee member, talked to Anton Paar about bringing their mobile lab to UVA. The company was happy to bring their show on the road, but even as a contract vendor, bringing a mobile laboratory and all its contents to Grounds is not a simple task.

Once again, PSDS stepped in, this time acting as a liaison for UVA researchers and the contracted company. They worked with UVA departments such as facilities, environmental health and safety, and others to secure the necessary permissions for the lab to come on site.

Once the dots were connected, the lab arrived on a sunny day in April.  Chemistry researchers were able to take a quick jaunt to a parking lot nearby and learn more about products that could help with their research (and since Anton Paar is a contract vendor, anyone who visited the lab could potentially purchase from them).

Dr. Caliari saw the benefits of the contract relationship in this situation, commenting, “It’s great to have that comfort level with vendors, because we know that if there’s an issue, if students need to be trained, or if there are questions about a new technique, we have had face time with Anton Paar and we know they will be happy to help.”

He also appreciated the way PSDS jumped in to make the mobile lab visit a reality for busy researchers.

“Everyone who needed to get looped in got looped in and it came together really nicely,” he said.

Valerie Clem joins Student Financial Services

Valerie Clem has joined Student Financial Services as Assistant Director of Athletic Financial Aid. Previously with Virginia Commonwealth University as an Athletics and Veterans Certification Coordinator, Clem has worked in financial aid for over ten years.

She has a Bachelor of Science in Sociology from VCU and a Master of Science in Higher Education Administration from Drexel University and is currently writing her dissertation for a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Nebraska. 

As a first generation college student herself, Clem says she enjoys helping families understand the financial aid process and helping students achieve their academic goals. An avid fan of professional wrestling, Clem has attended WrestleMania seven times.

UVAFinance welcomes new Director of Financial Reporting

UVAFinance is pleased to welcome Thomas Schneeberger to Financial Operations as Director of Financial Reporting. In this role, he will be responsible for the year-end close, including coordination with State Auditors, UVAFinance, and Foundations, the preparation of the University’s annual and quarterly financial reports, and generally stewarding the University’s financial system. 

Thomas Schneeberger

Schneeberger most recently served as the Assistant Director of Financial Reporting and Management Services at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, but his career path covered many miles prior to that role.

Schneeberger’s career in finance began with a degree from the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration in Austria, and shortly thereafter brought him stateside for a role with the City of Lexington in North Carolina after a year in Puerto Rico, where he married his wife Irela.

After serving as the Lexington’s Senior Accountant and then Financial Services Manager, Schneeberger decided to pursue his Master in Accounting at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and subsequent CPA licensure, which in turn led to a position with Ernst & Young as an auditor. For Ernst & Young, Schneeberger worked in Raleigh and the Cayman Islands, where he predominantly focused on the financial services industry. Eventually, he sought to leave the sphere of public accounting in favor of working in higher education.

Since his arrival at UVA early this May, he has been completing training in Oracle and other finance modules, as well as prepping the financial report for next year, assessing the impact of new standards from the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, and generally getting acquainted with UVA.

“I’m wrapping my head around the university structure, getting to know the players and stakeholders involved, and beginning to get in and get my hands dirty,” Schneeberger said.

He said he has found the transition from UNC to UVA to be positive.

“UVA is certainly a school with a great reputation, and Charlottesville is a nice town with a lot going on,” he commented, adding that he and his wife have already found some favorite places among Charlottesville’s many offerings, and they both look forward to enjoying outdoor activities, especially those involving water.

Schneeberger is a surfer, avid swimmer, and lover of water sports. His sports acumen doesn’t stop there; he was also somewhat of a basketball star in college, playing in a national semi-professional league in Austria.

Schneeberger’s enthusiasm for his new role is due especially to his enjoyment of working in higher education.

“As a University, we don’t just impact our direct customers – we do outreach in the community, we perform research, and we affect the world. We do a lot of good things here, and when you’re in a financial reporting role, you see the overall perspective and get to report on all of it.”

Urmila Bajaj of Sponsored Programs to Co-Chair National Conference

Urmila Bajaj, Director of Post Award in the Office of Sponsored Programs, was recently announced as co-chair of the upcoming conference for financial research administrators given by the National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA). This is the 18th annual conference and is projected to bring together over 1,000 research administrators from around the country to Puerto Rico next March.

Urmila Bajaj

Bajaj has been a member of NCURA since 1998 and has served in a variety of roles. In addition to her position with the Financial Research Administration Conference, she has presented on the national and regional level and served as an NCURA Peer Programs Reviewer for a number of years.

“NCURA hosts a number of onsite and online training programs; their conferences are a valuable forum for networking, discussing trends in research administration policies and best practices, and getting advice from experts,” said Bajaj.

NCURA’s Executive Director, Kathleen Larmett, stated, “We are delighted to announce Urmila as the co-chair of our 2018 Financial Research Administration Conference. Urmila’s experience and leadership in various roles at our organization and in her professional career made her the perfect candidate for this role.”

NCURA is a professional society dedicated to advancing the field of research administration through education and professional development programs. Conceived by eight research administrators in 1959, the group was intended to be a platform where University Research Administrators across the nation could exchange information on various research administration topics. From 45 members from 40 institutions at the first annual meeting, the NCURA research administration community has grown to over 7,000 national and international members.

NCURA’s 18th Annual Financial Research Administration Conference will take place in San Juan, Puerto Rico, at the Puerto Rico Convention Center on March 1-3, 2018. Click here for more information on NCURA.

Batten School Proud of Early Adoption of UBI, Hopes Others Soon Follow Their Lead

The Batten School is among those leading the way in UBI adoption.

Known for producing innovative and forward-thinking leaders into the world, the Frank Batten School for Leadership and Public Policy now adds another first to their list as UVA forerunners: the early adoption of UBI, or University Business Intelligence, as an institutional data reporting environment.

Joining the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), the Batten School is the University of Virginia’s earliest adopting institution of UBI for GA and GL reporting. Charles Rush, Director of Budget and Finance at the Batten School, recalled the strategic vision for planning future progress laid out by the Batten School’s leader.

“The Dean [Allan Stam] had a strategic vision of moving toward more of an analytical role," Rush said. 

Rush, along with Katie Winters, Assistant Director for Budget and Finance, and Cindy Moore, Business Services Coordinator, are the Batten School’s early champions of the new reporting tool. 

He added the timing of adopting the UBI early in the transition window felt necessary for the Batten School “and very much so critical because a lot of the work that we were doing that is related to analysis was obviously done outside of Discoverer.”

Once Rush spent time settling into UBI, seeing the strength of the reporting first hand and the wealth of data that could be presented within the modules, he quickly realized the invaluable benefit the tool offered for achieving the school’s reporting goals. Rush stated he uses the environment for budgetary information, such as cash balances, budget summaries, as well as details. Looking back at the process, he laughed about the realization once UBI was in place. “Where has this been? Why did it take so long for us to get to this point?" 

When overcoming challenges she and other users faced in the previous reporting environment, Winters praised the functionality of the UBI environment in achieving the school’s reporting goals. 

Winters admitted she uses UBI on a daily basis for traditional reporting and for answering questions that are upcoming in her role, such as tracking budget, payroll, and human resources-related information.

“I think it goes back to not having standard questions that I'm answering all the time,” Winters said. 

“Whatever someone wants me to find, as long as I know what fields to click, I can get an answer for them. 

“Maybe it's because of the culture at Batten, but we aren't just looking at the same reports month after month. We're asking it questions all the time and trying to find the different ways that the data are interacting. UBI is just so much a better tool for doing that.”

Rush and Waters both praised UBI for its ability to produce dynamic reports quickly and accurately, from traditional data reporting to ad-hoc, or custom, in design. As the Batten School uses UBI daily, Rush is working with Mark Anderson and the MRP (Managerial Reporting Project) team on expanding the school’s reporting goals.

“[The transition process has] been great. We've had the opportunity to work with Mark, and we're continuing down that path of being able to address and answering some of those questions through some customization of the tool.”

The Batten School is among the first institutions at leading the transition of users into early-adopting UBI (University Business Intelligence), UVA’s new enterprise reporting environment, for reporting financial and non-financial data as well as data stewardship and governance. The Batten School set a goal of February 28, 2017 for its UBI adoption – and for ceasing usage of Discoverer, the University’s previous financial reporting tool. Discoverer will reach its sunset – or ending – period by August 2017.

The transition posed some early obstacles for Rush. While he was excited at the prospect of using UBI for reporting, he’d formed a routine using Discoverer exclusively for the previous 15 years. “[The transition] just took a long time for me to adjust,” Rush said. “I could see what [UBI] could do, so that wasn't the issue. It was just more trying to make that leap in your mind.

“You have to have a different mindset when you're dealing with this tool, because you got used to operating this way for so long; downloading, uploading, doing your own thing - being in control - and now you have something that can actually do that for you.”

Winters admitted her experience creating numerous reports in her previous administrative roles at UVA made her aware of the limitations of the previous reporting tool, and was a likely factor in making an easier switch to UBI. “I found Discoverer very challenging to use to answer ad hoc questions. So when UBI came, I was able to tell it ‘this is the type of information I want.’ I found that much easier.”

“We are happy that this tool is in place now, but there is more that we want it to do,” added Rush.

And words of wisdom for those who may be reluctant of transitioning into the new reporting environment?

Waters offered support for new converts and those who have not yet made the transition to UBI.

 “The resistance that I have heard from people has mainly been focused around ‘this doesn't look the way I expect it to. I can't find the columns in the place that I want them to be,’” she explained. “It's just getting over that initial [learning curve]. You can make it look however you want, you just need to spend the time to figure out how to do it.

“Once you get [reports] into that format, it's pretty simple,” Walters concluded. “And then, don't stop there - just have fun with it and see what information you can get out of it. It's hard to find the time just to dedicate just playing around in the system. So when you do have the time, make time to do it because it's worthwhile. You are going to find new things you haven't been able to understand before.”

by Matt Bonham

What do you want to see on the Lunch and Learn Menu?

For the past nine months, the UVAFinance employee Engagement Committee, in partnership with Finance Outreach and Compliance, has offered Lunch and Learn sessions for UVAFinance team members. Presentations have included topics meant to broaden your professional horizons, add to your knowledge of UVA services and programs, and even help you in your day to day work.

As we look at our upcoming schedule, we’d like to hear from the UVAFinance team on what topics would get you to join us for a Lunch and Learn. We welcome your suggestions of speakers and/or subject matter.

Have a topic on which you’d like to share your expertise? Please contact foc-training@virginia.edu or Patty Marbury to share your feedback or get on the schedule!

Hope to see you at a Lunch and Learn session soon!