Finance & Administration Annual Management Report Fiscal Year 2020
Auxiliary Services
Auxiliary Services consists of six retail and service departments including Bulldog Bucks, the UGA Bookstore, Dining Services, UGA Golf Course, Transportation & Parking Services, and Vending Services to fulfill the needs of students, faculty, staff, and visitors of the University of Georgia.
Vending Services
Vending Services completed the campus MicroMart implantation in 3 locations and began expansion of the program to include 7 locations by year end. MicroMarts offer an unmanned convenience store option where students, faculty, and staff can choose from a wider variety than what is found in the typical vending machine and pay via kiosks. These locations not only offer added variety, but convenience in that they are available 24/7 or any time the facility is open.
Community Involvement
UGA Police Department officers and detectives participated in the 2019 Athens-Clarke County “Shop with a Cop” event, which paired 100 children in need with local police personnel to facilitate $100 worth of Christmas shopping for their families.
FY20 will be remembered for the great pandemic. A time no one had experienced. This required HR to continually pivot as new regulations and programs emerged.
The Human Resource organization focused on helping employees navigate the pandemic. This included unique initiatives such as the CARES Act, non-closure emergency leave, telework and ADA requests to name a few. In an unprecedented time, explaining new programs through virtual meetings, written communication and answering questions via phone/email were critical to UGA faculty and staff continuing to focus on its core mission.
Stabilizing OneUSG Connect was a major focus for the year. Implementing dedicated teams to assist campus users allowed process times to be reduced by 40%. Even while the HR team was working remotely, they continued to focus on key improvement projects. One example – implementing the OneUSG Connect summer pay functionality. The new process used the technology to allow business managers to easily hire and track these costs and significantly reduced the error rate.
Learning and Development programs went fully online in March. Human Resources offered 348 classes during the year. Leadership, supervisor and career programs participation increased by over 50% from last year. Employees working from home had access to online learning opportunities. An unexpected positive from the pandemic during the second half of the year.
Received Award of Distinction for Excellent Financial Reporting from the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts. This award is presented to organizations that submit quality financial statements and supporting documentation in a timely manner, whose annual financial report is given an unmodified audit opinion, and is free of any significant deficiencies or material weakness, and organizations that comply with all Transparency in Government Relations.
Coordinated resolution of more than 250 business process enhancement requests from colleges, schools, and units as part of continuous improvement initiative. Enhancement queue moved from 21% complete to 75% complete.
Implemented an Amazon punch-out in UGAmart empowering departments to re-direct Amazon purchases from their p-cards to purchase orders. This punch-out also expands access to the Amazon marketplace to more faculty and staff who do not have access to p-cards.
Transitioned to remote operations successfully across all of Finance Division in response to COVID-19 pandemic.
Insurance & Claims Management
Insurance & Claims Management serves our internal and external customers with speed, efficiency and accuracy on resolving issues that relate to insurance.
The insured value of the University’s buildings for FY20 was $3,557,811,492. The insured value for University contents was $850,209,581, for a total coverage of $4,408,021,073. The premium for this coverage was $1,372,174.
ICM also manages fleet liability and auto physical damage policies for the University’s vehicles. In FY20, the University maintained a fleet of 2,071 vehicles. 1,431 of those vehicles were insured under an auto physical damage policy for a premium of $166,511. All vehicles carried liability insurance for a premium of $365,800. 117 claims involving University vehicles were reported for FY20. That is a decrease from 172 claims that were submitted in FY19. The total paid out by DOAS for those claims was $76,532, a decrease from FY19 which paid out $138,696. $16,520 was recouped through subrogation.
Office of Emergency Preparedness
The Office of Emergency Preparedness provides a comprehensive homeland security and management program for the University of Georgia to save lives, protect property, promote continuity of operations and reduce the overall effects of large-scale disasters.
Assisted with the overall planning and coordination for the University’s response to the COVID-19 Pandemic including the development of the Return to Campus Guidelines for Faculty and Staff, the Supervisor and Faculty/Staff training modules and distributed nearly 16,000 pieces of personal protective equipment to the state, locally and on campus.
Expanded the Stop the Bleed program with the addition of 137 bleeding control kits on all UGA buses and in residential housing facilities (total of 590 kits on all campuses)
Planning: Innovation District Framework Plan
The Innovation District is a comprehensive ecosystem of places, programs, and people all working together to foster innovation, entrepreneurship, and experiential learning. Working with the Innovation District Launch Team, the Office of University Architects for Facilities Planning led the development of long-term framework plan to imagine the potential growth of UGA’s Innovation District over time. The red structures are conceptual buildings that could accommodate any number of users and uses, including:
- Office and lab space, including step-out and traditional leasable space.
- Entrepreneur-in-residence offices, information center, and other centralized Innovation District resources.
- Shared equipment and common collaboration and meeting spaces.
- Areas for industry partners to embed in the Innovation District.
- Multi-use innovation plaza/green space for outdoor events and activities
Find out more information at: https://innovation.uga.edu/about/
Completed: Historic Preservation Renovation: Brumby Hall
In August of 2020, the 1966 Brumby Hall, an approximately 214,000 square foot high-rise residence hall with a one-story rotunda, reopened after a comprehensive renovation. The $53,600,000 renovation, funded entirely by University Housing, included updated mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, roof replacement, elevator upgrade, and exterior envelope maintenance and repair. A four-pipe system was installed utilizing the existing campus chilled water and steam infrastructure and allowing for individualized climate control in each room. To improve the student experience, the living, bathroom, and programmatic spaces were reconfigured to improve privacy and enable more flexible furniture placement. Enhanced student amenities such as laundry facilities, community kitchens, and increased study spaces, encourage interaction and engagement. The rotunda, main entrance lobby, and associated common spaces were modernized to further encourage social and scholarly collaboration between the students residing in Brumby Hall as well as students, faculty and advisors who are visiting from other parts of the UGA community.
Interdisciplinary STEM Research Building 1 and Parking Deck
This new approximately 100,000 gross square foot research facility and multi-level 300 vehicle parking deck is currently under construction. The research facility will optimize collaborative interactions and innovations in chemistry, engineering and related STEM sciences for students and researchers. It is scheduled for completion during fall 2021.
Interdisciplinary STEM Research Building 2
This new approximately 100,000 gross square foot research building, paired with the I-STEM Research Building 1, will support the University’s robust and rapidly expanding research and teaching enterprise and optimize collaborative interactions and innovations in chemistry, engineering and related STEM sciences for students and researchers. During FY20 it was under design. It is scheduled to begin construction in December 2020 and to be complete by fall 2022.
On the south side of the new buildings there will be a new significant greenspace, as featured in this rendering.
Completed: UGA Center for Continuing Education & Hotel Improvements
This $13,850,000 project was completed during fall 2019 and was comprised of four components: 1. Exterior Envelope Improvements, 2. Interior Hotel Room & Corridor Renovation, 3. Mechanical Improvements, and 4. Food Concepts Renovation.
Each of these components are located within the structure known as the Classic Wing, original to the Georgia Center's opening in 1957.
The Information Systems Support Program of the Environmental Safety Division (ESD) completed the fifth annual laboratory chemical inventory reconciliation, ensuring that approximately 172,000 active laboratory chemical containers are properly inventoried and tracked. This audit revealed an accuracy rate of 80%, the highest accuracy rate since reconciliations began in FY2014. The reconciliation project compared actual physical containers on shelves, in refrigerators and in flammable cabinets with the online inventory listings in the Chematix system database. Lab personnel maintain accuracy by transferring containers when they are physically moved among and between lab locations and by deleting containers when the contents are spent. The improvement in accuracy is attributed to increased laboratory staff awareness through the Hazardous Waste Compliance Team inspections, Office of Research Safety inspections and the ongoing support of the Information Systems Support Program.
An accurate chemical inventory is critical for institutional compliance with state and federal requirements including State Hazardous Chemical Right-to-Know reporting and federal Department of Homeland Security Chemicals of Interest reporting. Functionality of the Chematix system allows ESD to categorize laboratories by hazard, based on the type and quantity of chemicals on hand which facilitates responses by emergency agencies in the event of a laboratory accident, chemical spill, or fire. The Chematix system also enables campus-wide inquiries from research laboratories that need only small quantities of specific chemicals that can be obtained from a peer laboratory rather than purchasing new.
ESD worked in collaboration with Office of Research to implement a graduated risk management approach to laboratory safety and RCRA compliance as a standard operating procedure at the extended campuses in Griffin and Tifton as well as the research institutes at Sapelo Island and Skidaway Island. This included deployment of the Chematix laboratory chemical inventory system at the Griffin campus. In FY2018, UGA adopted an institutional Environmental Health and Management System (EHSMS). An EHSMS provides an important framework for the University to focus proper attention on health, safety, and environmental protection through compliance with existing regulations and standards, implementation of best practices, and the identification and mitigation of potential hazards. These activities are essential to the success of the University. Initial implementation of the EHSMS on the Athens campus continued into FY2019 and in FY2020 it was expanded to include the extended campus and coastal research institutes.
This engagement began with virtual meetings with extended campus and research institute leadership. It continued with on-site townhall meetings for laboratory faculty and staff which explained the services offered by ESD and ORS as well as a discussion of the expectations for meeting and maintaining laboratory safety and compliance standards. ESD and ORS provided assessments of all laboratory spaces for a benchmark of current safety and compliance status and worked with laboratory staff to address identified issues and concerns. ESD worked with campus and institute leadership to addressed funding needs for one-time hazardous waste disposal needs.
This was a team effort by ESD’s Hazardous Waste Compliance Program, Industrial Hygiene and Occupational Safety Program, and Information Systems Support Program. The Hazardous Waste Compliance Program visited each laboratory to assess compliance with RCRA regulations and assessed satellite accumulation areas and central accumulation areas as well as current storage and disposal practices. Industrial Hygiene and Occupational Safety assessed laboratory safety equipment including chemical fume hoods, safety shower and eyewash stations, and laboratory worker safety concerns. The Information Systems Support Program provided Chematix training sessions at each of the extended campuses and research institutes and followed-up with periodic on-site visits to address specific needs.
Campus Energy Consumption
Since 2007, Campus-wide energy consumption decreased by 24.5% and campus wide water consumption decreased by 32.5%.
These important metrics for the campus overall are the result of a combined effort of engineered modifications, improved maintenance on major systems, and smart energy/water reducing practices by building services and other staff.
Alert and diligent staff throughout the campus have aided FMD in eliminating waste and reducing consumption through issue reporting and environmentally smart practices. This has ultimately resulted in significant energy and water consumption reductions which means enormous cost avoidance for the University.
Serving Campus
The significance of this accomplishment, the completion of more than 5,300 work orders per month, is the combined effort of the entire FMD team and represents everything that we do, including: major system repairs and replacements, minor building repairs and upkeep, filter and belt changes, vehicle repairs, grounds and arboretum upkeep, building cleaning and disinfection, engineering designs, utility system operations, 24/7 operations of the central steam plant, and much more.
It is all made possible because of the support of the dedicated staffs in IT, financial and HR management, material procurement, warehousing, safety, work request, and sustainability.
UGA Office of Real Estate
Real Estate Transactions are handled on behalf of the University of Georgia through the Office of the Vice President for Finance and Administration to include: leases of real property, management of real property assets, build to suit arrangements and capital leases and lease-to-buy arrangements.
Worked in partnership with the Office of Space Management to evaluate potential consolidations and reductions of square footage rented from third party landlords
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
These reports represent the compilation of the efforts of over 1,800 staff members in Finance & Administration and we would like to acknowledge their role in making the many accomplishments found herein possible, as well as the efforts of those responsible for compiling the information represented.
We would like to offer a special thanks to the team of Finance & Administration staff members who assisted in this report: Talia Locarnini and Taylor West
