To: University Business Managers
From: Matt Fajack, Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration
Date: October 29, 2014
During my first five months at Carolina, I enjoyed the opportunity to meet many of you and wish to sincerely thank you for your warm welcome into the Carolina family. I appreciate all of the insight and advice you shared and I look forward to working with all of you in the years ahead.
Also during this time, I reviewed the Division of Finance and Administration organization to become more familiar with our operations and to examine how we can improve and enhance our services to better support the University community. Now that my initial analysis is complete, I would like to let you know about several organizational changes aimed at improving customer service, collaboration, efficiency, and effectiveness which are underway.
After four years as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Finance, Kevin Seitz announced his retirement effective October 31. I would like to thank Kevin for his leadership in this role as well as in the position of Interim Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration prior to my arrival. In addition to the vacancy that will be created by his departure, Meredith Weiss, Associate Vice Chancellor for Business Services and Administration, has also been serving in the role of Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Energy, Environment, Health and Campus Safety since shortly after Carolyn Elfland’s retirement in June 2013.
To fill these important positions and prepare our organization to better support the campus community, I am making several changes. First, I have expanded the role of Associate Vice Chancellor for Finance to a Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration. Effective November 1, Meredith Weiss will be promoted to this position, which involves a continuation of several important pieces of her existing role, such as serving as my principal deputy and overseeing Division business and administrative operations, as well as new responsibilities. The Senior AVC will additionally assist in the overall management and operations of the Division of Finance and Administration and oversee four units that will focus on financial operations, continuous improvement and business intelligence, shared services, and budget. Reporting to this position will be two new roles. The Assistant Vice Chancellor for Financial and Accounting Operations will oversee day-to-day financial operations for the University. The Executive Director for Continuous Improvement and Business Intelligence will be charged with improving business processes and working with Information Technology Services to lead a collaborative effort to transform business data into actionable business intelligence information. These positions will be posted for recruitment shortly. I have asked Brian Smith, Director of Treasury and Risk Management Services, to serve as Interim Assistant Vice Chancellor for Financial and Accounting Operations until the position can be filled permanently.
Second, the Associate Vice Chancellor for Energy, Environment, Health and Campus Safety position will become the Associate Vice Chancellor for Campus Safety and Risk Management. The person in this role will oversee Public Safety; Environment, Health, and Safety; and Risk Management. This change will more logically place our safety and emergency response areas under one AVC with a purposefully narrowed focus. This position will be posted for recruitment shortly.
Third, the Associate Vice Chancellor for Business Services and Administration will become the Associate Vice Chancellor for Campus Enterprises. This position will provide institutional oversight for the University’s campus enterprises including: Auxiliary Services, Energy Services, Student Stores, Trademarks and Licensing, and Transportation and Parking. This change will more appropriately place all the enterprise operations under a single AVC position and not intermingled with our safety operations. This positon will be posted for recruitment shortly. Effective October 21, Cheryl Stout’s existing duties managing parking services have been expanded to include oversight of the entirety of the parking and transportation operation, which is now separate from Public Safety. In this new capacity, Cheryl’s title will be changed to Director of Transportation and Parking Services.
Finally, Facilities Services will continue to be led by Associate Vice Chancellor Bruce Runberg and Assistant Vice Chancellor Anna Wu. Real Estate Development and the Carolina Inn will continue to be led by Executive Director Gordon Merklein. Sustainability will continue to be led by Director Cindy Shea and will report directly to me.
Once again, I look forward to working with each one of you and welcome your feedback on how our services can be further improved.
Note: This memo was also sent to Deans, Directors and Department Chairs.