MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE VICE CHANCELLOR
FROM THE EXECUTIVE VICE CHANCELLOR
The relocation of the Chancellor's Office operations to the new building at 401 Golden Shore was successfully completed over two weekends in April. All local departments are now housed in the same building with the exception of the 4CNet operations group, which remains at the WestEd facility in Los Alamitos. The new main phone number for the Chancellor's Office is (562) 951-4000. The departments of the Business and Finance Division are located as noted below: 5th Floor - Accounting, Budgets, Contract Services and Procurement, Financing and Risk Please note that the telephone numbers for the departments in the new building have been changed and are noted below. A new Chancellor's Office directory is also available via the CSU web page. NEWS FROM THE DIRECTORS
BUDGET OFFICE
1999/2000 CSU Support Budget Request
Legislative hearings on the 1999/2000 Budget continue. No significant changes to the Governor's Budget request have been made pending revised state revenue forecasts due May 14th. One action that has been taken by the Senate subcommittee is to decrease the graduate fee by 5% to match the undergraduate fee reduction implemented in 1998/99. The Senate subcommittee has recommended $4.3 million to offset the revenue loss of this reduction at CSU. It is anticipated that the Governor, Assembly and Senate will make final CSU budget recommendations following the May Revise revenue estimates. It is still expected that the Final Budget will be enacted close to the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1, 1999. Compact II
CSU representatives met every Thursday during the month of April in an attempt to develop an agreement with the Department of Finance and the Secretary of Education on recommendations on a new funding compact for higher education. These discussions have included specific recommendations regarding the level of CSU financial support and appropriate accountability measures related to outcomes such as enrollment growth, increased efficiencies, expanded teacher preparation and improved student outreach. These recommendations were forwarded to the Director of Finance, Tim Gage, and Education Secretary, Gary Hart, for discussion with the Governor. May 18th Budget Briefing
The CSU Budget Office will hold an informational meeting to discuss
1999/2000 budget allocations and other budgetary matters. The meeting
will be held on Tuesday, May 18th from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the new
Chancellor's Office headquarters building. Among the planned activities
and items for discussion are the following:
Chancellor's Office Information Technology Services (CITS) personnel are also expected at the meeting and will be prepared to discuss FIRMS, technical budget submission, and AB 2812 as time and interest allow. Budget Officers are encouraged to review coded memorandum B 99-02 prior to the meeting and bring a copy of the memo to the meeting. The meeting will be interactive and questions are invited. Additional details regarding lunch, parking, etc. will be provided prior to the meeting. Those planning to attend the May 18th briefing are requested to call or e-mail the Budget Office as soon as possible. FIRMS
The FIRMS Advisory Committee, chaired by Laleh Graylee of CITS, has been discussing the technical implications of AB 2812 with regard to budgeting and accounting. ITS has committed to developing and implementing subcodes that will relieve the campuses of extraordinary tasks for financial reporting submittals to the Chancellor's Office. A comprehensive presentation was made at the April FOA Conference and, if requested, will be further discussed at the May 18th budget meeting noted above. Lottery
The Systemwide Budget Advisory Committee (SBAC) has appointed a group of campus and Chancellor's Office personnel to review all aspects of the Lottery Fund, including programs, budget and internal allocations, desired outcomes, reporting, etc. The group will evaluate whether or not changes in programs and allocations are needed and if so, when such changes would be implemented (7/1/99 or 7/1/00). The group's recommendations will be presented to the SBAC and reported here early this summer. Executive Order 661 (Fee Policy) Technical Review Committee
As reported in February 1999, the CSU Budget Office has formed an Executive Order 661 (fee policy) technical review committee to address continuing implementation issues of the executive order. Participants in the committee include several campus budget and accounting officers involved in implementing and adjusting fees at their campuses. Each participant is formulating fee policy implementation issues to be discussed by the committee. The first meeting will be on Wednesday, May 26, 1999, at the Chancellor's Office. John Richards, Director (562) 951-4560 FINANCING AND RISK MANAGEMENT
Student Union Program
The 1999/00 Student Union Operating Budget memorandum (FRM 99-02) was recently released to the campus vice presidents for administration/business affairs and student union directors. The budget memo includes changes to the schedules that must be completed by the student union. The deadline for submission of the approved budget is June 4, 1999. Questions related to the memorandum or student union program should be directed to Rosa H. Renaud, at (562) 951-4566 or by email at rrenaud@calstate.edu. Parking Program ogram
The Office of Financing and Risk Management is available as a resource to assist campuses with the financing of future parking facilities. In November 1998 Financing and Risk Management coordinated a successful Board of Trustees bond sale to finance a parking structure at the San Diego campus. Please contact Rosa H. Renaud at (562) 951-4566 or by email at rrenaud@calstate.edu.to discuss future financing of parking facilities. Risk Management
Kim Melchiori joined the Financing and Risk Management staff on March 17th as Risk Management Specialist. Kim comes to the CSU after serving in the State Office of Risk Management, with special emphasis in handling CSU liability claims. Kim has an extensive background in liability and workers' compensation. Kim will serve as primary back-up to Charlene Minnick and can be reached at (562) 951-4568 or by e-mail at kmelchiori@calstate.edu. A CSU transition team has met with representatives from the State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF) and begun work on a detailed transition plan for the CSU's withdrawal from SCIF on September 30, 1999. A third party administrator will provide the services now furnished by SCIF. Members of the transition team are: Don Kassing, VP Administration and Finance, SJSU; Lee Bateman, CFO, CMA; Charlene Minnick, CO; Michael Martin, WC Claims Manager, SFSU; Tracey Garza, WC Claims Manager, CSU Fresno; Sue Blair, Director, Human Resources, SDSU; and Alice Gorman, WC Consultant, Driver Insurance Services. Any questions or concerns should be directed to Charlene Minnick (562) 951-4571 or Kim Melchiori (562) 951-4568. Auxiliary Organization Financing Activity
Executive Order 703 from the Chancellor to University Presidents regarding auxiliary organization financing activity has been issued. It provides a delegation to university presidents for certain auxiliary financing activity and explains procedures for obtaining approvals by the Board of Trustees, the Chancellor and the Executive Vice Chancellor/Chief Financial Officer for other transactions. A copy of the executive order may be found in the auxiliary organization program area of the FRM website at http://www.co.calstate.edu/BusinessFinance/frm/frmhmpg.shtml. Richard Leffingwell, Director (562) 951-4579 GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
Copies of CSU Legislative Reports and other legislative information pertaining to the CSU is available on the OGA website at http://www.calstate.edu/oga Karen Yelverton Seniozr Director (916) 445-5983 x16 (no change) CAPITAL PLANNING, DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
Capital Outlay Budget Hearings
With the exception of two open items on the Senate side that relate to the Department of Finance April 1, 1999, Governor's Budget revision letter, the capital outlay budget hearings in both the Senate and Assembly have been concluded. (It is anticipated that the open items will be approved by the Senate at the May revise hearing.) The revision letter reinstates the Humboldt Behavioral and Social Sciences Building and the San Diego Chem-Geology/Business Admin Math Buildings Renovation projects, and increases funding for the Sonoma Remodel Salazar Building. All projects included in the Board of Trustees September 1998 request have been approved. If the open items noted above are approved, there will be no differences between the Senate and Assembly versions of the budget bill and there will be no projects in conference when the budget conference committee convenes to finalize the budget bill. Capital Outlay Program Status Report
The following is an update of the general status and due dates for the ongoing and future CSU capital outlay programs: 1998/99 Program
1999/00 Program
2000/01 Program
Other Facilities Planning Due Dates
Energy and Utilities Management Council (EUMC)
The quarterly meeting of the EUMC was held on April 21, 1999 in San Diego following the second annual Pacific Coast Association of Physical Plant Administrators "Technology 99" conference. Updates on multiple subjects included the Department of General Services (DGS) Natural Gas Purchasing Program and Systemwide Telecommunications Infrastructure Project.
Capital Outlay Training Program
Capital Planning, Design and Construction is continuing the highly successful Capital Outlay Training Program, initiated in late 1997. Two sessions were held on May 13-14, 1999, at Cal Poly Pomona, Kellogg West Conference Center. The two sessions dealt with the two highest priority topics for educational and information needs related to capital facilities planning and construction identified in a CSU systemwide survey of Facilities Managers. Brief descriptions of the sessions follow:
Project administrators were the target audience for these programs, especially new staff who may not have participated in past sessions. The series of training programs conducted by CPDC in calendar year 1998 were well received by campus managers and staff responsible for implementing the decentralized capital outlay process on their respective campuses. CPDC Due Dates for CPB&G Agenda Items (July 7-8, 1999, Board of Trustees' Meeting)
J. Patrick Drohan, Senior Director (562) 951-4090 PLANNING AND ANALYSIS
Quality Improvement (QI) Programs
Quality Program Frameworks: In response to requests by participants at the November Quality Improvement Symposium, a frameworks workshop was held on March 24th. The purpose of the workshop was to provide campuses with in-depth information regarding frameworks that could be used as a foundation for various quality improvement tools and programs including benchmarking, customer satisfaction survey, process mapping, and other local campus efforts. The frameworks presented included the Balanced Scorecard concept, the Malcolm Baldrige criteria and APQC's Focused Quality program. Attendees generally expressed interest in pursuing one or a combination of the frameworks on their campuses. Additional presentations and other services to support campuses with developing and implementing a framework(s) are under development. Facilitator Training: A two-day workshop to provide training to the Quality Improvement Facilitators (QIF) and Function Chairs was held on the Long Beach campus on April 28th and 29th. Approximately half of the participants were new to their QI role and/or the QI programs. The workshop also included on-line training in the use of APQC's ConnectEd database of model practices in administrative and educational processes. Additional training for new and continuing participants is planned. Mini-Benchmarking: The five function groups involved in a current benchmark effort are reviewing the data results from NACUBO, and will be submitting revisions by May 15. Final reports complete with national comparisons will be distributed in June 1999. Post-data collection workshops will be held near the end of June to allow the function groups to discuss their results and begin preparations for a final report. Customer Satisfaction Survey: The current customer satisfaction survey dealing with the Accounts Payable, Student Accounts Receivables, Admissions and Records, Facilities, Financial Aid, Human Resources and Purchasing functions was distributed on participating campuses during February and March. The results of the survey are being tabulated and will be available to the participating campuses in May. Process Mapping: Process mapping training workshops were held for Human Resources professionals at two locations (LAX and CSU, Hayward) in early March. This training was specifically targeted to support the implementation of the Human Resources module in the CMS project. Fifteen campuses attended, including all but one of the campuses in the "first wave" HR implementation. Questions relating to the QI programs, benchmarking, customer satisfaction surveying or process mapping training, should be directed to Ron Ashcroft rashcroft@calstate.edu. (562) 951-4556 or Dolores Basilio dbasilio@calstate.edu. (562) 951-4552. Year 2000 Compliance Update
The first Y2K quarterly progress reports of 1999 were received on April 15th. The campus reports are being used to generate a summary of systemwide Y2K readiness activities for the Board of Trustees and the Executive Council. Copies of the reports were also sent to the University Information Technology Audit Manager for use in verifying campus progress. Eight campuses are participating in the follow-on to the Long Beach embedded systems pilot project. Embedded systems inventories from the eight campuses have been received, consolidated and turned over to a contractor to complete the vendor contact phase of the compliance effort. Results of the vendor feedback will be forwarded to campuses as they are received. If you have questions regarding this project or other aspect of the systemwide Y2K compliance efforts, contact Glenn Ducat at (562) 951-4555 or by e-mail at gducat@calstate.edu. CSUMentor Credit Card Payment Option
Errors in a vendor's software program have caused double billings and other mistakes to occur in the application fee payment process via CSUMentor. After unsuccessful attempts by the vendor to fix the software problem, the credit card option was disabled in April to prevent further errors and issues for prospective students. This has been a very popular payment option for the application fee and the Chancellor's Office intends to reinstate this service option prior to August 1999. Efforts are underway to select a vendor to provide the web-based authorization service and campuses have been invited to participate in the process. Please contact Brenda Whitworth at (562) 951-4551 or by e-mail at bwhitworth@calstate.edu.if you have suggestions or questions. Lenore Rozner, Senior Director (562) 951-4550
The Business and Finance Newsletter is accessible from the Chancellor's Office http://www.calstate.edu/BF/Newsletters/NewsLet98.shtml. addresses should be directed to Mia Martinez at (562) 951-4554 or mmartinez@calstate.edu. |
|||
