Welcome to In Focus!

The University of Missouri System
Finance & Administration quarterly newsletter 

One critical aspect of Finance & Administration’s strategic focus is providing exceptional Client Centered Services. We view our clients’ needs as the guide in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the work we do in all divisions. Working collaboratively with the campuses, we strive to be innovative providers of value-added financial and administrative services and to support each campus in achieving its goals.

In this edition of InFocus, read how this objective focuses us to provide better services (like the Event Checklist provided by RIM) , stronger external partnerships (see how MBD connects campus needs with local businesses), and keeps employees well trained and well informed. In these ways, we strive to maximize the financial and physical capacity of the University in support of its mission.

• Spotlight on Minority Business Development – Supplier diversity is part of the overall diversity initiative of the University, and coordinating this program is the department of Minority Business Development. This department epitomizes a client centered philosophy through its interactions with the public. Read more about the many initiatives this department is working on to foster the diversity of the University.
• Account-Ability – “To HAVE or to WITHHOLD” – If you’ve had a lifestyle or income change this year, now is the best time to take a look at your Income Tax withholding amounts to make sure they are what you are expecting when you begin to complete your tax forms next year. Find the links and forms to use in the Account-Ability article!
• Risky Business – “Event Checklists–Are you Covered?” – Whether for special occasion or field trips, thorough pre-planning can make or break your event. RIM has put together checklists to assist with many of those behind the scene needs – including Insurance Coverage. Check out the checklists and make sure you are covered
• On the Drawing Board – “Building Safety into the University Construction” – The welfare of the University clients – students, faculty, staff, and visitors – is paramount to any construction project. From the planning to ribbon cutting, strict codes and guidelines are followed through each part of the process. Read more about the many different aspects to building our buildings!
• Compliance Corner – “Financial Compliance Training – New Sessions Available!” – Attention departmental Administrators, Fiscal Officers, Research Administrators, and Principal Investigators! If you do fund accounting or cost sharing, these training sessions might be just what you’re looking for!

The goal of the newsletter is to enhance our customer service by providing information that will support the work that you do for the university.  As always, we welcome your feedback and your contributions.

- Natalie "Nikki" Krawitz
  Vice President for Finance & Administration

Spotlight

Minority Business Development

Jacqueline Hall Kelly, Ph.D., Director of Minority Business Development

In corporate America, supplier diversity has become a business imperative. Diverse suppliers add value by providing solutions to business issues at competitive prices, while simultaneously providing quality service; bring innovative thinking to the table; partner with large corporations on global strategies and in making global connections, and provide a direct link to multicultural consumers and their communities. In short, supplier diversity helps firms succeed in the marketplace.

[ read more ]

Wisdom's Corner

Featuring Challenging and Inspiring Thoughts

Contributed by Memoree Bradley, Secretary to the Vice President for Finance & Administration

“Live and work to make a difference, to make things better, even the smallest things. Give full consideration to the rights and interests of others. No business is successful, even if it flourishes, in a society that does not care for or about its people.”

Eugene C. Dorsey, Journalist and Philanthropist

Account-ability

To HAVE or WITHHOLD

Contributed by Brian Sanders. Director of Payroll for the Office of the Controller

Ah, Income Taxes. Although not something most of us think about at this time of the year, this is truly the best time to be taking a look at where you are now so that when it is time to fill out all those forms, you are prepared.

[ read more ]

Risky Business

Event Checklists – Are you covered?

By JoAnne Flowers, Assistant Director of Risk & Insurance Management

Are you planning a Field Trip or Event?  Then RIM has some valuable resources for you.

When planning either activity it’s possible to get caught up in the excitement or the long to–do list.  So for your convenience, we developed tools to assist with the business details.

The Event Checklist was developed to minimize your time handling your event insurance needs and assist in your events success.   For instance, if the event is taking place in a community conference center they may require proof of the University’s insurance.   We can provide evidence of coverage for official University events.  Are you hiring a vendor to provide a service on campus during the event?   University policy requires insurance from them and based on the service we can tell you what kind of insurance and how much is needed.

The Field Trip Guide resource is to aid Faculty and Staff providing an off campus educational/instructional experience. This guide will walk you through planning, transportation, insurance, and claim challenges.

The Event Checklist and Field Trip Guide are available on our website. Please check them out!

On the Drawing Board!

Building Safety into University Construction

By David Sheahen, Director for Facilities Planning & Development

The columns on the MU Francis Quadrangle are a testimony to the hazards of man-made shelters. On January 9, 1892, Academic Hall fell victim to a disastrous fire, rumored to have been caused by the first electric light bulb west of the Mississippi River. Early buildings materials were primarily natural products such as wood that burns or unreinforced stone and bricks that can become laterally unstable if not braced. Large scale fires were all too frequent during the era of the Academic Building fire, and these fires and loss of life led the development of fire safety codes and laws that have led to our modern codes.

[ read more ]

Compliance Corner

Financial Compliance Training – New Sessions Available!

By Ericka Kranitz, Director of Financial Compliance Training

Our new sessions include:

• Fund Accounting for Governmental Organizations – This session provides an overview of the basics of fund accounting and its impact at the University.  This includes an overview of the University’s fund groups, the activities allowed within these funds, and the related restrictions.  Anyone processing financial transactions will find this information beneficial in daily processing.
• Cost Sharing for Sponsored Programs – This session covers the fiscal compliance requirements related to cost sharing and the common issues and risks routinely encountered.  The concepts from several other sponsored program compliance sessions are reinforced and directly relate to this session.
• Entering, Approving, and Reconciling Payroll – This is an online training program for anyone involved in entering, approving, reconciling and reviewing payroll transactions.  The training explains the control steps for those who are involved with payroll for their department.  The training is available on the Financial Compliance Training website under Training à Online (will need to log in with your pawprint and password).

Our other financial compliance training sessions available include:

• Principal Investigator Roles and Responsibilities – This provides an overview of the responsibilities of the principal investigator related to the sponsored programs’ process. This session is most effective with individual departments.
• Allowability – This session discusses whether certain costs can or cannot be charged to sponsored awards.
• Cost Transfers – This sessions covers the requirements for various types of cost transfers, including payroll correcting entries.
• Effort Reporting – This session covers the process for the semi-annual effort reporting and related compliance requirements.

Please contact Ericka F. Kranitz, kranitze@umsystem.edu, 573.882.3039 directly to schedule any of the above sessions for your unit.

News & Updates

Finance and Administration

Retirement Announcement

By Memoree Bradley, Secretary to the Vice President of Finance & Administration

In appreciation of his years of 20 years of service to the University of Missouri, a retirement reception for Associate Vice President Larry C. Gates is planned for Friday, October 16th in the Fireplace Room of the Old Alumni Center.

Please join us in thanking Larry for his many contributions to the University and wish him well as he prepares for his retirement.

Office of the Controller

TRIP (Travel Reimbursement Implementation Project)

By Bobbi Walker, Financial Systems Principal and project/Functional Lead for the Expense a.k.a. TRIP Project

Significant progress has been made over the last 2 months with the setup of the TRIP/PeopleSoft 9.0 Expense Module.

Officially called the PeopleSoft 9.0 Expense Module Implementation, it is Phase 1 of a larger Travel Management Reengineering Initiative headed up by Steve Mack, Director of Procurement Services, which will in later phases address travel-related policies, combining PCard and Travel Card, capturing detailed travel data, and implementation of an online booking tool.  Phase 1 will result in all University employee travel expense reimbursement processes migrating to the PeopleSoft 9.0 Expense module, which will enhance tracking and reporting capabilities for travel expenses. 

In September, UM engaged a consultant to ensure the PeopleSoft initial setup and configuration is correct and to assist with a few hurdles which were encountered.  The consultant worked with the functional and technical members of the Core Project Team for a week onsite in September and continues working with the team remotely.

Stay tuned for your training in this new travel reimbursement module as each campus will be communicating roll out plans and training opportunities as they are developed.  You can view project documents and follow the team’s progress at the following web site:   TRIP Website .

New Assistant Controller

By Jane Closterman, Controller

Please welcome Thomas “Tom” Richards to our division as the Assistant Controller, Financial Reporting and Taxation in the Controller’s Office.

Tom comes to us from Landmark Bank in Columbia where he most recently served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for the past 2 years and prior roles of Treasurer and Controller over a ten-year span at Landmark Bank.  Previous experience includes 3 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers as Manager and Senior Associate in the Business Assurance Practice and 3 years as Senior Associate in the Audit Services division of KPMG Peat Marwick in Indianapolis, Indiana.  Tom holds a Bachelor of General Studies in Accounting and Organizational Behavior and is a certified public accountant.  Tom is very active in the Columbia community and currently serves as President of the Board of Trustees at the Columbia Public Library and President of the Board of Trustees of the Daniel Boone Regional Library.  Tom brings solid leadership and management skills to his new position and will be a valuable asset to the Controller’s Office and the University.

Office of Planning & Budget / Facilities Planning & Development

Saving the Green – Going Green

By Cuba Plain, Assistant Vice President for Planning & Budget

In an effort to reduce costs and Go Green, the offices of Planning & Budget and Facilities Planning & Development are limiting the number of printed copies of the 2011 Appropriations Request for Operations , FY09 UM System Operating Budget , and the 2011 State Capital Appropriations Request .   These documents will continue to be available on the department’s websites.

Institutional Research

State and Federal Compliance Reporting

By Bob Mullen, Director of Institutional Research & Planning

Institutional Research & Planning (IR) is gearing up for the next round of state and federal compliance reporting of student enrollment, degrees awarded, faculty/staff headcounts, salaries, finance, and financial aid.  As coordinators of this information from the 4 campuses, hospital, and System, we depend on the collaboration with a wide variety of campus and system staff.  Official enrollment counts will be available sometime in early October and will be posted to our Executive Data Reference section of our website.

The office is also in the midst of coordinating the re-design of several census related data marts (Student and Human Resources) as well as the building of a Census Student Financial Aid data mart.  These efforts are helping to support our compliance reporting as well as providing a wealth of data for ad hoc trend reporting for various system and campus offices.  These data marts also encourage timely, and consistent information retrieval across the UM System.

Procurement Services

Disposal of Technological Devices

By Bill Cooper, Associate Vice President for Management Services

Are you responsible for disposing of an electronic device?  Have you wiped the memory?

Section 701 of the Purchasing Policy Manual entitled Surplus Property – University / Sale / Disposal informs departments of their responsibility to remove all sensitive or harmful components of equipment prior to its transfer to the Surplus Property Section for appropriate disposal.

In years past computers were the main area of focus when it came to protecting sensitive data.  Wiping hard drives was of upmost importance before computers were turned over to surplus property to be sold at auction.  This component of data protection is still critical to ensuring that sensitive information is removed before computers are sold to the public.

However, as new technologies become available for departmental use, care must be taken to ensure that sensitive data is removed from all devices before surplus property completes item pick-up.  Examples of items that need to be wiped clean before public auction include: all computers, cell phones, PDA’s, digital cameras, etc.  Completing a hard reset of cell phones and PDA’s is especially important as sensitive contact, calendar, email and text messaging information could be breached.  Any questions regarding the removal of sensitive data from technological devices can be directed to your campus IT group or to the current service provider (example: Sprint, AT&T, etc).

The above referenced section of the Purchasing Policy Manual as well as Section 308 of the Business Policy Manual will be revised to bring particular attention to the appropriate disposal of these new technological devices.

UM Business Services

Alternative Fuel Vehicles

By Tanya Haeussler, Coordinator for UM Business Services

Do you buy or refuel a University vehicle?  Is it an Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFV)?  University policy BPM-406 – “Vehicles” as well as state law requires:

70% of new state fleet vehicles are to be Alternative Fuel Vehicles

30% of AFV fuel purchased must be alternative fuel

Purchasing 70% AFVs are for “non-exempt” vehicles… or primarily cars and light-duty trucks.  Exempt vehicles include vehicles primarily used off-road, for construction and/or road maintenance, used with transport trailers, regularly transport more than 6 people, criminal law enforcement, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, ambulances, over 8,500 lbs, etc.  The entire list can be seen in BPM-406.

If you’re in the market for a new vehicle, contact your Campus Procurement Manager and they will help you through the process.

If you need to refuel that AFV and don’t know where station is, check out this link to E85 Stations around Missouri.

Hats Off!

The Hats Off program has grown into 2 separate award systems – the Top Hat Awards and the Warm Fuzzy Awards.

The Warm Fuzzy Awards are given by any staff member within Finance & Administration (F & A) to those who have provided Exceptional Customer Service. At the last Quarterly Division Meeting, each F & A staff received “Warm Fuzzies” to give you out – and they have been popping up in many offices and workstations! The process is informal, allowing each staff member to choose the time and method in which to present the award.

The Top Hat Awards are given from “The Top” – Vice President Krawitz presents these awards on a quarterly basis after receiving nominations from her direct reports. Recognizing exemplary work by F & A employees, it is given to those whose performance goes beyond the normal high expectations. The award winner receives an actual top hat to be displayed for that quarter, and a note from Vice President Krawitz recognizing them for their commendable service.

[ Read about the recipients ]

Focus On: Answer

S&T Observatory

By Tanya Haeussler, Assistant Editor for InFocus

The Missouri University of Science and Technology’s observatory was built in 1973. Their 16-inch telescope is located adjacent to the University’s Stonehenge replica on Highway 63 North, north of V.H. McNutt Hall and west of St. Patrick’s Lane.

On Friday, October 23rd at 7:00pm, there will be an Observatory Visitors’ Night, sponsored by S&T Physics Associate Professor Dr. John L. Schmitt. This event is free of charge and no reservations are required. Children are welcome to attend but must be accompanied by an adult.

This year is the International Year of Astronomy as it marks the 400th anniversary of the first astronomical observation through a telescope by Galileo Galilei. This is a global celebration of astronomy and its contributions to society and culture, with a strong emphasis on education, public engagement and the involvement of young people. As one of the oldest fundamental sciences, Astronomy continues to make a profound impact on our culture.