From the Rockies to the Blue Ridge: New Director of Payroll Services at UVA

Paul Grisdale has been very busy since joining the UVAFinance Team as Director of Payroll Services on September 25th. During his first week on board, he has spent much of his time meeting people and learning more about his stakeholders and their unique needs as the University and the Health System take up payroll as a shared process.

In his new role, Grisdale will lead the ONE Payroll Services Team, which will encompass UVA’s academic division, the medical center, and the physicians group.

Grisdale, a Detroit-area native, comes to UVA from Colorado, where he managed payroll in both the Community College System and Colorado State University. 

Paul Grisdale,
Director of Payroll Services

He is no stranger to massive organizational change.

“Most of my career has been implementing new systems and coming up with best practices,” he said.

Grisdale has led many projects involving the streamlining of processes and collaborative, centralized work. When he looks back at his career so far, he’s most proud of times he’s been able to help build things that didn’t exist before – for instance, a central payroll office for Community Colleges of Colorado.

The office he established delivered great service to all 14 entities in the system and leveraged technology to give employees access to things they’d never had before, such as reporting.

Complicating this particular change was the fact that those 14 schools in the Community College system had very different cultures: some were in little farming towns, and some were in urban areas. Grisdale found that any work he could do that helped him to understand those cultural differences and individual needs was very worthwhile, and he’s been applying that principle to his new role at UVA.

“I’ve made it a priority to be out and about, learning what each area is doing now and who their audiences are, and finding out what the needs are,” he said.

Grisdale was attracted to UVA because he saw a unique opportunity to use what he’s learned about organization-wide change, working on teams, and delivering great customer service: “UVA is a world-renowned University, seeking to provide an equally great payroll and HR service. I want to be part of that.”

He added that it’s exciting to get to leverage not only new technology but also the knowledge of experts in the three different areas at UVA, to find better ways to deliver payroll to all employees.

Grisdale will soon be joined in Virginia by his wife Rebecca and their three children, all of whom are excited about their new home. He acknowledges that it’s quite a change. “Colorado is beautiful, but in Colorado, you can drive for hours and you’re still most likely in Colorado. Here, there’s so much to see, and so many interesting things to do,” he said.

An avid fly fisherman, Grisdale said he looks forward to exploring what that hobby is like in his new home.

Amidst all the change that has been a part of his professional life, Grisdale says one thing has remained true: “I have had great teams in all of my endeavors, and we have that at UVA, too. There’s always ups and downs, but with a great team, you can achieve so much.”

Yvonne Metheny and the joy of being well-rounded

Yvonne Metheny has taken on a lot of projects in her 9 years in UVAFinance. Her official title is “Accounting and Financial Analyst,” but if you ask anyone with whom she’s worked, that title is deceiving. Yvonne, they say, can do just about anything:

“She’s a jack of all trades.”

“She just overhears you struggling with something and offers to help.”

“She’s willing to take on anything you give her.”

“She takes 20 minutes to find something that would take me hours.”

“She’s a go-to person, a problem-solver.”

“I can give her anything, and, with very minimal questions, she’ll get it done.”

Metheny is a lot of things, but she’s not a specialist. . . . Unless diversification counts as a specialty.

Metheny says she never really wanted to be an accountant. In college, she started with some accounting courses and did well in them, but she joined the Air Force and turned her attention to computers. Eventually, she earned her Bachelors’ degree in teaching and education (business education). A short stint teaching high school classes wasn’t a good fit, so she went back and got an MBA with a specialty in accounting.

While working in the field of accounting, Metheny says she’s tried a little bit of everything: debt accounting, cost accounting, and everything in between. She’s been very “behind the scenes,” even by accounting standards, double-checking department postings and ensuring that everything is correct, closing old projects so schools and units can see their financial situation more clearly, helping set up new software systems, and helping her colleagues navigate UBI.

Metheny’s supervisor, Senior Associate Comptroller Randy Ellis, described how Metheny recently came to him when he was working through a 68-tab spreadsheet that would be submitted to the State. He was working under a tight deadline and the work was painstakingly tedious.

“Yvonne came into my office and said, ‘let me know what I can do,’ so I gave her the piece of the spreadsheet involving UVA’s ten foundations,” Ellis said.

“She worked four long days on it, and then gave it back to me 95% complete,” said Ellis. The report was submitted to the State accurately and on time.

“I like puzzles,” Metheny said.

“I like the challenge of solving problems, and things that are new and different. I like learning the answers and teaching others.”

Indeed, for a person who decided early in her career that “teaching wasn’t her thing,” she has, in fact, done a lot of teaching.

Colleague Josh Breeden says that even when Metheny doesn’t know the answer, she takes on the challenge to find out. “You know if you say, ‘hey, Yvonne,’ – you’re probably halfway there. She can at least point you in the right direction,” he said.

Metheny’s career in accounting so far has defied her early expectations of the field. What she thought of as a day to day, same old, same old job has been much more fulfilling than she ever expected, and the reason for that, she says, is because she’s tried so many different things and found what she really likes to do.

“I’ve been very lucky because I’ve been allowed the opportunities to find the right fit for me. I’ve had supervisors at UVA who’ve allowed me to find, in effect to make the right job for me,” she said.

Metheny points out that the world of business changes all the time, and “you have to embrace it, even though it might be out of your comfort zone.”

She says she’s been vocal with her managers about what she’d like to do, what problems she’d like to fix, and also to keep her in mind for projects and positions that match her skill set. Through this openness, and her willingness to regularly try something different, Metheny says she’s developed a wide range of skills.

“Ultimately,” she commented, “the best fit for me is also the best fit for the University. When people are in the right roles doing what fulfills them, great things happen.”

Fixed Asset Inventory Management: Why it matters

Larry Norem and Mike Williams are great people to consult if you’re looking for an obscure location On-Grounds. They can not only tell you where the building is, but also, where to park, which door will require specialized access, and what room number you should look for.

These are things they know because they’ve been to all of those locations, multiple times, because it’s their job to keep track of roughly 20,000 pieces of Capital Equipment (known as “fixed assets”) that are spread out over 400+ buildings (with well over 20,000 rooms) and across 300+ organizations at UVA.

Fixed Asset Accounting is a specialized area within Financial Operations that is responsible for review of capital building projects, capitalization of all fixed assets, and maintaining an accurate inventory of the University’s fixed assets. Fixed Assets, also often referred to as hard or tangible assets (and also intangible assets such as software), are long-term assets property that are used in the day-to-day operations to provide for the educational, athletic and research needs of its students as well as the requirements of its numerous sponsors for specialized research.

Gary Young, Director of Fixed Assets Accounting, said it’s a significant challenge to ensure all of the University’s $4.0B fixed assets are properly capitalized and accounted for in its yearly inventory process.

“Getting everything into the inventory system and maintaining that inventory accurately is demanding and very important,” he said. “Various agencies that sponsor the purchase of equipment in the form of research grants and awards expect our system and internal procedures will protect their investment in equipment at UVA.”

Additionally, Young points out, our negotiated F&A rate is integrally linked with the federally-sponsored research equipment located throughout UVA, which makes the accuracy of that inventory another, perhaps an even more critical aspect of accounting for and safeguarding UVA assets on top of the standard accounting and financial reporting requirements.

And that’s where Norem and Williams come in, quite literally – they arrive in offices and labs across Grounds, with asset tags and barcode scanners.

Barcode tags like this one are used to keep track 

of equipment across Grounds.

When someone buys a piece of equipment, Norem makes sure it’s appropriately tagged and entered into the inventory system that Williams manages. Over the course of a year, Williams will complete an inventory of every fixed asset on Grounds. Although he and Larry play similar roles in the process, there’s a key difference, explains Mike: “Larry knows names, I know numbers. He knows all the researchers, and I know all the room numbers.”

There’s a good reason Norem knows “who’s who:” he’s had to do a lot of detective work over the past seven years he’s done this job. From a regular report showing big purchases by purchase order, he matches those purchases up with invoices. Using the PO description, what the item is and what department purchased it, he then goes in search of the item, to find out who it belongs to.

“We can track down pretty much everything,” he laughs. “When I walk in a lab, people say ‘Oh, what are you looking for today?’ or they will even say ‘I know what you’re looking for and it's right here.’”

Norem says that while he and Williams both have a significant amount of intense record-keeping and generating that they do, his time in the labs makes for a nice balance to the work he does at his desk.

Larry Norem, left, tagging a piece of equipment in

 the lab of Dr. Stuart Berr, right.

Mike Williams scanning equipment in a lab.

“I get to talk to the researchers and ask them what they’re working on when I ask them about the new item they’ve purchased. They love to talk about what they’re doing and some of the stuff is just incredible and fascinating,” he said.

Norem added that he also enjoys meeting new principal investigators at UVA: “I can always tell who I’m going to read about in the Daily Progress or UVA Today by how often I see them,” he said.

“I meet researchers and grad students who are working hard, even over Christmas break. Those are the people I know I’ll see in the news later.”

Norem might only appear in a lab every so often when new equipment is purchased, but Williams’ appearances are much more regular, due to the annual inventory cycle.

“It takes me six-plus months to physically go through all the buildings and scan the asset tags Larry has placed, for the records that we keep,” he said, adding that he’s gotten much faster and more efficient doing this job since he started it 13 years ago.

Those records are used when auditors from various agencies such as the Office of Naval Research come by for spot inventory checks. Most sponsors require yearly reports about equipment that has been purchased on a grant.


Williams says while its Norem’s job to make sure money used for fixed assets has been tagged properly, and it’s his job to make sure the asset purchased doesn’t go missing, and it’s not always an easy job.

“It’s not like anyone sells the stuff on Craigslist,” he laughs. “It’s mostly a case of things getting moved and nobody keeping track of it.”

“It’s important for departments to know where their ‘stuff’ is,” he explained, because it’s more than just trying to find everything every year – it’s a matter of UVA monitoring its resources appropriately.

Williams’ duties often take him to some sensitive areas.

“I don’t touch anything when I’m out in the research areas,” he says. “There are some areas where the experiment might be dangerous to me, or I might be dangerous to it.”

He says he and Norem rely heavily on the guidance of the researchers and the signs on the doors as they do their jobs.

“And I never rest my notepad on a counter,” adds Norem with a smile. “Just in case.”

Click image to view larger

Tax Compliance and Contracting: the most interesting office you may have never heard of

Bill Define, Director of Tax Compliance and Contracting, will be the first to admit that the name of his office sounds a bit dry and technical, and perhaps not the most exciting position at UVA.

“People hear ‘taxes and contracts’ and they think ‘Wow, I’m glad that’s somebody else’ job,’ he laughed.

Bill Define, Director of Tax Compliance and Contracting

“And if it we only handled ordinary, day-to-day tax matters,” he said, “then yes, it would take a lot of coffee to make it through the day. But our contracting responsibilities involve us in a lot of different UVA activities – often some of the most complicated ones – and that makes the job really interesting as well as really challenging at times.”

The Office of Tax Compliance and Contracting is located within the Financial Operations area of UVAFinance. Its primary duties are to ensure UVA’s compliance with all the various tax laws and to manage contracting activities for UVA’s central administration and operational units.

In layman’s terms, the offices’ duties fall in three big buckets: 

• Institutional Contracting (outside of the areas of Sponsored Programs and Procurement), which includes agreements for student placements, real estate rentals, educational services, art loans, international exchanges, etc.
• University Tax Compliance, which involves protecting the University’s tax-exempt status and providing guidance and oversight on all tax matters.
• International entity administration. The Cornerstone plan prioritizes providing a global experience for UVA’s students, and establishing a legal presence is often a requirement for expanding our opportunities for student involvement in foreign countries. In conjunction with the Vice Provost for Global Affairs, Define assists in establishing and operating UVA’s entities in China, France and Italy, with entities in additional countries planned in coming years.

There’s plenty of interesting projects in those buckets, especially the contracting and international administration areas.

For example, the Office of Tax Compliance and Contracting recently assisted in setting up a joint degree program for the McIntire School of Commerce that included study at universities in Spain and China and granted students degrees from all three institutions (“That was a really complex deal both on the financial side and the academic accreditation side,” said Define). The office has also been involved in obtaining artworks for the recent Andy Warhol exhibition at the Fralin Museum, licensing radio airtime for WTJU, and helping to develop a framework for high-tech internships at UVA Wise.

Although he and colleague Tim Lingo, Tax and Contract Administrator, sometimes get involved in high profile projects, Define says the best thing about the work his office does is the synergy and reciprocal relationship with the schools and units.

“We have really strong bonds with the Dean’s offices at just about every school. On the tax side, we have to monitor their activities and keep them compliant, but on the contract side we act as a service unit and help them work through legal and policy issues so their programs can go forward,” he said. “That builds trust with the Dean’s offices and it gives us a chance to be involved with the educational and research missions at the University which can be really satisfying.”

Happy Fiscal New Year!

In January, we celebrate the beginning of a new calendar year, with all its unwritten possibility. There’s a similar feeling surrounding the beginning of the academic year each fall – the new school year is another fresh start. In the financial world, the real New Year is July 1, when the new fiscal year begins. The transition between old and new doesn’t involve clinking champagne and singing Auld Lang Syne, however: it’s a lot of very hard work done by a team of dedicated financial professionals.

Here’s an inside look from UVAFinance Financial Planning & Analysis and Comptroller team into the hectic transition of putting the old year to bed and getting the new one started, financially speaking.

Judy Rowe, Director of Academic Budgets

June and July are busy months for Financial Planning & Analysis. We have multiple deadlines associated with the Board of Visitors and State, plus deadlines for closing the current fiscal year and opening the new one. One of the interesting activities that some may not be aware of is that every year, on July 1, even if the 1st falls on a Saturday or Sunday, three or four of our staff, along with support from IT, actually load the operating budgets into the Integrated System. We manually stage files to process the uploads, ensuring that installments, funding and budgeting are entered accurately on every PTAO with a year to date boundary code.

Imelda Carter, Manager of Operational Accounting

I guess you could say I’m the keeper of the cash. All of the cash accounts the departments use are reconciled each month in Oracle by Judy McDaniel and me, every month of the year. The only time we stop this ongoing process is on June 30 when Oracle shuts down. That’s when we make sure the cash object codes equal to the bank statement. We love that moment . . . it’s just beautiful when it all comes together. Our Oracle close went very smoothly this year. We had been watching our projections and making the entries we could before the system went down. On Saturday, July 1, I came in to prepare the state expenditure files, and that was a little more tricky. But basically, it is just like reconciling your bank accounts, and it allows you to get a clean start for the new year.

Judy McDaniel, Local Bank Reconciliation Accountant

In my role, I make sure the eight bank accounts we have with Bank of America are reconciled for year-end closing. Every line for each statement must be reconciled or amounts won’t balance with Oracle. It gets hectic at year end, and you always have the feeling that you need to get this done, because something new is coming tomorrow. Then, we basically start the new year for each bank account, making sure all lines are reconciled and researching any problems that may occur. My biggest achievement this year was that I had all bank statements reconciled and reports run by July 5, which was a new record for us.

Anne Marie Cumiskey, Budget Analyst
I assisted units with their FY17 close out activities, and I processed budget reductions for the FY18 budget, preparing for the load into Oracle and making any final changes. I started this job last year and had heard many anecdotes about prior budget loads on July 1. I was full of anticipation, and although this year July 1 was on a Saturday, it was fun. In the middle of the morning, a coworker surprised us with coffee and donuts. We were all huddled together, watching the computer screens, and making certain the load ran smoothly. Richard Parkins from ITS was great help to us getting everything loaded (and kudos to Mike Hayton, our own technical support person, for getting me up and running in a day when my laptop died during the last week of close)!

Christine Maxwell, Senior Budget Analyst
During the year end process, I work very heavily in both current year actuals and the future budget year, which as you can imagine can become confusing…sometimes I even forgot what year it really is and I found myself signing and dating things as 2018 instead of 2017. Although we’re often working in the future budget year, at year-end time, it’s nice to really work on actuals and look at the variance with what we had planned and budgeted a year prior. This was my 2nd budget season and I think every year I’m getting better and improving. The budget process involves lots of moving pieces from all members of our team and I think the process brings us closer. The veterans on our team have lots of knowledge to share and they are willing to share it. I think our new team members are caught up to speed in record time.

James Cathro, Budget Analyst
In my role, I see an uptick in picking up loose ends and cleanup work as we try to reconcile everything for year end. I spend more time than usual in Oracle updating awards and projects and submitting ICOMs on behalf of units. I jumped in with the budget team and EA for a few hours on Saturday, July 1, as they performed the upload, and I was struck by the great attitude and enthusiasm everyone had, even on a Saturday morning. They know they’re doing the necessary work to keep the University on track and on budget.

Rohan Patel, Senior Budget Analyst

The FY18 budget review process was challenging and exciting at the same time. This year, for the first time, I reviewed the budget submissions from the submitting unit from both a budgeting and University Financial Model (UFM) perspective. The challenge was to get the budgets balanced in UFM with zero or positive bottom line with the unit’s budget and allocated/calculated provost support, central services cost, crossing funding, and tuition dollars in the least amount of steps possible and get it ready in time for the Academic Unit’s budget review with the Provost. It was a big achievement for me to do that as accurately as possible, given all of those moving parts, for every single unit.

Yvonne Metheny, Accounting and Financial Analyst

Year-end is different from the rest of the year because of the greater intensity and urgency. My main year-end duties include estimating the State funds that the University needs to spend down before year end, updating and maintaining the files we have to send to the State (which Imelda worked tirelessly on during the July 4 weekend), maintaining the year-end calendar, analyzing data for accuracy, and generally running around trying to put out one fire after another. Almost every day I got asked some unique questions, which meant for multiple collaborations to figure out the correct answer or solutions. The biggest achievement is knowing that as a team, we made it through. I like the fact that I can help with workloads, answer questions, and be a go-to person for those who need help, both centrally and in the departments, and I’m very appreciative of the great bunch of people I work with!

UVAFinance welcomes new Assistant Vice President of Financial Operations

Jerry Burke likes to build things: new crown molding in his son’s house, a new deck and fence for his own home. He enjoys the work he puts in crafting these projects, and seeing the resulting transformation once the job is complete.

As the new Assistant Vice President for Financial Operations in UVAFinance, Burke will be in charge of building a robust and modern internal controls system and transforming core business practices at the University.

The AVP for Financial Operations itself represents a transformation; during a late-2016 search for a new Controller, UVAFinance leadership and the search team realized that the process and system changes coming up were going to require something slightly different than the traditional role entailed.

In this new role, Burke has oversight of accounting, financial reporting, procurement, payroll, and tax and accounts receivable. The alignment of these functions will allow for more responsive service to UVAFinance stakeholders, and allow UVAFinance to tackle upcoming changes with more speed and ease.

Most recently the Chief Financial Officer at Bloomberg Tradebook and Bloomberg Capital Markets, Burke brings deep experience in financial operations, internal controls and financial reporting. He has implemented financial systems and led a chart of accounts redesign, both of which will be required in UVAFinance in the near future. A new internal control framework, standardized and documented business practices, migration of payroll to Ufirst, and, inevitably, a new finance system are also on the horizon for UVAFinance.

“Jerry’s background and skillset will allow him to lead this change,” said Melody Bianchetto, Vice President for Finance.

“He has the specialized knowledge necessary to ensure success; he can help us handle the changes that are coming while keeping us on track with our mission and core values,” she said.

With a 30 year career in financial services based in Manhattan, Burke’s choice to work in academia in Charlottesville might seem potentially jarring, but he is philosophical about it.

First, he points out that he commuted to his work in the city, while he and his wife lived in small-town New Jersey, bringing up three children, now grown.

As for the shift from business to academics, he said, “This is a unique opportunity for me to leverage 80 to 90% of my background while working on subject matter that’s completely different.”

“It’s sort of like being a carpenter who builds houses, but one day you wake up and decide to make fine furniture. You can leverage a lot of your skills and do something new that interests you. UVA’s mission is something I want to be a part of.”

Burke looks forward to working collaboratively with University and school financial leaders, as well as those in financial roles at the UVA Medical Center, UVA’s College at Wise, and our affiliated foundations.

Building partnerships across the University will be a big priority for Burke: “We want to make sure we’re providing people with the information they need to make decisions and understand trends, and help them forecast the future as accurately as possible,” he said.

“We’re all part of the same team,” he commented.

“I look forward to building up our team and moving us forward quickly and intelligently during a period of many changes.”

Beasley finds happy homes for unclaimed payments

Not everyone at UVA knows who Laverne Beasley is, but those who do, know that a call from her could mean good news.

Beasley works in accounts receivable in UVAFinance, handling all of the payments that come into Bank of America for the university: payments to sponsored programs, UVA Press, Student Financial Services, and all of the state to state payments, just to name a few. In the course of a year, she receives and books over $2 billion each year . . . and sometimes, the money comes in with no indication of to whom it belongs, and that’s when Beasley starts researching.

Laverne Beasley of Accounts Receivable

Sometimes the confusion is on the part of the sender of the money. Beasley says wires can get sent to the wrong place, and there can be confusion over all the different UVA accounts. But sometimes, she says, the transfers arrive with no direction on where to apply it. On the day of this interview, Beasley was holding a $20,000 payment in a suspended account as she worked to find its owner.

“You might think people would be looking for their money,” Beasley laughed, “but I do have to call around. Sometimes people in the schools will know the money is coming, but they’re not sure exactly how much it will be. It’s my job to find out where the money belongs.”

Beasley doesn’t mind doing the investigative work it can take to properly allocate payments. Over the course of her 20 year career, she’s enjoyed talking to people all over Grounds and having great conversations.

“When I go to events like UVAForward and introduce myself, people will say, ‘oh, so you’re Laverne Beasley!” she said.

Beasley says the advent of QlikView has made her job easier, and she anticipates it getting even better once accounts receivable is in UBI. She has seen several changes since she came to UVA in 1997, and overall she has enjoyed working with people, especially when she locates a payment that belongs to them.

“It’s funny,” she said. “Now when I call someone on the phone and say ‘this is Laverne,’ the first thing they say is, ‘hi Laverne, do you have money for me?’”

UVAFinance welcomes new Director of Financial Reporting

UVAFinance is pleased to welcome Thomas Schneeberger to Financial Operations as Director of Financial Reporting. In this role, he will be responsible for the year-end close, including coordination with State Auditors, UVAFinance, and Foundations, the preparation of the University’s annual and quarterly financial reports, and generally stewarding the University’s financial system. 

Thomas Schneeberger

Schneeberger most recently served as the Assistant Director of Financial Reporting and Management Services at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, but his career path covered many miles prior to that role.

Schneeberger’s career in finance began with a degree from the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration in Austria, and shortly thereafter brought him stateside for a role with the City of Lexington in North Carolina after a year in Puerto Rico, where he married his wife Irela.

After serving as the Lexington’s Senior Accountant and then Financial Services Manager, Schneeberger decided to pursue his Master in Accounting at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and subsequent CPA licensure, which in turn led to a position with Ernst & Young as an auditor. For Ernst & Young, Schneeberger worked in Raleigh and the Cayman Islands, where he predominantly focused on the financial services industry. Eventually, he sought to leave the sphere of public accounting in favor of working in higher education.

Since his arrival at UVA early this May, he has been completing training in Oracle and other finance modules, as well as prepping the financial report for next year, assessing the impact of new standards from the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, and generally getting acquainted with UVA.

“I’m wrapping my head around the university structure, getting to know the players and stakeholders involved, and beginning to get in and get my hands dirty,” Schneeberger said.

He said he has found the transition from UNC to UVA to be positive.

“UVA is certainly a school with a great reputation, and Charlottesville is a nice town with a lot going on,” he commented, adding that he and his wife have already found some favorite places among Charlottesville’s many offerings, and they both look forward to enjoying outdoor activities, especially those involving water.

Schneeberger is a surfer, avid swimmer, and lover of water sports. His sports acumen doesn’t stop there; he was also somewhat of a basketball star in college, playing in a national semi-professional league in Austria.

Schneeberger’s enthusiasm for his new role is due especially to his enjoyment of working in higher education.

“As a University, we don’t just impact our direct customers – we do outreach in the community, we perform research, and we affect the world. We do a lot of good things here, and when you’re in a financial reporting role, you see the overall perspective and get to report on all of it.”