2023 Fall Workshop | Concurrent Sessions 5

November 2, 2023 | 3:30 PM–4:20 PM

Accounting Track 5 | Have You Reviewed Your Internal Controls?

Auditing: 1 CPE Credit

Description

With our ever-changing work environments coupled with recent fraud and Cybersecurity threats, it is more important than ever before to reassess your institution’s internal controls. Join us for a refresher on the importance of internal controls and determining what a strong control environment looks like.

Learning Objectives

Discuss the differences between processes, procedures and internal controls.
Review the concept of internal control, the COSO framework and how it applies to institutions
Learn about the types of internal controls.
Learn what can go wrong and best practices for institutions in a cloud-based environment

Speakers

Tamara Vineyard, Partner, Audit & Attest, FORVIS, LLP

Tamara is the Regional Industry Lead Partner for the Mid-Atlantic Region and the Assurance Lead Partner for the Metro DC Market. Tamara has more than 23 years of experience in public practice and private sector. Much of her experience is focused on audits for not-for-profit organizations, specifically professional membership associations, 501(c)(3) and religious organizations, private foundations, private operating foundations, social welfare organizations, labor unions and audits of employee benefit plans. She also has considerable experience in providing assurance services for a variety of small to medium sized businesses including, but not limited to, government contractors, construction contracts, real estate and technology companies, automobile dealerships, and quasi-governmental organizations.

Thomas Hazelwood, Partner, Assurance, FORVIS, LLP

Tom is a partner in the Winston-Salem office. For more than 35 years, Tom has served a variety of clients representing a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, distribution, real estate entities, and various other closely held companies, many of which are owned by private equity groups. He has assisted clients with complex accounting issues including mergers and acquisitions.
He also has extensive experience with nonprofit organizations including consultation on accounting and reporting issues of capital campaign matters, providing hands-on assistance on a variety of other accounting and auditing issues, the Single Audit Act, and OMB Uniform Guidance for those organizations receiving governmental awards.

In his previous roles at the firm, Tom was the managing partner for Virginia, office managing partner in the firm’s Norfolk, Winston-Salem, and High Point offices. He was also head of operations and performance for the Carolinas region. He is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and both the North Carolina and Virginia Association for Certified Public Accountants. Tom is a graduate of UNC Greensboro, with a B.S. degree in accounting.

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Concurrent Session 5A | Lead with LADDER (HR Soft Skills)

Personnel/Human Resources: 1 CPE Credit

Description

The Leadership Alphabet of Disposition Development Engagement and Reflection (LADDER) is a model used to help leaders identify, assess, and develop areas for growth and stress management. LADDER offers a comprehensive framework for professional disposition development, with the goal of improving workforce wellness by addressing the problems of burnout and turnover at their root causes, equipping leaders with the dispositions they need to identify stressors and strategies to manage them and their mental health to become stronger leaders. LADDER demonstrates an evidence-based process of self-reflection that gives leaders agency and ownership of their own behaviors, resulting in self-discovery and self-awareness. It encourages ongoing growth and continuous improvement by process replication throughout the career pipeline.

Learning Objectives

Learn the LADDER model
Identify dispositions that are personal stressors
Understand how to create an individualized Step LADDER Disposition Development Plan

Speakers

Niki Norton, Assistant Vice President for HRM, Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College

Niki Norton is a Certified Leadership Development Institute Coach with nearly twenty-five years of human resources experience, with the vast majority of that time in public higher education. She holds a Master's in Leadership and Human Resource Development, as well as her SHRM Senior Certified HR Professional certification. In her role at LSU, she supports Compensation, HRIS, Shared Operations Services, Talent Acquisition, Training and Organizational Development and Engagement, as well as policy development and strategic planning efforts. Additionally, she is active in a variety of HR advocacy and professional organizations, including serving as President for CUPA-HR's Louisiana/Mississippi Gulf Coast Chapter and the Community Relations Director for the Greater Baton Rouge Society of Human Resource Management, and is a member of the Public Sector HR Association for Louisiana.

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Concurrent Session 5B | Scrapping Budgetary Spending Authority to Improve Planning and Resource Management

Finance: 1 CPE Credit

Description

Previously, the University of Virginia operated with a mix of budgetary spending authority and, primarily in auxiliaries, spending base on current available resources. As part of the transition to a new ERP, we moved everyone to operating more like auxiliaries by transacting all funding to units so they could have a full picture of their resources in hand. By scrapping budgetary spending authority, we enabled better reporting, established the budget as simply the plan, and were able to highlight all resources available within our university. This required extensive change management with stakeholders as well as system improvements.

Learning Objectives

Attendees will have concrete steps they can take to implement large-scale change.
Attendees will understand the drawbacks of operating solely with budgetary spending authority.
After attending this session, attendees will know how improvement of reporting, include the data inputs, can facilitate better financial planning.

Speakers

Katie Walker, Assistant Vice President, Financial Planning & Analysis, University of Virginia

Katie Walker serves as Executive Director of Financial Planning and Analysis at the University of Virginia. She received the Rising Star Award from NACUBO at the 2023 Annual Meeting. Prior to returning to the University of Virginia in 2021, she was Director of Budget Management at University of Colorado Boulder and left UVA as Director of Budget in the School of Education and Human Development. She received her PhD in Higher Education and completed her dissertation on the implementation feasibility of RCM budget models. Her undergraduate degrees in History and Anthropology and master's degree in Teaching History provided her with the strategic and interpersonal skills to manage a large institution in a financial role. She focuses each day on continuous improvement in financial planning and analysis to support optimal resource management.

Augie Maurelli, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, University of Virginia

Augie Maurelli was named the Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer in February of 2023. Responsible for overseeing the University's consolidated financial statements, along with developing financial strategy and plans for effective allocation of resources that support the University's key strategic initiatives, Mr. Maurelli and his team report on over $5B of annual expenditures and a $13B balance sheet. Mr. Maurelli joined the University of Virginia as Associate Vice President for Financial Operations in December of 2019. He played a critical role in the Strategic Financial Transformation project, successfully deploying a new financial enterprise system in July of 2022. Prior to joining UVA Finance, Mr. Maurelli served as Assistant Vice President of Strategy and Operations at the University of Delaware, Senior Associate Director of Athletics at Delaware and, earlier, at Georgetown University with similar administrative and financial roles. Prior to higher education, he had several years of private sector finance experience at Goldman Sachs and Johnson Controls. Mr. Maurelli holds an MBA in Finance from Georgetown's McDonough School of Business and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

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Session 5C | Beyond Anxiety: Insights and Ideas for College Leaders

Specialized Knowledge: 1 CPE Credit

Description

The presentation will be an overview of the presenter's published research on five reasons for increased counseling needs on college campuses. The presentation will continue by covering five research-based wellness concepts regarding a way forward. Lastly, the presentation will cover some general guidelines on how institutions may leverage institutional resources to increase campus community members' ability to manage anxiousness and develop resilience.

Learning Objectives

Participants will grow their ability to recognize factors that have increased the need for counseling services on campuses.
Participants will be able to identify five categories of programming focus designed to reduce anxiety levels of students and employees on their campuses.
Participants will be able to outline at least three general campus-wide program development concepts to establish wellness programming.

Speakers

Steve Beers, Vice President for Student Development, Athletics and Facilities, John Brown University

Dr. Beers has served as the Vice President for Student Development at John Brown University (JBU) since 1998. He provides leadership and support for the athletic department, facility services and student development. Steve completed his doctorate in educational leadership from Ball State University, a master's in counseling from Wright State University, and a bachelor's degree in religion and philosophy from Taylor University. Dr. Beers came to JBU after serving in student development roles at Taylor University (IN) and Northwestern University (IA). In addition to his student development responsibilities, Dr. Beers has taught in the JBU undergraduate and graduate programs. He currently serves as a Senior Fellow of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), leading a task force to develop the Campus Program Planning Guide for Student Wellness Leading to Resilience. His previously published work includes The Soul of the Christian University, Funding the Future: Preparing University Leaders to Navigate the Coming Change, and Making A Difference: Empowering the Resident Assistant.

Kim Hadley, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, John Brown University

With John Brown University (JBU) since 1996, Dr. Hadley serves as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. She provides leadership for accounting, administrative services, auxiliary operations, enrollment management, human resources, information technology, investments, university marketing and communications, and the university-owned radio station. Kim previously served JBU for thirteen years as Vice President for Finance & Administration, after first serving thirteen years as a faculty member and academic administrator following five years in public accounting and internal audit. Kim holds a DBA in marketing from Anderson University, in Anderson, Indiana, and she earned her BSBA in accounting and MBA from the University of Arkansas. Licensed by the Arkansas State Board of Public Accountancy, she is a member of the Arkansas Society of Certified Public Accountants. Kim was named the Arkansas Business 2020 Education CFO of the Year, and she currently serves as chair of the Small Institution Committee for SACUBO and previously served on the Small Institution Committee for NACUBO.

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Session 5D | Intelligent Automation Enablement for Accounting Services, Payroll, and Procurement at Texas Tech University

Information Technology: 1 CPE Credit

Description

With the growing popularity and accelerated advancement of automation and next generation artificial intelligent technologies, organizations have needed to quickly re-think and revise their ways of working around traditional business processes. Among these technologies is Intelligent Automation (IA), which is a collection of capabilities that automate business functions. Over the past few years, organizations across the public and private sectors (including the majority of top Fortune companies) have been implementing IA across their business to drive efficiency, improve employee satisfaction, and enhance the customer/citizen experience with great success. This session will explore the enablement of intelligent automation technology at Texas Tech University.

Specifically, we will:

Discuss our approach to automation
Share how we selected the processes
Take a deep dive into automations in Payroll, Accounting Services, and Procurement and the unique challenges each one presented
Review and the lessons learned from the program to-date

Learning Objectives

Understand the capabilities of intelligent automation (IA) technology.
Recognize how automation can fit within existing organization IT stack.
Assess organization readiness to undertake an IA implementation.
Identify business processes / areas with automation potential.

Speakers

Landon Akins, Senior Managing Director, Texas Tech University

Landon is the Senior Managing Director of the Data Management for Financial Resources team at Texas Tech University. He has been with the university for 12 years and leads a technical department focused on providing value-adding services with, and around, data. His overarching mission, and that of his team, is to ensure faculty and staff have the operational data required to perform their business processes, and campus leaders are equipped to make data-informed strategic decisions. His area of specialization is in the Finance, Human Resources, Payroll, Budget, and Student Accounts Receivable data domains. Landon thoroughly enjoys working with business partners to better understand their processes and identify opportunities for optimization and automation. Landon received a B.A. in Political Science, as well as an MBA, from Texas Tech University. He is an avid outdoor adventurer, photographer, and enjoys exploring the world with his wife and two children.

Christina Secrest, Partner - Government/Public Sector AI and Automation Lead, EY

Cristina is a Partner in EY's Artificial Intelligence and Automation practice and has over 25 years consulting experience working across multiple industries to drive transformation programs. She currently serves as the AI and Automation Leader for State, Local, and Education clients, where she helps clients set up their automation programs to drive efficiencies, enhance the citizen/customer experience, and improve employee satisfaction and morale. She has extensive experience in both large and small scale automation programs and is able to guide her clients through the key activities needed for scale and success. Cristina attended Middle Tennessee State University for her B.S. in Biology, and Baylor University for her M.S. in Microbiology. She resides in Houston, Texas with her husband and two children.