Business Horizons


A monthly publication of Business Affairs

The University of Texas at San Antonio

December 2004

In All We Do,
We Do With

EXCELLENCE

Every Person,
Every Day,
Every Job
Kerry's Korner
Thank you for your support and encouragement in the initial months of my employment.  I sincerely appreciate you, and each day I am continually impressed with the extraordinarily dedicated and talented staff in the Business Affairs departments.

The "New Initiative" article below speaks to a Business Affairs employee survey that will be available beginning in early January for each of you to anonymously complete.  I am excited about the possible action plans that could result from such an instrument, but for the survey to be useful, I need each of you to participate.  Let's set a new record for participation!

My wife, Brenda, and I wish you a very blessed, safe and enjoyable holiday. 

 Upcoming Events:

VPBA Holiday Party
December 16, 2004
11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
JPL Regents' Room

Employee Holidays
December 24, 2004
January 17, 2005

Skeleton Crew Days
December 27-31, 2004

VPBA Breakfast
January 19, 2005
8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
MB Regents' Room

And the winner is...
Adam Plocica, Physical Plant, Downtown
Adam submitted the winning title for the newsletter and received a $50 gift certificate to Texas Land and Cattle.  We had 93 submissions!  Congratulations Adam, and thanks to all who participated in the contest.
Welcome Back HR!

With the recent retirement of Jerry Barloco, VP for Administration, the Office of Human Resources and Development will reunite with the other Business Affairs departments effective January 1.  Barbara Ettipio and her staff have done an excellent job and we look forward to working with them as we all, in each of our areas of responsibility, continue to identify opportunities to make our processes, policies and procedures more efficient and customer oriented.  We thank Jerry for his dedicated service to UTSA and wish him all the best in his well deserved retirement.

Vendor's Corner

Chartwell's celebrates the Holidays!  

As many of you are aware, Chartwell's is currently operating the UC Dining Hall for our students on the Meal Plan.  

With the holidays nearly upon us, they would like to extend an invitation for all UTSA students and staff to join them in a Holiday Dinner Celebration on Monday, December 13th, 4:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., price $7.25. 

Hope to see you there!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

 New Year's Resolutions

Just for fun, send us your New Year's resolutions (up to 5).  We will select and post in the January Newsletter. They will be anonymous.
AVP Position to be Posted

With the retirement of Ernie DeWinne, the Associate VP for Financial Affairs position will soon be posted and advertised nationally.  We will be seeking a very qualified and experienced financial professional to fill this critical and strategically important position.  Look for the posting prior to the holidays.  

Many thanks to Ana Longoria, Gary Lott, Anna Sorkness, Carol Hollingsworth, and Ann Roberts for their dedication to quality and excellence as they have done a very commendable job to fill the void during this interim period without an AVP for Financial Affairs.  We appreciate each of them and their staffs.

NEW INITIATIVE

In December and January, our division will participate in a new initiative, the Survey for Organizational Excellence (SOE), that allows employees to offer input about workplace issues.  The SOE is an anonymous survey, and the results will identify a baseline of VPBA employee issues and assist in implementing a series of strategic initiatives.  Ultimately, as a team, we will continue to build a strong and innovative organization to prosper during these times of rapid change.  More information will be forthcoming next week.
Payroll Notice

Due to conflicts in the payroll calendar, the December 22, 2004 semi-monthly payday has been moved back to December 21st.  Payroll checks can be picked up at Fiscal Services on both days.  The December 16th voucher cut-off date will NOT change.  OV1 (hourly) documents must be entered and approved by 3:00 pm on that date.  The December 21 payroll is the last payroll for this calendar year.

Electronic Travel

A recommendation will soon be made to the president and other vice presidents to phase in the use of electronic travel documents and authorizations over the next several months.  There are great efficiencies to be gained and costs to be saved by electronically approving travel requests and reimbursements.  

Thanks to Donna Steele, Tracy Picha, Gary Lott, and our DEFINE experts, Cindy Orth and Barbie Hanna, for their continued assistance and support of this initiative.  Keep watch for more details and a timeframe to be forthcoming in January or February.