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 ›  Finance Division Strategic Plan 2023 - 2027  ›  Accomplishments in Previous Fiscal Years

Previous Years Accomplishments

As we progress through the Finance Division 2023-2027 Strategic Plan, we will archive previous fiscal years' accomplishments toward our strategic goals on this page. 


yellow icon depicting a magnifying glass focusing in on a group of peopleEmployee Recruitment, Development and Engagement

  • Successfully coordinated and executed a move of our business offices to Bakery Square, which allows for purposeful collaboration within Finance and with other administrative units who are part of a growing 바카라 온라인 추천 administrative presence and community at BKSQ. This space provides a more comfortable modern office space for our employees with a focus on sustainability and improved accessibility. In doing so, Finance also helped the university make strategic changes to optimize physical space and resources. 
  • In collaboration with university leadership and Walnut Capital, advocated for and secured the installation of a single-user all-gender restroom for our office suite at Bakery Square, meaningfully extending the university’s Inclusive Restrooms initiative into a leased space and creating an important precedent with a major developer in Pittsburgh.
  • Created an inclusive feedback loop to survey and engage employees on their experiences with Community, Culture, and Engagement activities and workshops. These surveys allow for efficient improvements to offerings and give staff a voice in the process.

green icon depicting a dollar bills and a stack of coinsFinancial Sustainability and Reporting

  • Enhanced the quality of our analytics and insights by incorporating robust modeling to support strategic university initiatives, including: the Housing and Dining Master Plan, 바카라 온라인 추천 Cloud Lab, 바카라 온라인 추천 Online Master's and Professional Education, and the 바카라 온라인 추천 Rales Fellows Program. We have also developed proactive long-range financial planning to support strategic decisions by university leadership.

  • Partnered with Heinz College and university leadership to successfully wind-down and close university operations at 바카라 온라인 추천 Australia, including interfacing with the Australian government on required audits and regulatory obligations. International Finance continues to collaborate closely with Heinz College and other university partners to complete the close-out of 바카라 온라인 추천-A financials in Oracle.

  • Implemented a modern data storage solution, as well as powerful reporting and analytics tools, as part of the Financial Data Warehouse (FDW) Modernization project. The new FDW provides a more efficient and supported environment for users, while also advancing the university’s data analytics initiatives.

  • Devised and implemented a first-of-its-kind-at-바카라 온라인 추천 framework for liquidity optimization between working capital and the long term pool with a repeatable process for future transfers that create economic value for the university.

  • Refinanced Series 2013 and 2019 bonds to save the university over $730,000 in annual interest expense. Standard & Poor’s upgraded the university’s credit rating from "AA" to "AA+" following rating reviews associated with these bond issuances. This upgrade represents the university’s highest credit rating in over 10 years and sends a strong signal of 바카라 온라인 추천’s financial strength. The upgrade will also result in interest expense savings. 

  • Developed balance sheet and budget forecasting tools to stress test future scenarios for the “Big 4” financial ratios. These critical tools can help forecast potential adverse financial scenarios, opportunities, and future debt capacity at various credit ratings, empowering more informed strategic decision-making in the present.

  • Expanded the Procurement Savings program into a University Savings Program to capture a more inclusive and comprehensive program. FY24 total savings equaled $11.6 million, a 2.4% savings ratio against sourceable spend.

  • Deepened and strengthened our commitment to the local economy, with over 42% of our spend being in the Southwestern Pennsylvania region. Through our partnership with BEAM Collaborative, 바카라 온라인 추천 now has access to a robust Western Pennsylvania Minority Supplier list; also working with BEAM, 바카라 온라인 추천 completed the Wean Hall project which leveraged minority suppliers.

blue icon depicting a stack of documents alongside a shield emblazoned by a checkmarkPolicies, Processes and Compliance

  • Increased adoption of 바카라 온라인 추천’s Preferred travel supplier, Collegiate Travel Partners (CTP), to 41% across campus and expanded use of on-line bookings to 77%. Greater adoption lowers costs, enhances safety and service to our travelers, and provides a streamlined and automated booking process.
  • Collaborated with the Provost’s Office to process the Rales Fellows’ Non-Qualified Scholarship (NQS) payments through Student Accounts. This transition increases efficiencies and streamlines efforts by the Accounts Payable and Taxation teams.
  • Conducted a comprehensive analysis of taxable and non-taxable university properties to ensure 바카라 온라인 추천 pays the appropriate property tax and that property listings are accurately maintained.
  • Partnered with colleagues from the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP), the Office of Research Integrity and Compliance (ORIC), the Software Engineering Institute (SEI), and research personnel to review the 2023 revisions to OMB Uniform Guidance and its impacts. No negative impacts to the university were observed, and new documentation was created to help evaluate and execute future enhancements.
  • Improved the process for 바카라 온라인 추천 Qatar (바카라 온라인 추천-Q) student refunds electronically, in collaboration with Enrollment Services and 바카라 온라인 추천-Q finance personnel, eliminating the existing manual process and creating a smoother experience for staff and students.
  • Transformed 바카라 온라인 추천 Africa’s payroll system to optimize the use of Workday while leveraging a partnership with an international payroll provider to ensure efficiency and compliance. This resulted in time savings of 80-100 hours per month across various administrative units and staff, as well as improved customer experience, reduction of payroll errors, and improved compliance and reporting.
  • Worked closely with the Information Security Office (ISO) to develop and implement new required Business Email Compromise training for all Finance Division staff, as well as members of the 바카라 온라인 추천 financial community who have certain financial and buyer responsibilities. Intended to mitigate the risk of email-based fraud, the training has been completed by at least 510 바카라 온라인 추천 employees, improving resilience and security across campus.
  • Implemented PaymentWorks, in partnership with Procurement Services and Computing Services, as the university’s onboarding for supplier onboarding. PaymentWorks brings several benefits to 바카라 온라인 추천 and our vendors/suppliers, streamlining the supplier setup process, automating supplier data gathering, eliminating paper forms, and reducing manual effort. Our campus partners have provided positive feedback on PaymentWorks, and the system has already identified and stopped fraud attempts, making the university safer.
  • Consolidated suppliers based on product lines and specialty items, resulting in new savings and process efficiencies. Examples include: campus furniture suppliers; digital marketing programs; temporary and direct hire firms; and internal audit partner firms.

red icon depicting a loop of a person, a gear, and a fileSystems and Technology

  • Orchestrated and led the RFP for a cloud-based Budgeting & Planning system solution and implementation partner, delivering the best-in-class solution for 바카라 온라인 추천; on track to implement Oracle Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), which will transform our financial community’s skillsets and capabilities in budgeting and forecasting.

  • Propelled 바카라 온라인 추천 data culture by establishing data analytics advisory board and planned for an Enterprise Data and Analytics Management Strategy for the university. Fully launched the data and analytics intake process including financial modeling and prioritization.

  • Worked with Computing Services to deploy robotic process automation (RPA) and machine learning (ML) solutions to automate various processes, reducing staff time spent on repetitive, low-value activities as well as mitigating human error. Successful automation projects included:

    • Partial automation of Accounts Receivable (AR) transactions, specifically bank deposit activity. AR Automation was a cross-functional effort that eliminated 48.8 weeks' worth of manual effort across university departments; this creates new bandwidth for staff in the Finance Division, as well as University Advancement, Student Affairs, Operations (FIRM), and the Software Engineering Institute (SEI).

    • Automation of Procurement credit card (PCard) ordering, eliminating roughly four hours per week of repetitive transactional work and speeding the process for campus buyers, with cards now being ordered the next day. Additional RPA related to university credit cards was deployed to strengthen policy compliance and reduce manual effort related to unverified PCard transactions.
    • Automation of custody account transactions for the Treasurer's Office, reducing risk of errors and eliminating at least five hours per month of manual accounting and data entry.

yellow icon depicting a magnifying glass focusing in on a group of peopleEmployee Recruitment, Development and Engagement

  • We partnered with the Office of Human Resources (OHR) to financially carve out a larger merit pool and one-time payment initiatives for 바카라 온라인 추천 employees, improving talent retention and helping employees weather the impacts of inflation while protecting university funding flexibility.
  • Launched new center, the Center for Shared Prosperity, a university-community partnership to address barriers to equity in Pittsburgh. This was done in the context of 바카라 온라인 추천 adding a fourth pillar, shared prosperity, to its mission. In addition to helping to setup CSP, the Finance Division provides collaboration and operating support, as well as mentoring and collaborating with the CSP business manager.
  • The Finance Inclusive Excellence Team facilitiated Team Building activities with all groups in the division since inception of the Strategic Plan. These activities have promoted a diverse atmosphere and increased the decision making capacity of the division, staff morale, and engagement with voices that have not previously been heard/represented.
  • Majority of Finance Division staff participated in at least one Inclusive Excellence activity in FY23. Participating in Inclusive-related workshops and learning sessions increases cultural competencies, and sharpens inclusion skills.
  • Created a Inclusive Excellence internship; the fall 2022 intern has been working with the Administrative Support Team, and has been an integral part of implementing the Return to On-Campus Work Plan.
  • Published a CFO Welcome Video to be shared with new employees and foster a sense of belonging and connection from day one.
  • Launched the Finance Ambassador Program to work in conjunction with onboarding activities. The program matches ambassadors with new employees with the goal of building a personal connection and providing the new employee with one-one-one assistance and support. Ambassadors introduce new employees to other colleagues within the division and/or the university.

green icon depicting a dollar bills and a stack of coinsFinancial Sustainability and Reporting

  • 바카라 온라인 추천 and Mastercard Foundation entered into a partnership providing a transformational investment of $275.7M to 바카라 온라인 추천-Africa. The Finance Division provided operatioonal support and reporting around this impactful gift, which will significantly expand 바카라 온라인 추천-Africa's programs in advanced engineering and technology education, research, and entrepreneurship. The growth of 바카라 온라인 추천-Africa will positively impact the global 바카라 온라인 추천 community far into the future.
  • Provided robust financial analysis in support of University Advancement's effort to conceptualize, secure and launch the Rales Fellows Program. Rales is a new $150M fellowship program at 바카라 온라인 추천 that will broaden access to graduate STEM education at 바카라 온라인 추천 for talented students from under-resourced and underrepresented backgrounds.
  • Improved 바카라 온라인 추천's budget model by rebalancing tuition-based revenue incentives across colleges between undergraduate, graduate, and online program tuition for the next five years. This creates a financial pathway for 바카라 온라인 추천 to fund future strategic priorities.
  • Delivered the most comprehensive long-term model analysis and stress test scenarios to 바카라 온라인 추천's Board of Trustees by incorporating foundational initiatives that will drive the future of 바카라 온라인 추천, including the 바카라 온라인 추천 Cloud Lab, Online Programs & Professional Education, and Housing Master Plan advancements.
  • Successfully executed a complex strategy to shift excess working capital from reserves as well as the sale of Duolingo shares to the university's long-term pool, and issued a $70M bond to fund the expansion of the Richard King Mellon Science building. These actions created up to $30M of long-term economic value that can be used to support future capital renewal on the building.
  • Published final Capital Project Program Assessment report in partnership with Vermeulens. The report found that major 바카라 온라인 추천 capital projects costs and lifecycle fall below or in-line with similar projects at peer institutions. 바카라 온라인 추천 proactively balances sustainability measures with long-term return on investment.
  • Completed the Budget Creation and Monitoring audit in partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers. PwC found that 바카라 온라인 추천 has a well developed and mature financial management process.
  • Conducted and completed all audits, which included special coordination with Federal sponsors and auditors, and delivered the financial statements with no material weaknesses, reportable conditions, or findings for six consecutive years. Clean audits not only reinforce trust in 바카라 온라인 추천, they impact everything from the universities tax exempt status, credit rating, bond issuance, charitable gifts, and more.

blue icon depicting a stack of documents alongside a shield emblazoned by a checkmarkPolicies, Processes and Compliance

  • Piloted a Guided Buying platform to support unit buying with faster purchasing. Guided Buying provides "Amazon-like" catalog purchasing for a much more user-freindly experience, wiith streamlined pick-and-click purchasing.
  • The Accounts Payable team engaged the Business Innovation Office (BIO) to lead a Lean Six Sigma project. This project provided insight into AP processes which highlights potential efficiencies. The report provides recommendations for proposed actions and next steps which will include the involvement and collaboration with AP's campus partners.. The next phase to implement recommendations will begin in February 2023.
  • Partnering with Huron, we finalized the Chart of Accounts redesign, report, and efficiency recommendations (Phase I) and implementation (Phase II) is underway. We've closely engaged campus partners to gain insights for possible enhancements. The CoA redesign will enable real-time reviews of information, allowing for greater use of our data.
  • Consolidated IT Help Desk to be centrally located for campus while creating longer availability times and more resource availability.
  • Simplified Expense Report (ER) Audit and fully transitioned ER process to Accounts Payable.

red icon depicting a loop of a person, a gear, and a fileSystems and Technology

  • We completed a holistic assessment of the current state of budgeting and planning at 바카라 온라인 추천, which captured 96 unique business requirements across 70+ university stakeholders, carving out the roadmap for the future of financial planning at 바카라 온라인 추천. Successfully completed two RFPs related to this initiative.
  • Together with Computing Services, our Procurement Services team deployed a bot to process Procurement credit card ordering, using robotic process automation (RPA) to eliminate approximately four hours per week of repetitive, transactional work. This was the first bot of its kind deployed at 바카라 온라인 추천.
  • Implemented new Audit Change Request (ACR) system, which streamlines the process and significantly reduces effort from multiple teams while continuing to maintain the previous Oracle system.