Give your colleagues a shout out – they could win a prize!

The “Collaborative Space” board in Carruthers Hall is a great place to show your colleagues a little appreciation: just jot a quick note on the board or use one of the “You Rock” sheets, or one of the new UVAFinance mission-specific shout out sheets.

Shout-outs on the Collaborative Space in Carruthers Hall

Beginning last month, the Employee Engagement Committee randomly draws two winners from the Collaborative board – anyone whose name is included on any kind of shoutout on the board is eligible to win, provided there’s a reason for the shout out included.

If you’re outside of Carruthers, please feel free to send your shout outs (and the reason behind them) to Brandi Van Ormer, and she will gladly post it for you.

The new “recognition raffle” will take place every Finance Shirt Friday, just like the Spirit Raffle, and after the winners are chosen each month, the board will be cleaned off for a new round of shout outs and new chances to win.

So go on, give a colleague a shout out -- It only takes a minute to recognize your co-workers and spread some encouragement!

PSDS co-hosts another great SWaMfest

SWaMfest a demonstration of UVA's commitment to small, minority-owned, and women-owned businesses

Procurement and Supplier Diversity Services SWaM representatives were proud to help host the 13th annual SWaMfest, the Commonwealth’s premier event for networking, education, and professional development for small, women-owned, and minority-owned businesses. 

The event is hosted yearly by the Virginia Association of State College & University Purchasing Professionals (VASCUPP), of which UVA is a member institution, with the goal of helping attendees navigate the process of doing business with Virginia and its state colleges and universities.

This year’s event was attended by more than 450 business people, who were able to connect not only with other small businesses but also with university and government personnel who can offer guidance on how to best market their goods and services to Virginia’s colleges and Universities.

In addition to a vendor fair, attendees were treated to breakout sessions on leadership and professional development, along with practical sessions on working with Virginia entities. 

SWaMfest attendees enjoy a breakout session 

Les Haughton, Director of Supplier Diversity at UVA, had the pleasure of welcoming the group on the second full day of the event.

“SWaMfest reflects our commitment to maximizing the participation of small, minority-owned, and women-owned businesses through the development of mutually beneficial business relationships,” he said.

“We believe this program has the potential to create better partners, stronger customers, and economic growth for our vendors, our schools and departments, and our community.”

Another way PSDS seeks to interact with SWaM vendors is through their free bi-monthly vendor trainings. These trainings give both current and potential vendors a better understanding of buying and paying at UVA.

The next training will be held Wednesday, November 8 (register here). For more information about UVA’s SWaM efforts, click here.

Mark your calendar: VOTE on November 7!

“We in America do not have government by the majority.  We have government by the majority who participate.” – Thomas Jefferson

Make plans to participate.  Vote on November 7.

Supervisors, please be flexible with time so that employees can make time for this important responsibility.

More information on voting in Virginia (including polling places, what’s on the ballot, etc.) HERE.

Second Annual UVAFinance Thanksgiving Food Drive

This season, UVAFinance will again be collecting food and monetary donations for the Community Feast Project.  Last year, UVAFinance put together over 12 baskets for needy families in the Charlottesville/Albemarle area, contributing to the over 200 that were distributed in total. 

Let's see if we can beat that total this year!

Items needed:  monetary donations for turkey, box of granulated sugar, brown sugar, canned yams, canned green beans, canned milk, 5 lb bag of potatoes, package of dinner rolls, box of pasta, jar/can of turkey gravy, box of stuffing, can of cranberry, cake mix, cake frosting.

Collection boxes will be located throughout Carruthers Hall -- be on the lookout.  When you bring an item, mark it off the list that will be affixed to the collection box.  Cash donations can be submitted to Stacey Rittenhouse or Nicole Ferretti in the VP Finance Suite.

All donations are due no later than Wednesday, November 16.

Thank you for your generosity!

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.”

The sun has set . . . how did it go?

The sun set on Discoverer reporting for GA, GL, and LD on August 30 -- an event we'd been working toward for what seemed like such a long time.  The UBI team recently polled those users who were involved in the sunset, asking them some key questions on their satisfaction with the process, including communication and support.

A walkthrough of the survey results is posted on UBIC.

Spoiler alert:  most respondents reported that the sunset experience was a positive one for them and that the dedicated support of Area Champions was a key factor in the transition's success.

Check out the rest of the survey results for more interesting responses, and an opportunity to share your thoughts on the sunset.

Thank you to everyone involved in this process!  Your feedback has been (and will continue to be) invaluable!