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Schedule-at-a-Glance

  

Concurrent Sessions V | May 2 | 2:15 PM – 3:30 PM MT 

Sharing the Gift of Higher Education – A Case Study on the Acquisition of Sierra Nevada University by the University of Nevada, Reno
Eligible for 1.5 Management Services CPE Credits

During FY 22, the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), a public R-1 Comprehensive university, undertook the acquisition of Sierra Nevada University (SNU), a small private liberal arts institution. A cross-functional executive team made up of both CFO’s, the UNR Provost and the SNU Chief Academic Officer brought the transaction from concept to completion in under 12 months. As these types of acquisitions become more common nationwide, the executive transition team would like to share its lessons learned and perspective from both the acquiring and the acquired institution.

  1. Describe the successes and roadblocks for the institution, students, faculty, and staff of this transaction. 
  2. Define the pillars of this acquisition as a model to develop institutional toolkits for organizations considering a similar approach. 
  3. Outline the steps taken for a successful "close out” and acquisition of the acquired institution.
Vic Redding, Vice President of Administration & Finance, University of Nevada, Reno
Vic Redding was appointed Vice President of Administration and Finance in September 2017. He oversees a wide variety of administrative and financial functions at the university, including Business and Finance, Planning/Budget and Analysis, Human Resources, Facilities Services, Real Estate, and Police Services. Redding served over 12 years in the Chancellor’s Office of the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE), including five years as Vice Chancellor of Finance. He oversaw a variety of functions in areas of fiscal policy, budgeting and financial reporting, as well as the day to day operations of the NSHE Risk Management Office, Banking and Investment Office, and Internal Audit. Redding was appointed by Governor Brian Sandoval in February 2012 thru September 2017 as a Nevada Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education (WICHE) commissioner. In this role, he oversaw the operations of the Nevada WICHE office and represented the state on a variety of higher education issues.
Dr. Jill S. Heaton, Senior Vice Provost, University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe
Dr. Heaton has been at the University of Nevada, Reno since 2004. She is a Professor of Geography and has held numerous administrative positions at the University, including Geography Graduate Program Director, Geography Department Chair, University Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, and currently serves as the University Senior Vice Provost. At the request of the Sierra Nevada University Board of Trustees, and under a shared services agreement between UNR and SNU, she served as SNUs Executive Vice President and Provost during the acquisition year (2021-2022). She remains the Executive at this new UNR location – the University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe.


Susan Johnson, Assoc. V.P. Finance and Administration, University Nevada, Reno
Susan Johnson is currently serving has the President of Sierra Nevada University (SNU) leading the institution through the historic acquisition by UNR. In this role, she collaborated with the SNU Board of Trustees evaluating options to maintain a vibrant institution of higher education in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Joining forces with a growing, public, university was the best option to bring additional student, programs and resources to this campus and provide best pathways for SNU students and employees. Under her leadership, this year-long transition has been the University’s most complex accomplishment for the organization, its students, faculty, and staff. In addition to the role as President, Susan served in a dual role as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer for SNU since March 2013. As Vice President she is a member of the College’s senior cabinet and the management representative on the Finance and Strategy Committee and Audit Committee of the Board of Trustees.
Dr. Jeffrey Thompson, Executive Vice President & Provost, University of Nevada, Reno
Dr. Thompson has served as Executive Vice President and Provost of the University of Nevada, Reno since December 2020. His service at the University of Nevada, Reno spans more than 30 years. Prior to becoming Provost, he was Dean of the College of Science for more than a decade. He joined the faculty of the Department of Physics at the University in 1991, at which time he started a research laboratory in atomic and molecular physics. He served as Chair of the Department of Physics and Associate Dean of the College of Science prior to becoming Dean of the College of Science in 2008.Dr. Thompson is a graduate of UCLA, where he received a bachelor of science degree in physics. He received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Tennessee.

Carbon Reduction for the Business Officer
Eligible for 1.5 Specialized Knowledge CPE Credits

Talk to help financial leaders evaluate projects/programs that lead to decarbonization on campus: what to focus on - carbon, electricity, gas, peak energy use, capital, and operating costs, alternative good questions to ask the engineers and planners. Synergy with other projects, especially district energy plans, water conservation. Funding Mechanisms including utility rebates, carbon offset avoidance, Inflation Reduction Act, Bond, Sinking, On Bill UCSF examples

  1. Describe the costs and benefits of carbon reduction projects
  2. Identify which questions to ask facilities/utilities staff about carbon reduction opportunities 
  3. Identify potential funding mechanisms for carbon reduction projects
Dr. Benjamin Levie, Campus Energy Manager, University of California, San Francisco
Benjamin Levie has been working in the energy field in research, industry, utilities, and facilities. He has a PE license and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Colorado. As the Campus Energy Manager at UCSF he and his team are committed to reducing energy consumption, carbon generation, and energy costs while maintaining comfortable, smart, and resilient buildings. His team works within Engineering and Facilities and closely with Facility Infrastructure Needs, Real Estate, Sustainability, and Planning. The team develops large projects and implements programs to meet the University’s goals and Statewide decarbonization targets.


John Packard Rosendo, Energy Analyst, University of California, San Francisco
John has worked in energy management for the last 10 years and currently works in Facilities Services at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF).  He focuses on energy efficiency projects, clean energy procurement, on-site renewables, financial forecasting and works closely with utility vendors. John manages UCSF’s Strategic Energy Partnership (SEP) program, a partnership between UC and PG&E, which provides funding and enhanced utility incentives for energy and water conservation projects. He serves on the Carbon Offset Taskforce, Cap and Trade Steering Committee, UC Technical Committee and is co-chair of UCSF’s Climate Change Working Group. Prior to UCSF, John worked at CLEAResult, an energy consulting firm, where he worked with medium to large commercial customers to identify and implement energy efficiency projects.

The Art of Working with Faculty: Communication, Translation, and Collaboration
Eligible for 1.5 Personal Development CPE Credits

The art of working with faculty is learned experientially and with little to no formal guidance. This session will examine common points of friction between faculty and business officers, explore the role of shared governance in campus decision-making, and crowd-sourced examples and strategies for effective collaboration.

  1. Examine potential points of friction in faculty-business officer interactions  
  2. Discuss the role of faculty and shared governance in campus decision-making
  3. Describe ways in which business officers can more effectively collaborate with faculty  
  4. Develop communication skills to employ in the future when working with faculty
Jeffrey Ratje, Associate Vice President, Finance & Administration, University of Arizona
Jeff is the Associate Vice President, Finance, Administration and Operations for the division of Agriculture, Life and Veterinary Sciences, and Cooperative Extension at the University of Arizona in Tucson. His portfolio of responsibilities includes the financial and operational oversight of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cooperative Extension, and Arizona Experiment Station, HR functions for 1,500 employees, legal and real estate affairs, and the strategic integration of the land grant mission, which has a physical presence in each county.Prior to the division, Jeffrey held positions with University of Arizona Sponsored Projects Services, Budget Office, and Rogers College of Law. He is a Flinn-Brown Civic Leadership Fellow, NACUBO Rising Star recipient, and past gubernatorial appointee to the state’s 529 college savings plan. Jeffrey holds an MPA in Public Finance and a BS in Business Administration from the Eller College at University of Arizona. He is a proud community college graduate from Eastern Arizona College.
Dr. Melanie Hingle, Associate Professor, University of Arizona
Dr. Hingle is a community-engaged nutrition scientist, public health researcher, and Registered Dietitian Nutritionist who conducts her work at the intersection of nutritional sciences research and public health practice, where she develops and delivers practical community-based programs to help people prevent and manage diet-sensitive diseases. Dr. Hingle recently concluded her term as Vice Chair of the Faculty, an elected position representing more than 3,500 faculty at University of Arizona. She is currently leading University of Arizona's bid for recognition as a Community-Engaged University by the Carnegie Foundation for Advancement of Teaching, and serves in a formal advisory role to the Dean of the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences on strategic initiatives and implementation.

Anti-Racism in Business and Finance -- What Does That Mean and What Can You Do?
Eligible for 1.5 Personnel/Human Resources CPE Credits

Most Universities have diversity and inclusion offices and programs, but what does it mean to be anti-racist? How can a University make a conscious effort to lift racism out of its business and finance organization? Learn how UCSF is at the beginning steps of dismantling racist policies, processes, and norms so that you can consider taking this journey, too. This session is tailored to business officers and others working in University business and finance divisions, including auxiliaries, police, facilities, IT, etc.

  1. Understand how to take your diversity and inclusion programs to the next level by challenging what everyone in your organization knows about the history of racism in the United States. 
  2. Understand examples of racist policies that might exist in US universities or organizations.
  3. Organize a process or workshop to identify racism and non-inclusive policies and practices in your organization. 
  4. Establish anti-racist and inclusive policy and procedure making processes so that your organization moves into best practices for setting up new policies and practices.
Jon Giacomi, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Facilities Services, University of California, San Francisco 
Jon Giacomi is the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Facilities Services at the University of California, San Francisco. Jon leads a diverse professional team of 420 engineers, custodians, landscapers, facility managers, fire inspectors, access controls technicians, project managers, and a variety of other specialties. Jon has been with the University of California for over 35 years working in Athletics/Recreation, Housing/Dining, and the UC President's Office. Most recently, Jon has served as the UCSF COVID-19 Recovery Director and on special assignment helping lead UC's systemwide insourcing efforts for the VP-Human Resources. Jon is also the inaugural co-chair of the UCSF Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility and Anti-Racism Steering Committee for the business and finance division of UCSF.
Ailene Estalilla, Chief of Staff, University of California, San Francisco 
Ailene Estalilla is a connector, advocate and strategist, working in the academic healthcare industry for over 10 years. In her current role as Chief of Staff and Director of Compliance for the UCSF Police Department, Ailene executes on strategic, operational and cultural agendas calling for considerable changes in policing and public safety for UCSF. As a part of the leadership team, her most important objective is shaping a healthy, engaging, inclusive and high performing culture. She provides counsel and advice to the Chief of Police and senior leadership on objectives and initiatives that affect Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. In 2021, Ailene led the inaugural Vendor Diversity Event for UCSF Real Estate, with over 100 small businesses in attendance, laying a foundation for Real Estate’s commitment to their current supplier diversity program. She is the co-chair of the UCSF Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility and Anti-Racism Steering Committee for the business and finance division of UCSF.

Clear for Takeoff: Pre-Approved Travel & Expense Help Gonzaga University Continue its Winning Ways
Eligible for 1.5 Management Services CPE Credits

When your institution’s staff must request approval in advance for travel or virtually any expense reimbursement, you gain more than policy and budget compliance before the expense takes place.

Every trip, every spend should begin with a request. All your staff needs to do is ask. It’s how you enforce policy and gain visibility to expenses before they are incurred. It’s where you get the details before deciding on an approval, and it’s how you stay on top of travel and duty of care, because you know where your staff is going before they get there.

When Gonzaga University decided to make their entire T&E program paperless and automate workflows and approvals that integrate with their ERP and other solutions, they truly became a connected campus. Travel request was only the beginning. Nearly any expense-incurring and accounts payable process that required approval was made more efficient so they could centralize spending requests and gain visibility. Hear Gonzaga share their story of automation and compliance.

  1. Identify the benefits of pre-approval of travel and expense reimbursement.
  2. Describe the Gonzaga University model for automation and compliance.
  3. Explain how to integrate travel and expense reimbursement with the ERP.

Zeb Klemke, Accounts Payable and Travel Services Manager, Controller’s Office, Gonzaga University 

Zeb Klemke has over 8 years of experience working in higher education in roles supporting finance and travel.  He currently serves as the Accounts Payable and Travel Services Manager at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington.  Zeb’s prior roles include being the Director of Business Operations for the Gonzaga Athletic Department, Credit Card & Concur Systems Administrator at Gonzaga, and Athletics Business Manager at Eastern Washington University.

Having held positions at both a private institution and public institution, as well as his experience within athletic departments, Zeb possesses a unique perspective regarding processes, travel, and budgeting in diverse organizational settings. He holds an MBA from Eastern Washington University, a BA in Business from EWU, and is currently outlining and preparing for his dissertation research as a student in Gonzaga’s Doctoral Program in Leadership Studies. His current dissertation topic seeks to investigate how the hybridization of work schedules and models affect a company’s organizational culture.

Jason Grunin, Principal Value Experience Consultant, SAP Concur 

Jason Grunin is a Principal Value Delivery Consultant within the Global Value Enablement, Value Experience team with a focus on Public Sector, Government Contracting and Higher Education customers. In this role, Jason assists customers by creating and delivering value-based engagements to help recognize opportunities for optimization and program growth. By mapping business outcomes to solutions, Jason helps organizations discover areas to improve management of employee initiated spend.

Prior to his role at SAP Concur, he served as an Assistant Vice President and Director of Business and Energy at a university in Tulsa, OK. His background includes information technology, travel management, finance, and energy sustainability. With a history of higher education for the last eight years, Jason managed several areas including Accounts Payable Automation (single use accounts, digitization of invoices, single use accounts, tax exemptions), Procurement (contracts, supplier management, travel programs) and Reporting. Prior to that, he worked in cybersecurity for the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.

Outside of the office, Jason, his wife Mary, their daughter Kathleen, and their dog, Jack (an English springer spaniel) are residents of Tulsa, Oklahoma.  They enjoy cycling, skiing and outdoor activities. In addition, they are avid travelers and try to spend time exploring new places!

Presented by SAP Concur

Integrated Resource and Budget Planning at UNLV and Northern Arizona University
Eligible for 1.5 Finance CPE Credits

How can your institution better leverage data to develop operational plans and long-term institutional strategies? Northern Arizona University embarked on its digital journey to improve the university’s budget process to enhance the transparency, accuracy, and efficiency of its budgeting and planning process. Join this presentation to learn how you can help your institution enable agile planning and improve data-driven decision-making.

  1. Leverage technology to optimize resource allocation and provide more timely, useful budget information to the university community and its constituents.
  2. Identify best practices to connect people, data, and plans across your college to drive better and faster, consensus-driven decision-making.
  3. Describe methodologies and training techniques to implement new tools and processes across your institution.
Jean Vock, Senior Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer, University of Nevada, Las Vegas 

Jean M. Vock, appointed senior vice president for Business Affairs and chief financial officer (CFO) in September 2017, directs the division that provides the business, financial, operational, planning, and physical infrastructure that undergird UNLV’s academic, research, and service mission. She is committed to serving as a collaborative partner with our campus, ensuring efficient, effective and responsive service to meet campus requirements, and ensuring that the institution maintains sound business practices and fiscal responsibility.

Ms. Vock has more than 30 years of leadership experience in higher education. She previously held both central administrative and college administration positions at University of Arizona, including chief financial officer for two academic colleges and assistant comptroller. Prior to her time in higher education, she worked for the State of Arizona and the defense industry in the financial, compliance, internal, and corporate auditing departments.

Alisa Badenhorst, Senior Budget Administrator, Northern Arizona University
Alisa Badenhorst has spent her 20+ year career in administration and financial management within academic and financial entities. She is a Budget Administrator, Senior at NAU. She has a Masters of Administration with an emphasis in Project Management for Northern Arizona University and Bachelors of Business Administration for the University of Arizona. Her most recent project was to implement a new Planning and Budgeting system at NAU. When not hard at work she enjoys spending time with her family.



Russ Owen, Director Higher Education, TruEd Consulting 
Russ is a Director at TruEd Consulting. Prior to joining TruEd, Russ held a variety of positions including Executive Director of Finance and Budget at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Implementation Consultant at Kaufman Hall, and Mayor of New Smyrna Beach. His duties surrounded all aspects of annual revenue and expense budgeting, long range planning, capital planning, and executive reporting in a multi-campus environment and the implementation of budgeting and planning software for other higher education clients. As Mayor, he also provided executive leadership for a team of 300 employees in a community of 30,000 citizens. Russ has more than four years of consulting experience in higher education, including work with the University of Alabama, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Emory University, Capital University, and University of South Florida. His use cases include annual budgeting, long range planning, capital planning, and management reporting. His additional industry experience includes software, personal finance, and the public sector. Russ holds a B.S. in Business Administration and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Central Florida. Russell was also the 2022 Young Government Officer of the Year.
Aneka York, Enterprise Account Executive, Public Sector, Anaplan 

Aneka York is an accomplished sales professional with over 25 years of experience in consultative sales within the State, Local, and Education (SLED) sector. A proud native of New Mexico, Aneka is a graduate of the University of New Mexico, where she received her degree in Mass Communications.

Currently, Aneka is leveraging her expertise as a Senior Account Executive at Anaplan, where she is responsible for driving revenue growth and expanding the company's footprint in the SLED market. Aneka has a proven track record of success and passion for delivering exceptional results.

 

Presented by TruEd Consulting