Sponsored Programs Welcomes Matt Winter, Grants and Contracts Assistant

Matt Winter recently joined the Sponsored Programs team as a Grants and Contracts Assistant, working on the pre-award side. Winter is a two-time UVA grad, with a M. Ed. in Higher Education and a B. A. in History. He also studied Secondary Education at the University of Alberta in Canada. Winter became interested in sponsored programs through graduate internships at the Curry School and UVA’s radio station, WTJU. His diverse background includes experience teaching in the public school system, as well as working with local publishing firms. Winter enjoys playing soccer, being outdoors, and following UVA Athletics.

Strategic Sourcing = Serious Savings

In the fall of 2014, Procurement and Supplier Diversity Services, in partnership with Organizational Excellence, began a Strategic Sourcing initiative. The aim of the initiative was to deliver increased savings and better service to those who buy at UVA.

Nearly three years in, the results have been impressive: $2.8 million in contract savings in FY ’17 alone (including office supplies, inbound freight, catering, promotional products and Virginia Higher Education Procurement Collaborative savings such as Grainger, Enterprise and Fisher).

An additional $2.5 million has been saved in FY ’17 on department specific contracts, bringing the grand total to $5.3 million in FY ‘17. That’s no small change!

It’s the everyday support of those who buy at the University that makes these contracts work. Thank you for making the choice to buy on contract!

Travel & Expense Tip

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Traveling to work, staying to play: work life balance through “Bleisure Travel”

The rise of technology has made it easy for professionals to take their work with them. We answer emails in the evenings, we log in on the weekends, we’re committed to productivity to the point of becoming workaholics. Risking burnout and enduring rising stress levels, we stockpile vacation days without ever using the bulk of them.

A growing trend in business travel may go a long way toward alleviating this tension between career and personal life. This type of travel is called “bleisure” (a portmanteau blending “business” and “leisure”), and Travel and Expense Administrator Raegan Harouff of Procurement and Supplier Diversity Services is seeing an increasing amount of it.

Harouff, who worked as a travel agent for 17 years before joining UVA in PSDS’ Travel and Expense Team, says the name “bleisure” may be silly, but the concept is valuable.

A few snapshots from Harouff's travels to Gambia, Thailand, and Cambodia.

“It may be hard for people to work a full week or more of vacation into their schedules, while it’s much easier to tack on a few days at the end of a trip to a conference,” she said.

“Especially when people are traveling abroad, with the commitment of time and money involved in that kind of travel, it makes sense to make the most of the experience while you’re there – to get out and actually experience the city and the culture you’re working in,” she said.

An Expedia Media Solutions study found that 43% of all business trips are extended to include some kind of leisure activity. According to a recent Forbes magazine poll, 78% of employees interviewed said that by adding a few personal days to a business trip, the professional assignment became more rewarding.

Harouff’s familiarity with the ins and outs of corporate travel, gained during her years as a travel agent, have given her an insight that is helpful for UVA’s travelers. She knows the ins and outs of handling arrangements for busy travelers with complex agendas.

An avid traveler herself, she has lent both her corporate and personal travel experience to UVA travelers who want to make some time for fun on their business trips. She says what usually happens is that, once they return, travelers have questions about how to expense their trip, separating the business from the personal.

For all UVA bleisure travelers, Harouff recommends making the required cost comparison between the business/personal itinerary and what the cost would have been for a business-only itinerary at the time of purchase. Doing the comparison at the same time of purchase instead of waiting until later (or even, upon return) means travelers won’t be shortchanging themselves on reimbursement or requesting more reimbursement than actually necessary.

Bleisure travel is a good option for those dealing with tightly scheduled work and personal time. And, as Harouff points out, it’s a great use of time and money.

“Even heading out to a conference a day early – sometimes flights are cheaper that way, too --- can be a great stress reliever. It doesn’t always have to be something big. Even if you’re just heading out a day early to check out the beach or the local food scene, some me time can do a lot to make you feel more relaxed and productive,” she said.

Training & Development Opportunities for Finance Professionals

We hope you will take advantage of these professional development opportunities designed for our finance colleagues across Grounds. Links to enroll via Employee Self-Service are available from the Events section on the Finance Outreach and Compliance website at http://foc.virginia.edu/.

As always, if you have any questions, suggestions, or want to discuss training needs, please contact us at foc-training@virginia.edu.

Feel free to forward share this schedule with other colleagues, and managers, please share with your staff. Looking forward to seeing you soon!

Brown Bag Sessions

Supplier Diversity 

Why is Supplier Diversity important? Increasing and maintaining relationships with diverse suppliers helps to support UVA’s mission of delivering high-quality education, research, public service and healthcare. We are committed to supporting this mission by developing and maintaining sustainable and positive relationships with qualified and reliable small, women, and minority-owned (SWAM) businesses. In this session, we will provide information and answer your questions about the mission and history of supplier diversity at UVA, how a supplier qualifies as a SWAM business, resources to help you find and work with SWAM businesses, and SWAM contracts.
July 26, 12:00-2:00 pm
Presented by Les Haughton, Directory of Supplier Diversity, PSDS
Carruthers Hall, Carr-1 and 2

Sustainability and UVA’s Green Workplace Program

Do you know about UVA’s Green Workplace Program? Team members from the Office for Sustainability will join us to discuss actions we can all take to conserve energy, advance sustainability at UVA, and even save money! Come join your colleagues for this session to hear more about the Green Workplace Program, the certification program, and other ways to increase sustainability efforts at UVA.
August 9, 12:00-2:00 pm
Presented by Dana Schroeder, UVA Office for Sustainability
Carruthers Hall, Carr-1 and 2

Using UBI: Tips and Tricks

Discoverer will soon be unavailable for GA, GL, and LD reporting, but like many, you may be reluctant to start using UBI to run your reports. In this session, you will learn about basic navigational tips, how to tag favorites, best practices for exporting and printing data, and customizing and sharing reports. You will also have the opportunity to ask questions and learn about the UBI Community. This course offers tips for using UBI and is not meant to replace the Introduction to UBI or Advanced UBI courses.
August 23, 12:00-2:00 pm
Presented by Ashley Bagby, Managerial Reporting Project
Carruthers Hall, Carr-1 and 2

Courses, Workshops, and Labs

Finance Fundamentals

What is UVA’s mission? What is the Code of Ethics and why is it important? What is the organizational structure of UVA and where do you fit in? What is a PTAEO? What are the sources of revenue at UVA and how are funds processed? What do you need to know about internal controls, and what are some best practices to follow? In this class you will get answers to these questions and more, as well as have an opportunity to interact and network with other administrative professionals. This class is a required course for access to the finance applications in the Integrated System, but is also open to anyone who wants to learn about UVA’s financial operations.
July 25, 1:30-4:30
August 8, 1:30-4:30
August 22, 1:30-4:30 

All sessions are held in Carruthers Hall, Conference Room 2

Reconciling Expenditures in Recon@UVA (formerly Mastering Account Reconciliations)

All departments spend money, whether it is for office supplies, equipment, or personnel. It is important to reconcile these purchases each month to maintain strong internal control standards. This course is designed to help UVA staff and faculty who prepare, review and approve expenditure reconciliations navigate these processes in the Recon@UVA system. We will discuss how to accurately complete monthly expenditure reconciliations for transactions that occur in the Integrated System’s Grants Management (GM) module in compliance with UVA policy and procedures. 

July 20, 1:30-4:00 

Carruthers Hall, Carr-2

Reconciling General Ledger Revenue – New Class!

To maintain strong Internal Control standards, it is important to reconcile your revenue accounts as well as your expenditure accounts. This course is diesgned to help UVA staff and faculty who prepare, review, and approve revenue reconciliations navigate the General Ledger (GL) revenue reconciliation process at UVA using University Business Intelligence (UBI). We will discuss how accurately complete your monthly revenue reconciliations in compliance with UVA policy and procedures.
July 21, 1:30 - 4:00
August 3, 1:30-4:00
Carruthers Hall, Carr-2

Reconciling General Ledger Revenue: Lab – New Class!

Do you need help with the new Monthly GL Reconciliation Procedure? During this lab, you will be able to log into UBI and complete your monthly revenue reconciliation with help from the UVAFinance team. IMPORTANT: This a lab where you can bring your work with you to get help in completing your revenue reconciliations using the new procedure. It is not intended to replace the instructor-led, Reconciling General Ledger Revenue class where you learn about policy and procedure.
July 24, 9:00-11:30
August 10, 1:30-4:00
All sessions held at 2400 Old Ivy Road, room 136

ExpenseUVA: Lab

Do you need help with UVA's new expense management system, ExpenseUVA? During this lab, you will be able to log into the live system and submit expense reports help from the UVAFinance team. You will also learn where to go for resources and help. IMPORTANT: This class is a lab where you can come for help with entering actual expenses, and is not intended to replace the online training. Please complete the Expense Management System - Online Training prior to attending the lab and bring your work with you. Please arrive at the stated time of the class and then stay as long as you like. For immediate training and help, please refer to the online training Expense Management System - Online Training 

July 21, 9:00-11:00 am
July 27, 9:00-11:00 am
August 17, 1:00-3:00 pm
August 28, 9:00-11:00 am
All sessions held at 2400 Old Ivy Road, room 136

"Intro to UBI" now available as an online course!

click for a larger view

Users can now access the introductory UBI course from OLM in the Integrated System by choosing the Intro to UBI - Finance (Online) offering.

The entire course runs approximately 1 ½ hours and is divided into 13 lessons. Lessons do not have to be completed all at once, and learners can close and return to the course at their convenience and pick up where they left off to complete it.

This course is required to be completed for approval for the EDW_P_Finance permission in ESHARP.
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For the latest developments in UBI, visit www.ubi.virginia.edu

Get more from your UBI experience by participating in the UBI Community!

Mindfulness as a practice in the workplace

UVAFinance has embarked on a workplace mindfulness program, offering a variety of activities to team members, all geared toward stress reduction and personal growth.

Patrick Wood, who leads events coordination on the UVAFinance Administrative Services Group, spearheaded the effort to bring the initiative to fruition.

“The purpose of the program is to promote a work environment where people have the strategies they need to cope with stress, where they can develop better relationships, and make proactive changes,” Wood said.

Studies show that mindfulness can help ease stress, provide resilience against negative experiences, and promote empathy and compassion. Preliminary studies even suggest that mindfulness has a positive effect on productivity and can reduce the number of sick days a person takes.

Activities on the calendar include chair massage, yoga and guided meditation, and sessions promoting mindfulness through art.

Wood says the response to the mindfulness offerings has been very positive so far. Attendance was high at the recent art session, and all of the chair massage appointments were spoken for within five minutes of the announcement.

Raegan Harouff from Procurement and Supplier Diversity Services attended the Mindfulness through Art session. She cited it as a great stress reliever.

“I’ve been practicing mindfulness for some time and have been a lifelong art lover,” she said. “I really enjoyed blending the two, and I’ll definitely check out future sessions.”

Mindfulness sessions are offered every week in UVAFinance and are announced via email.

Want to know more about how mindfulness can positively impact your work experience, no matter where you work? Check out this site. There are also several apps you can download for individual practice of mindfulness, including meditation, yoga, and more!

From Melody's Desk

July 13, 2017

Dear Colleagues,

Launched April 17, ExpenseUVA has been live now for almost three months.  Last month, we invited all of those who had a hand in its development, testing, and rollout to a celebratory reception at Carruthers Hall. 

The successful launch of ExpenseUVA is definitely a reason to celebrate.  The system streamlines and automates a labor-intensive and paper-based process, and reduces the amount of time it takes to receive reimbursement, which is great!  Beyond those benefits, though, we sought to celebrate and honor the collective effort given by people from all roles, all over Grounds, to make this rollout successful. 

  We could not have succeeded in this launch without the guidance, feedback, and unflagging support of our Ambassadors, the Core Team, Associate Deans, unit chief operating officers, the Organizational Excellence team, and finance professionals across Grounds.  There were bumps along the road, and the process wasn’t easy, but you stuck with us, and we are very thankful.  

ExpenseUVA is just a case in point of how our colleagues from all across UVA support us with their guidance and feedback.  As we work to deliver excellent service and improve the processes that affect you, it is great to know we can rely on your partnership.

In the coming months, we will continue work to deliver new functionality and improved processes and services (more on ResearchUVA’s major launch of the electronic Proposal Routing Form to come!) throughout UVAFinance.

Once more, thank you all for joining us in this massive work of collaboration.  Our work is not complete – we will continue to improve the system to solve the challenges you face in the field.  We invite you to keep the conversation going – I look forward to what we will achieve in the next fiscal year.

PS:  ExpenseUVA training is available online and on demand!  Access it and other helpful materials (including the database of all Ambassadors, who are ExpenseUVA experts in your area) here!

Stay Up to Date with Travel & Expense

Check out the monthly Travel and Expense newsletter!

Did you know that the Travel and Expense teams put out a monthly e-newsletter full of tips and tricks on how to use the TravelUVA and ExpenseUVA systems, savings opportunities, events, and more?

UVAFinance welcomes new Assistant Vice President of Financial Operations

Jerry Burke likes to build things: new crown molding in his son’s house, a new deck and fence for his own home. He enjoys the work he puts in crafting these projects, and seeing the resulting transformation once the job is complete.

As the new Assistant Vice President for Financial Operations in UVAFinance, Burke will be in charge of building a robust and modern internal controls system and transforming core business practices at the University.

The AVP for Financial Operations itself represents a transformation; during a late-2016 search for a new Controller, UVAFinance leadership and the search team realized that the process and system changes coming up were going to require something slightly different than the traditional role entailed.

In this new role, Burke has oversight of accounting, financial reporting, procurement, payroll, and tax and accounts receivable. The alignment of these functions will allow for more responsive service to UVAFinance stakeholders, and allow UVAFinance to tackle upcoming changes with more speed and ease.

Most recently the Chief Financial Officer at Bloomberg Tradebook and Bloomberg Capital Markets, Burke brings deep experience in financial operations, internal controls and financial reporting. He has implemented financial systems and led a chart of accounts redesign, both of which will be required in UVAFinance in the near future. A new internal control framework, standardized and documented business practices, migration of payroll to Ufirst, and, inevitably, a new finance system are also on the horizon for UVAFinance.

“Jerry’s background and skillset will allow him to lead this change,” said Melody Bianchetto, Vice President for Finance.

“He has the specialized knowledge necessary to ensure success; he can help us handle the changes that are coming while keeping us on track with our mission and core values,” she said.

With a 30 year career in financial services based in Manhattan, Burke’s choice to work in academia in Charlottesville might seem potentially jarring, but he is philosophical about it.

First, he points out that he commuted to his work in the city, while he and his wife lived in small-town New Jersey, bringing up three children, now grown.

As for the shift from business to academics, he said, “This is a unique opportunity for me to leverage 80 to 90% of my background while working on subject matter that’s completely different.”

“It’s sort of like being a carpenter who builds houses, but one day you wake up and decide to make fine furniture. You can leverage a lot of your skills and do something new that interests you. UVA’s mission is something I want to be a part of.”

Burke looks forward to working collaboratively with University and school financial leaders, as well as those in financial roles at the UVA Medical Center, UVA’s College at Wise, and our affiliated foundations.

Building partnerships across the University will be a big priority for Burke: “We want to make sure we’re providing people with the information they need to make decisions and understand trends, and help them forecast the future as accurately as possible,” he said.

“We’re all part of the same team,” he commented.

“I look forward to building up our team and moving us forward quickly and intelligently during a period of many changes.”

UVAFinance Brand and Communications Resources Available!

Beasley finds happy homes for unclaimed payments

Not everyone at UVA knows who Laverne Beasley is, but those who do, know that a call from her could mean good news.

Beasley works in accounts receivable in UVAFinance, handling all of the payments that come into Bank of America for the university: payments to sponsored programs, UVA Press, Student Financial Services, and all of the state to state payments, just to name a few. In the course of a year, she receives and books over $2 billion each year . . . and sometimes, the money comes in with no indication of to whom it belongs, and that’s when Beasley starts researching.

Laverne Beasley of Accounts Receivable

Sometimes the confusion is on the part of the sender of the money. Beasley says wires can get sent to the wrong place, and there can be confusion over all the different UVA accounts. But sometimes, she says, the transfers arrive with no direction on where to apply it. On the day of this interview, Beasley was holding a $20,000 payment in a suspended account as she worked to find its owner.

“You might think people would be looking for their money,” Beasley laughed, “but I do have to call around. Sometimes people in the schools will know the money is coming, but they’re not sure exactly how much it will be. It’s my job to find out where the money belongs.”

Beasley doesn’t mind doing the investigative work it can take to properly allocate payments. Over the course of her 20 year career, she’s enjoyed talking to people all over Grounds and having great conversations.

“When I go to events like UVAForward and introduce myself, people will say, ‘oh, so you’re Laverne Beasley!” she said.

Beasley says the advent of QlikView has made her job easier, and she anticipates it getting even better once accounts receivable is in UBI. She has seen several changes since she came to UVA in 1997, and overall she has enjoyed working with people, especially when she locates a payment that belongs to them.

“It’s funny,” she said. “Now when I call someone on the phone and say ‘this is Laverne,’ the first thing they say is, ‘hi Laverne, do you have money for me?’”

UVAFinance Softball Team builds collaboration on and off the field

Think about the last “team-building” exercise you took part in. Hopefully it didn’t involve any “trust falls,” but even if it didn’t, it probably wasn’t as fun as playing softball with your colleagues on a lovely summer evening.

This is the second summer that UVAFinance has had a softball team available for staff and their families. The team, originally called the “Carruthers Crushers,” was formed last year in Student Financial Services (SFS) to take part in UVA’s summer Faculty and Staff league.

“We had a blast in the Faculty and Staff league,” said Xavier Wiltbank, an application and systems analyst and programmer in SFS and team organizer.

The Carruthers Crushers (crushing it!)

Wiltbank and his SFS teammates soon realized that with the growing number of people from UVAFinance who were interested in playing, it might be easier, and less intimidating for all, if they removed some of the competition and rules that came with league play and just formed a league of their own.

That’s exactly what they did, and this summer’s UVAFinance team plays in a very relaxed environment, usually one night a week on Copeley Field. Staff members of all skill levels come out to play, often bringing family members. Some just come to cheer their colleagues on.

For Danielle Hancock, Training and Development Specialist in Outreach and Compliance, the best part of playing on the team has been getting to know her colleagues.

“There are so many people I don’t work with regularly,” she said, “but I get to know them on the softball field, and we’re smiling and laughing the whole time.”

Participation on the team spans all departments within UVAFinance. Wiltbank says a group of 30 people from all departments regularly take part in the (mostly) weekly games. Players also represent all ages and all skill levels.

Email Xavier Wiltbank if you'd like more information.

“We have people who’ve never played before, and people who used to play in school. We’re not really looking for players of any particular skill level; we just want people to come join us and enjoy themselves,” said Wiltbank.

For an organization made up of many departments, softball has been a fun, team-building endeavor – a great way to open up channels across departments.

“Work is work,” said Wiltbank, adding, “but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy yourself while you’re doing it, and playing a game of softball together helps build relationships to make work more enjoyable.”

New Senior Accountant in Sponsored Programs Post Award

Danial Weinstein has joined the team in Sponsored Programs as a Senior Accountant in Post Award. In this role, he will be the lead for the non-School of Medicine Post Award Financial Management Team, and will manage his own portfolio of awards for the School of Engineering.

Weinstein recently joined OSP

Weinstein has worked with the Defense Contract Audit Agency in Los Angeles for the past eight years. He has performed multiple audits of federal contracts and is familiar with regulations, policies and procedures applicable to those contracts. He has a BS in Business Administration as well as a Level 2 Department of Defense Financial Management Certification.

“This role is an opportunity for me to grow professionally. The world of contract auditing is highly specific, and while it’s very interesting, it doesn’t lend itself to much accounting experience,” said Weinstein, adding that his roots in small-town central Florida had him looking for opportunities in smaller cities.

Weinstein looks forward to helping shape the positive structural and cultural changes ongoing in Sponsored Programs.

In his spare time, he enjoys playing baseball and softball and volunteering as a Little League umpire, in addition to reading and experimenting in the kitchen.

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Celebrating the Achievements of Sponsored Programs Staff

The University Industry Demonstration Partnership (UIDP) recently announced the election of   board members. Among them was Elizabeth Adams, Assistant Vice President for Research Administration at UVA, who was re-elected to her role as University Director. The UIDP is comprised of approximately 150 members from premier innovation companies and the world’s best research universities. The group supports mutually beneficial collaborations between academia and industry, developing strategies for addressing common issues between the two sectors and developing synergy and innovation between universities and companies. As a board member, Adams works with other members of the UIDP leadership team to address challenges impacting research collaboration and help develop new approaches for industry and academia to work together.

Read more about UIDP at www.uidp.org



Urmila Bajaj, Director of Post Award, was recently recognized by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for her excellent work in preparing UVA’s response to the FY 2016 Higher Education Research and Development Survey. Information submitted in response to the survey becomes part of NSF’s statistics on research and development expenditures in 40 fields. NSF routinely provides these statistics to federal, state, and academic decision makers. John Gawalt, Director of the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics within the NSF, lauded Bajaj and her team for the significant amount of effort that went into providing the information requested on the survey.

To see previous years’ survey results as well as a variety of other science and engineering statistics, visit www.nsf.gov/statistics