Finance
Student Life Finance provides resources, guidance, and training for Student Life staff on university business systems and processes in compliance with state and university policies.
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Need Access Assistance?
If you're a Student Life staff member who needs assistance accessing information on this page, please contact Michelle Johnson.
Our Mission
The Student Life Finance team manages resources to enhance and support the UB student experience. We partner with Student Life staff to plan and advocate the need for and use of financial resources to meet divisional goals; work with divisional and university partners to allows the resources necessary to meet these goals; and educate staff to establish a culture of resources management that complies with state and university policies.
Vision
The Student Life Finance Team will be an integrated planning partner that support the student experience by sharing our knowledge and university experience to create a divisional eco system of financial stewards.
Larissa Kowalczyk
lgarcia@buffalo.edu
221 Red Jacket Quad
Provide leadership for and vision to the financial, IT and administrative operations across the enterprise of Student Life. Serve in a liaison role in oversight of financial compliance and planning for the auxiliary dining service. Responsible for strategic financial planning and leads division wide planning to improve financial operations, increase efficiency, and overall effectiveness across the division and its more than twenty units in support of their services.
Beth Rogan
barogan@buffalo.edu
221 Red Jacket Quad
Lead divisional broad-based fee planning in collaboration with divisional fee stewards and the university's Resource Planning Office. Responsible for the oversight of the division's cash management strategy, financial scenario planning, and the University and divisional financial commitment management. Provide leadership and supervision to budget administration, business compliance, and analysis functions.
Angel Slisz
amslisz@buffalo.edu
221 Red Jacket Quad
Serves as the lead in the development and annual review of divisional fees including department event fees, educational program fees, service center fees, and university fees. Develops cost analysis and supporting proformas for various Student Life program activities.
Michelle Johnson
mjohns@buffalo.edu
221 Red Jacket Quad
Responsible for the administration of department annual operating budgets and capital project budgets. Provide monthly financial reports to departments and analyze material variances against the approved budgets. Provide training and education for Student Life staff on university policies and guidelines including allowable use of funds, procurement, travel, receipt of goods and services, budget management, and university systems including ShopBlue, SIRI, and Concur.
Jinan Albadran
jinanalb@buffalo.edu
221 Red Jacket Quad
Responsible for the review of procurement card transactions for accuracy, completeness, and compliance for all cardholders in the Division of Student Life. Provide oversight of all State and UBF accounts payable items, ensuring receipt of all goods and services as well as funds availability.
Jim Austin
austin2@buffalo.edu
220 Red Jacket Quad
Provides dynamic and responsible solutions and financial accountability to the materials needs of the division. Administers a system of inventory control and asset management to safeguard university assets and ensure compliance with NYS and university guidelines.
Janelle Liddle
jliddle@buffalo.edu
221 Red Jacket Quad
Responsible for processing SL Residential Facilities and Campus Living IT accounts payable transactions, ensuring accuracy and completeness. Provide support for procurement activities, invoice processing, payment documentation, and account reconciliation. Review SL Residential Life procurement card transactions for accuracy, completeness, and compliance for all cardholders.
Kenneth Kern
khkern@buffalo.edu
220 Red Jacket Quad
Responsible for tracking UBF appliance inventory and storage locations. This role provides visibility into asset locations and inventory needs to support efficient operations and responsible financial stewardship.
Procurement Staff Associate
To be announced
220 Red Jacket Quad
Financial Planning Analyst
To be announced
221 Red Jacket Quad
Student Life
UB Financial Services
Resources and tools for Student Life staff for successful management of university funds.
Purchasing Guidelines
The University at Buffalo allows for the use of State, University at Buffalo Foundation, Inc., and Research Foundation funds for the payment of reasonable and appropriate expenses incurred while conducting official university business.
There are multiple ways to procure goods and services. The specific method will be determined by the specific commodity or service, and the dollar thresholds.
- Student Life Procurement Policy
- Student Life Purchasing Process SOP
- Find Commonly Purchased Goods and Services
- Purchasing Dollar Thresholds
- Special Purchasing Needs
- Sole or Single Source Justification
- State Honoraria Payment Form – This form is used to facilitate the payment process for individuals who provide services on a one-time or occasional basis, commonly known as honoraria or independent contractors.
- Independent Contractor Questionnaire Form for UB Foundation (UBF) – Process payment to an Independent Contractor using UBF Funds.
- Expenditure Transfer Request Form - Request a transfer of Other than Personal Service (OTPS) expenditures between accounts. This form is also used for payment of goods or services by another department on campus (Service Center recharges).
- Contract Compliance Guidelines for Departments
ShopBlue
UB’s online procurement system that allows authorized UB faculty and staff to place orders for necessary goods and services that are not allowable with a university procurement card.
Ordering
*Orders over $5,000 must be entered by the Student Life Purchasing and Logistics Manager
- Order From Hosted Catalog Suppliers
- Purchase From Punch-Out Suppliers
- Service Request Form
- Standing Order Request
- Payment Request Form
- Checkout and Accounting Codes
- Select a Business Purpose
- Campus Living Business Purpose = Residence Halls
- All other areas in Student Life, Business Purpose = Student Services
Receiving
- Create a Receiver
- Processing Invoices for Previous Fiscal Year Purchase Order - provides instructions on how to process an invoice for payment after a Purchase Order (PO) has been liquidated from a previous fiscal year.
Profile Setup
Approving Orders
*Orders over $5,000 must be approved by the Student Life Budget Administrator.
Procurement Cards
Procurement Cards (Visa, AMEX, NET) are UB Credit Cards that are used to facilitate work-related purchasing within the card guidelines. To request a Procurement Card, contact the Student Life Finance Team.
- Procurement Card Reconciliation SOP
- State Procurement Card (PCard) Web Reconciliation
- UBF Procurement Card (PCard) CONCUR Reconciliation
- RF Procurement Card (PCard) Reconciliation
- NET Card SOP
- NET Card CONCUR Reconciliation
- Campus Dining and Shops Card SOP
- Prize Receipt Form
- State Transaction Summary
- Credit Pending Form
Debit Cards
Debit Card program allows departments to pay for qualifying student and other third-party (non-employee) travel, gifts, prizes, and awards using a prepaid Visa card. To utilize the Debit Card program, contact the Student Life Finance Team for prior approval.
- US Bank Pre-Paid Debit Cars SOP (Word)
- Please refer to UB's Gifts, Prizes, and Awards Policy for additional guidelines
- Prepaid Debit Cards for Students and Third Parties
- Request for Alien Information for Miscellaneous Payments - RF (PDF)
- Determination of Residence Status for Federal Tax Withholding - UBF (PDF)
- Award Form (Excel)
- Please also consult "Federal Tax Withholding Forms" section of this page
SIRI
SIRI (Strategic Information Reporting Initiative) is a single authoritative source of institutional information and an enterprise analysis and reporting application. It is used to monitor budgets, expenditures, and inform strategic, managerial, and operational analysis, to enhance decision-making capabilities for the university community.
- Money Instructions (Word)
- OTPS and Temp Service Instructions (Word)
Get Access to SIRI
To request access to SIRI, contact the Student Life Finance Team.
Dashboards
Money
Delivers summarized and detailed transactional financial data for State, RF, and UBF funding sources.
Money – OTPS
Provides transaction details for State, RF, and UBF accounts but only for non-personnel data like purchases, transfers, and payment.
Money – Temp Services
Reports financial information on Temporary Service (student, TA/GA, hourly, etc.) appointments only.
Money Management
Provides Financial Operational data at a departmental level.
Procurement
This dashboard includes eReq, inventory, procurement and payment data used for day to day operations.
Travel and Expense
Provides an inquiry into personal expenses paid to individuals. It includes both analytic and detailed reports and a list of cost approvers.
Support Tables
Provides an inquiry into data tables that support the reporting and organizational aspects of the data found on other SIRI dashboards. This area includes Organizational Structure, State Chart of Accounts, and State OEC.
Travel and Concur
Travel and Concur Authorized UB faculty and staff use Concur, the travel and expense reimbursement system, to book business travel, and to submit business travel and non-travel expenses for reimbursement.
Preapproval is Required, Submit a Request for Travel
Use the Request module to submit a request for approval of your estimated expenses before you incur them.
Policies
The University at Buffalo and Student Life strive to mitigate risk, enhance efficiency and promote compliance with laws and regulations through policies that establish a framework and set standards for conducting university business. Published policies help members of the UB community be mindful and committed to doing what is right.
Student Life Policies
UB Policies
- Glossary of Terms Used in UB Policies
- Approval Authority
- Gifts Prizes, and Awards
- Mobile Communication Devices
- Trademarks and Licensing
- Managing University Assets
- Receipt of Goods and Services
- Allowable Use of Funds
- Data Risk Classification
- Protection of University Data
- SUNY Elimination of Plastics
- Consult the full UB Policy Library for additional policies
Tax Forms
Tax Forms
Tax forms for individuals who receive awards as part of a competition or as an incentive for participation in surveys, volunteering, or other university programs. Any payments totaling over $600 in a calendar year for U.S Citizens and any payments to Non-Resident Aliens (NRA) are taxable.
Documents that contain Category 1 – Restricted Data must be uploaded to the secure box folder:
Tax Exempt Forms
The university is tax-exempt. Tax exempt forms must be submitted to the vendor prior to purchasing to show tax-exempt status.
Inventory Control and Asset Management
All assets purchased with State, Research Foundation (RF) or UB Foundation (UBF) funds become the property of the University at Buffalo. Contact the Student Life Inventory Control and Asset Manager for guidance on the recording of new assets and disposal of unwanted University at Buffalo assets for your area.
The departmental budget planning process begins in October and concludes in November.
The university’s annual planning process (ARPP) begins in October and concludes in May.
The budget covers the fiscal year, which runs from July 1 through June 30.
Approved budget letters are distributed to department heads in late June or early July.
Department heads complete detailed spending plans or budget workbooks that identify the specific items and expenses included in their approved budgets.
Budget workbooks are stored in departmental Box folders or shared drives, depending on the department:
- Campus Living workbooks are located in:
Campus Living-Shared/Budgets - Non-Campus Living department workbooks are located in the department's designated Box folder.
- Each department has its own folder.
- Approved budgets are stored in the Approved folder and organized by fiscal year.
Non-Campus Living Departments
- Cash allocation letters provide the approved funding amounts and account numbers by category.
- Account information is also identified within the budget workbook for each line item.
Campus Living Departments
- Account information is identified within the budget workbook for each line item.
- Accounts are assigned based on the nature of the expense and the corresponding account description.
SIRI provides budget-to-actual reporting that allows you to view:
- Budgeted amounts
- Actual expenditures
- Available (free) balance by account
Directors may reallocate funds between accounts of the same funding type.
For IFR funds:
- BBF funds may be moved only to other BBF accounts.
- Non-BBF funds may be moved only to other Non-BBF accounts.
- Funds cannot be transferred between BBF and Non-BBF accounts.
- Funds cannot be reallocated from IFR accounts to DIFR accounts.
For DIFR funds:
- Funds may be reallocated only between DIFR accounts.
Yes. Directors may reallocate funds between budget categories (OTPS and TS), provided the categories are within the same account type.
PSR (salaried payroll) cannot be reallocated.
- Directors may approve unplanned operating expenses of up to $5,000, provided the expense can be absorbed within the existing budget.
- Unplanned expenses exceeding $5,000, expenses that may cause a department to exceed its approved budget, or project-related expenses require:
- A recommendation from the Director
- Written approval from Senior Leadership
- Written approval from VPSL Finance
Contact the Budget Administrator and/or the Director of Finance as soon as possible to discuss the anticipated overage. They will review the situation and advise you on the appropriate next steps.