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To: All staff and faculty
May 22, 2024
Dear UC Merced Faculty and Staff,
As the Spring semester draws to a close, we write to provide a final update on the status, progress, and next steps toward sustained improvement of our financial management and reporting practices. Over the last few months, a number of significant milestones have been achieved. A permanent Enterprise Systems Project Manager has been hired to help coordinate long-term efforts between divisions. Improvements to the general purchasing process and Concur travel and reimbursement system have gone live. More than a dozen faculty support positions have been filled in the schools, and financial reports are now being delivered regularly.
The period of service for the original charge of the Task Force ended May 10. We are thankful for the service and commitment of our faculty participants, who will return to focusing on their research and scholarly activities over the summer. Meanwhile, process streamlining engagements will commence in June and July focused on improvements to the procurement process. Ongoing efforts to hire, train, and stabilize the workforce necessary to produce timely and accurate financial reports will continue. The Division of Finance and Administration and the Office of Information Technology continue to partner on a variety of enhancements and additions to the core Oracle Financials system which will be released to campus in the coming months.
An additional topic of focus will be summer compensation and the timely and accurate issuance of summer salary payments. The Task Force faculty have indicated that resolving this issue for 2025 is among their highest priorities. Please see the summer compensation inquires form link below.
Summer Compensation Inquiries Form
To ensure continued progress, the Administration will continue to meet regularly to establish the governance structures and project plans necessary to address the priorities identified by the faculty. The Administration will continue to consult with faculty on a regular basis as the work progresses. The Administration will also be working over the summer to compile a report on Task Force final outcomes, observations, and recommendations for continued improvements and investments; we expect this report to be issued to the campus in September.
We are each committed to moving forward in a manner that preserves the cross-divisional partnerships and lines of communication established through the Task Force’s work and maintains an ongoing conduit for faculty input. Thank you for your support and candid feedback throughout.
Sincerely,
Gillian Wilson
Task Force Co-Chair
Vice Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Economic Development
Professor, Physics, School of Natural Sciences
Shilpa Khatri
Task Force Co-Chair
At-Large DivCo Member
Associate Professor, Applied Mathematics, School of Natural Sciences
Charlie Eaton
AFAC Chair and DivCo Member
Associate Professor, Sociology, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts
Kara McCloskey
At-Large DivCo Member
Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, School of Engineering
Tao Ye
COR Chair and DivCo Member
Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry, School of Natural Sciences
Matthew Hibbing
Chair of the Academic Senate, Ex-Officio Member of the Task Force
Associate Professor, Political Science, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts
Elizabeth Dumont
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences, School of Natural Sciences
Nick Dugan
Vice Chancellor for Office of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer
Kurt Schnier
Vice Chancellor for the Division of Finance and Administration and Chief Financial Officer
Professor, Economics, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts
Molly Elazier
Staff Assembly Representative
Executive Assistant to the Chancellor
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