University Business - January 2010 - (Page 53)

Reporting for Duty By Melissa Ezarik W Getting administrators from across campus up to speed on generating and using ﬁnancial reports begins with the right tools and some basic training. WHEN LYNNE SCHAEFER STARTED HER POSITION as vice president for administration and ﬁnance at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2005, the institution’s ﬁnancial reporting tool left much to be desired. Developed internally to pull data from UMBC’s PeopleSoft ERP, the tool has produced complex reports that make it “hard to ﬁnd exactly what pieces of information you’re looking at,” she says. “ is creates frustration, especially for the untrained eye. … I’m sure in some cases it has resulted in people throwing up their hands and just hoping it all goes ok.” Taking the time to try to fully understand and analyze the data often creates situations where colleagues aren’t seeing the same information. “Depending on what aspect of the report gets pulled you can get a diﬀerent answer. is creates doubts about the validity of the whole administrative system,” explains Schaefer, whose department is in the process of implementing a ﬁnancial reporting tool from iStrategy Solutions. Sean Mallin, iStrategy’s chief operating oﬃcer, notes that these issues are common on campuses today. “One department writes a report and has structured the query one way. Another person accesses information and structures the report a diﬀerent way.” When both reports are brought into a meeting, time is spent arguing about “whose numbers are right instead of making a decision,” he adds. e implementation anticipation is building for UMBC administrators, many of whom have already been using an iStrategy solution for student information-related reporting. “ e excitement on campus is pretty amazing—considering it’s…a ﬁnancial reporting tool,” Schaefer quips. Perhaps President Freeman Hrabowski is its biggest cheerleader. “Without a system like iStrategy, it takes longer to get answers to basic questions,” he says. Dissecting the data requires more back-and-forth and he might be less likely to have time for analysis before a meeting. “ e role of the president is to be very curious,” Hrabowski continues, adding that encouraging conversations and problem solving among administrators across campus takes a deliberate eﬀort. “It means working to create a culture that focuses on critical thinking.” A culture change surrounding how ﬁnancial data is accessed and how decisions are made based on it requires having the right technology tools as well as training and support. So oﬃcials at a growing number of higher ed institutions are making sure their teams are well equipped—both with the systems and the know-how. Moving Toward Better Reports “You want the people who make decisions about budgets, expenses, and costs to be able to access the information quickly, and with conﬁdence that it is correct,” says Robert Dolan, the worldwide government and education executive for business analytics and performance management at IBM. “ e key here is having one version

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - January 2010

University Business - January 2010
Contents
Editor's Note
Company Index
College Index
Advisory Board
Behind the News
Community Colleges
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Human Resources
Money Matters
Endowments 2010: Risk Management, Liquidity, Stewardship
Donor 3.0
Reporting for Duty
End Note

University Business - January 2010