Achieving Operational Excellence

Implement the ShopBlue procure-to-pay solution. This solution provides an Amazon-style purchasing experience for the requistioner and will result in:

• Reduced time in both the procurement and payment processes.
• Reduced cycle time from requisition to delivery
• Immediate feedback to the requisitioner regarding availability and shipment when using punchout catalogs
• Improved on-time delivery
• Provide requisitioners with the ability to easily track their orders and payments
• Provide product and pricing comparisons for the requisitioner

• Campus requisitioners
• Procurement Services buyers
• Accounts Payable staff

• Pre-implementation: January 2017 — April 2017 
• Implementation of Procure-to-Pay: Spring 2018
• Procure-to-Pay go live for all departments except Facilities completed 2020
  
• Implementation of Spend Analytics, Sourcing Director and Total Contract Manager: 2022
  

• Adapt business processes to permit use of the software without customization
• Facilitate strategic sourcing through the use of the improved data reporting
• Provide requisitioners with improved capacity to identify sources of supply and comparatively shop
• Capitalize on the combined purchasing power of the collective SUNY campuses
• Be able to provide requisitioners with user accessible 24/7 support through on-line help and training
• Standardize the procurement and payment business processes across SUNY campuses
• Demonstrate the solution's applicability across the Western Region campuses for future roll-out across all SUNY campuses

Project leaders:
Mike Maute, Business Services

Project committee:
Marie Colella, Procurement Services
Jennifer Pesany, Financial Management
Linda Deni, Procurement Services
Barb Lorango, Procurement Services
Michelle McCartney, Financial Management
Angie Rzeszut, Financial Management
Annette Saraceno, Financial Management

Procurement representatives from Alfred State, Alfred University, Brockport, Buffalo State, Erie Community College, Fredonia, Geneseo, Monroe Community College, Stony Brook, SUNY Administration, and the Research Foundation

The Resource Planning subcommittee is charged with providing financial planning support and investment tracking for the Instructional Facilities Steering Committee. 

Specifically, we will:  

• Develop a three year budget for classroom/instructional technology projects which is integrated into the university's Annual Resource Planning process.
• Ensure that the appropriate funding sources are accounted for and provided to support the project in a timely manner.
• Ensure financial reporting on the project is provided and/or as requested.

Office of the Provost, Office for Vice President of Finance and Administration and senior leadership

The Instructional Facilities Budget is developed and approved annually as part of the Central University Budget during the university's Annual Resource Planning Process.

Project leader:
Joe Lewandowski, Resource Planning

Project committee:
Peter DiNunzio, Resource Planning
Suzanne Gentz, University Facilities
Tricia Kandler, Purchasing and Contracts Services
Nancy Kielar, CIO Administrative Operations Office
Michelle McCartney, Financial Management

The Real Estate and Resource Planning committee consists of members from Real Estate, Resource Planning, Business Services and Facilities who are collaborating to create business plans for leased properties. The business plans include ten-year forecasts of revenue and expenses for each building.

Establishing a portfolio of business plans for leased properties will allow for a comprehensive evaluation of properties and facilitate the identification of efficiencies, savings and areas in need of investment.

Other areas of improvement achieved by the committee include the development of a property management dashboard in SIRI to streamline reporting for leased properties and a full review of facilities cost rates charged to properties.

Senior leadership

The leased properties budget is developed and approved annually and reviewed quarterly as part of the Central University Budget during the university's Annual Resource Planning Process.

Project committee:

Ashley Butcher, Financial Management
Beth Corry, Business Services
Pete DiNunzio, Resource Planning
Suzanne Gentz, University Facilities
Stacy Knapper, UB Foundation
Joe Lewandowski, Resource Planning
Michelle Maurer, UB Foundation
Carla Persico, Real Estate and Property Management
Tonga Pham, University Facilities
Ron Place, Real Estate and Property Management

Functional:

• Provide mechanism to integrate annual resource planning process with current university systems and databases.
• Fully integrate departmental all funds budgeting into a single system across the university.
• Improve efficiency and accuracy of multi-year financial plan.
• Improve forecasting and financial reporting of budget versus actual.
• Support the UB initiative to pursue opportunities to invest in technology to gain efficiencies and lower costs.    

Technical:

• Need for new functionality and data reporting — not possible in current environment.
• Build versus buy considerations:
  • Licensing costs versus IT developer costs (including support, maintenance and updates)
  • Time to implement
  • Local versus hosted options 

• Senior leadership
• Deans
• Vice provosts
• Vice presidents
• University Business Officers
• Department chairs
• Assistant to the chairs
• Faculty and staff

Completed:

• Replace Internal Financial Plan Tool
• Provide UBOs with a commitment management tool internal to their unit only.
• Research
• Request for information - nine vendors participated
• Discovery phase
• See the results of the Visioning Survey and the Requirements Activity 

In Process:         

• Develop implementation strategy
• Form an implementation team
• Discussions and reference checks with peer institutions
• Vendor demo with participation from the following units:
  • Graduate School of Education
  • Jacobs School of Medicine
  • Athletics
  • Facilities
  • CIO
  • Student Life, Campus Living, FSA
  • College of Arts & Sciences
  • School of Dental Medicine
• Vendor selected and recommendation sent to Procurement Services
• Contract with selected vendor
  • Vendor name will be released when contract has been fully executed
    

Next:

• Work with vendor to customize and implement solution
• Phased roll-out beginning Fall/Winter 2022 

Senior administrators, faculty and staff should have easy, well-supported electronic access to the data and information necessary to perform and manage their university functions, thereby eliminating the need to create shadow and supplemental systems.

• For every budget, planning and forecasting-related process, we will:
  • Identify the customers of the process.
  • Work with customers to determine their real needs.
  • Strive to provide them with outstanding customer service.
• We will treat information as a strategic asset that is:
  • Commonly defined.
  • Electronically captured once at its point of origin.
  • Appropriately shared across the entire institution.
• We will become an institution that makes data-based decisions through the use of easy-to-use management reporting processes and technologies.
• We will collaboratively develop common business processes and data across the entire institution, while still supporting the truly unique and compelling needs of our academic and academic support units.
• Customizations to the new system will be kept to an absolute minimum. Any request for a customization will be subject to a thorough business case review to justify its necessity.
• We will establish decision due dates to keep our projects on time and on budget. If these due dates are not met, the delayed decision will immediately be escalated and made by the appropriate decision maker. The project will then move on.
• We will work as a silo-free team to solve the problems of our students, faculty, staff and institution.
• We will create customer participation opportunities and two-way communications channels to ensure that our project choices meet real user needs.
• Full participation is expected - non-responsiveness or non-engagement implies agreement.
• All new information technology purchases related to budget, planning and forecasting must be reviewed and approved by the university VPCIO and VPFA. 

Project leaders:
Beth Corry, Business Services

Project committee:

Technical leads:
Tom Okon, Business Reporting and Systems
Gary Pacer, Enterprise Application Services

Functional leads:
Joe Lewandowski, Resource Planning
Jennifer Pesany, Financial Management

Vendor selection team:
Nancy Kielar, CIO Administrative Operations Office
Ann Segarra, CAS Administrative Operations
Lynne Karlsen, SDM Administrative Operations
Phuong Van, Resource Planning
Brian O’Connor, Office of Institutional Analysis

Project support:
Kelly Stich, Business Services
Kari Costelloe, Business Reporting & Systems
Andrea Roy, Business Reporting & Systems
Jonathan Hulbert, Organizational Development and Effectiveness

As a public research institution, UB’s model of sustainability focuses on finding solutions to global challenges through research, educating individuals about these challenges, setting high expectations of efficiency and effectiveness in our operations, sharing our experiences, and partnering with the external community. Through an integrated and collaborative resource planning approach, UB has become a higher education leader in sustainability and is on its way to carbon neutrality. 

• UB faculty, staff and students
• Buffalo Niagara Region

• Climate Action Plan calls for UB to become climate neutral by 2030
• UB places number 1 in Climate Action by the Times Higher Education Impact Assessment in 2021

• Minimize UB’s carbon emissions and environmental footprint
• Advance climate justice by integrating racial, gender, LGBTQIA+, and ability equity into our work
• Increase adaptation and resiliency across the enterprise as climate disruption increases
• Create the next generation of climate action advocates
• Leverage the University’s operations as a living laboratory and experiential learning opportunities
• Create an environment that supports greater economic efficiency and cost savings

• Developing a system of carbon pricing
• Increasing the production and procurement of renewable energy
• Electrifying the university’s fleet
• Fostering green and responsible commuting
• Creating and promoting sustainable food systems and access to healthy food
• Becoming a zero waste university
• Developing and fostering equitable and local carbon offsets
• Increasing building efficiency
• Fostering cultural and behavior changes that promote sustainability
• Making it happen

Project leader:
Ryan McPherson, Chief Sustainability Officer

Project committee:
Erin Moscati, Sustainability Education Manager
Derek Nichols, Associate Director for Sustainability

Climate Action Plan Captains:
Beth Corry, associate vice president for Business Services, Putting a Price on Carbon
Ryan McPherson, chief sustainability officer, Not All Electricity is Created Equal
Chris Austin, director of parking and transportation, Electrify our Ride and Commute Responsibly
Tonga Pham, associate vice president for University Facilities, Keep it Cozy and Green
Tricia Kandler, director of facilities and building procurement, Waste Not
Mark Coldren, associate vice president for Human Resources, Flip the Switch
Christina Hernandez, senior associate vice president for Student Life, Taking Stock of our Food
William McDonnel, associate vice provost for Academic Planning, Investing Locally to Provide Flexibility
Hadar Borden, director, Blackstone Launchpad UB, Making it Happen

A team of members from Facilities, Business Services and Resource Planning work together to create a multi-year utilities budget. The rolling 5-year financial plan has helped the university minimize commodity costs, prepare for volatility in energy prices and meet environmental stewardship goals by implementing energy conservation projects. By managing the utilities budget at a central level, fiscal risk is reduced, shortfalls are covered by the university, and surpluses are reinvested in the university.

Senior leadership

Utilities budget is developed and approved annually and reviewed quarterly as part of the Central University Budget during the university's Annual Resource Planning Process. 

University's Annual Resource Planning Process (ARPP) Guiding Principles:

Strategic —- we align incentives with our mission and with strategic behaviors.

Predictability — we build models that provide reliable foundations for planning.

Flexibility — we build planning models that anticipate and are responsive to changes in the economic environment; we incorporate appropriate risk management strategies.

Integration — we consider the university as a whole and make intentional connections between varying types of organizational needs and priorities.

Stewardship — we exercise prudence in managing our resources, diversify revenues to promote resilience, maintain appropriate reserves and reward efficiency and effectiveness.

The utility budget will:

• Be integrated into the UB annual budget process
• Support UB’s environmental stewardship
• Support UB’s goals and directions
• Be managed as a business enterprise model

The utility budget:

• Supports debt service for energy projects
• Supports specialized energy service contracts
• Supports the Climate Action Plan

The utility budget is not:

• A replacement for capital funds
• A replacement for operating funds

Project leaders:
Beth Corry, Business Services
Tonga Pham, University Facilities

Project committee:
Suzanne Gentz, Facilities Finance
Avis Grundler, Facilities Finance
Jeff Angiel, Facilities Campus Operations
John Wojcik, Facilities Campus Operations
Michelle McCartney, Financial Management
Joe Lewandowski, Resource Planning
Peter DiNunzio, Resource Planning