Increasingly complex compliance requirements, the growth of UNMC’s research enterprise and a decade of ever-tightening budget appropriations have stretched campus finance and business capabilities very thin, says Don Leuenberger, UNMC vice chancellor for business and finance.
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Don Leuenberger |
The initiatives are wide-ranging: from implementing new reporting relationships for department and unit administrators to providing programs that will train and counsel personnel who perform business and finance functions.
“Financial stewardship always has been a priority at UNMC, but as our business has changed, the rules and regulations under which we operate have become much more complex,” Leuenberger said. “I think all of the initiatives we are putting in place, under the umbrella of financial stewardship, will allow us to better marshal our talent and utilize our resources.”
Already, the following steps have been taken:
- Development of a Principles of Financial Stewardship policy, which is currently being circulated for adoption;
- New reporting relationships between department and college senior business and finance staff and the office of the vice chancellor for business and finance. Job descriptions have been revised to reflect this. Personnel actions involving such staff, including hiring, will include the vice chancellor’s office;
- New knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA) guidelines have been created to aid colleges and departments in evaluating and hiring staff with finance and/or business responsibilities;
- A new Department Administrative Round Table (DART) has been created for key staff involved in business and finance issues, to aid in communication. That group will be led by Mike McGlade, senior associate dean in the College of Medicine, and Keith Swarts, director of Business Services; and
- A Financial Stewardship Council has been created to advise Leuenberger with regard to promoting financial stewardship values, guiding training and certification programs in major business systems, and assisting in financial and business system assessment and development. Controller Carol Kirchner will lead this group.
Also, teams of senior staff from across campus will form to assess and develop recommendations in the following areas:
- Procurement;
- Information technology;
- Business services;
- Finance;
- Human resources; and
- Core facilities.
These teams will present their findings to Leuenberger and the Financial Stewardship Council. The work of these teams and the council will better UNMC to deal with the budget decisions that result from the state’s current and projected revenue shortfalls.