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To: All staff and faculty
April 15, 2024
Dear UC Merced Faculty and Staff,
We are pleased to report on the progress of the Financial Management and Reporting Task Force, which was formed in October 2023 to improve financial management and reporting at UC Merced. The task force and associated working groups have been meeting weekly throughout the spring, forming important cross-divisional collaborations to address identified challenges with deep faculty participation and feedback. The establishment of the task force as well as the working groups facilitated communication between faculty, staff and administration as well as communication across divisions. While important work remains, we wish to update you on progress in key areas.
People
Hiring and backfill of financial support resources in the schools continues at a brisk pace. These key support positions are foundational to ongoing improvements.
- SSHA: Job offers have been extended to two department managers, three departmental specialists, and one financial analyst.
- SNS: Successfully hired two department specialists, one financial analyst and is searching for a department manager.
- SOE: Successfully hired one department manager, two department specialists, and one financial analyst.
Financial Systems Project Coordinators: The Office of Information Technology has hired a contract project manager to work with the task force throughout the spring to continue the delivery of short-term improvements. Additionally, a permanent Enterprise Systems Project Manager has been hired to coordinate ongoing and longer-term improvements to Oracle and other key enterprise systems.
Processes
- A cross-divisional engagement with DFA, ORED, OIT, and Academic Affairs will take place over the coming weeks to streamline and standardize the procurement process.
- Report Delivery: Efforts are underway to streamline and standardize financial reports delivered to faculty and to develop a standard training curriculum for fund managers. Financial reports are now being delivered monthly to faculty in the School of Engineering, with other schools to follow.
- Streamlining of financial reporting updates/communication to fund managers.
- Summer compensation: The task force has conducted an analysis and determined that approximately 33% of faculty received late summer salary payments last year. Metrics to track improvement of this critical function have been developed and improvements are underway.
Technology
Procurement - OIT and DFA have collaborated to develop significant improvements to the CBS2 General Purchasing form, dramatically simplifying the entry of chart strings. These changes will go live in the coming weeks.
Concur enhancements:
- IDC - changes to enable the proper categorization and tracking of indirect cost eligibility are underway and will be released in the coming weeks.
- Additional Fields – enhancements to the integration between Oracle and Concur are underway to automatically import and populate critical fields for project expenses (traveler’s name, date, expense type, etc.)
- Concur – Integration of PIs into the approval process and the inclusion of fund managers at the allocation level to minimize the necessity for approvals to be forwarded to the correct department.
While these improvements are significant and should make a meaningful difference to the lived experience of faculty, the task force acknowledges that significant challenges remain and there is much more work to be done. To ensure that progress continues, cross-divisional lines of communication remain open, and faculty consultation remains a priority, the task force is working on transition activities to ensure institutional structures exist for ongoing continuous improvement to the campus financial system. The task force plans to publish a report this summer detailing actions taken, recommendations for additional improvements, and detailing ongoing support and governance structures to carry this work forward.
We are committed to working together to find solutions that will benefit the campus community. We thank you for your patience, understanding, and support.
Sincerely,
Gillian Wilson
Task Force Co-Chair
Vice Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Economic Development
Professor, Physics, School of Natural Sciences
Shilpa Khatri
Task Force Co-Chair
At-Large DivCo Member
Associate Professor, Applied Mathematics, School of Natural Sciences
Charlie Eaton
AFAC Chair and DivCo Member
Associate Professor, Sociology, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts
Kara McCloskey
At-Large DivCo Member
Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, School of Engineering
Tao Ye
COR Chair and DivCo Member
Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry, School of Natural Sciences
Matthew Hibbing
Chair of the Academic Senate, Ex-Officio Member of the Task Force
Associate Professor, Political Science, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts
Elizabeth Dumont
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences, School of Natural Sciences
Nick Dugan
Vice Chancellor for Office of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer
Kurt Schnier
Vice Chancellor for the Division of Finance and Administration and Chief Financial Officer
Professor, Economics, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts
Molly Elazier
Staff Assembly Representative
Executive Assistant to the Chancellor
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