Sheri O’Brien recently returned to the Office of Finance and Administration as institutional assistant, where she provides administrative support to the office and its subsidiary departments. Sheri has a B.S. degree in organizational management and has completed course requirements for a M.Ed. degree in adult education.
Effective immediately, Special Meeting Forms are not required for “on-campus” events. Events on any of the campuses, whether hosted or coordinated by UALR, meet the criteria of being designated an “official function” of the university. Please note that although the form is no longer required for on-campus events, Sodexo still has first right to refusal for all catering on campus except for the Benton Center and athletic-related events at the Stephens Event Center.
In addition, special attention is needed when completing Section A. Describe event and benefit to UALR or state. This information is required to comply with state regulations (A.C.A. 19-4-903) on reimbursing expenses within the city or town of employee’s “official station.” Forms not detailing this completely will be returned.
When revising the form to incorporate the changes, the new form was built as a PDF fill-in form that can be saved, for your convenience. The revised form is on Purchasing’s website (ualr.edu/purchasing) under “Purchasing Forms” and the “Travel Forms” link.
In November 2012, Allen Stanley became UALR’s contract review manager. Formerly the director of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP), Allen brings a wealth of experience with him in the fields of accounting, finance, and grants.
Since joining UALR in October 1998, Allen has been involved in central financial administration, departmental financial administration, and university public outreach activities, starting as an accounts payable accountant and then a grants accounting in Financial Services. In February 2000, he joined the Small Business and Technology Department, where he served in various financial and administrative capacities. Finally, Allen joined ORSP in October 2008 as a senior grants and contracts specialist, where he was promoted to assistant director in March 2010 and director in January 2011.
As contract review manager, Allen will aid the campus in contract related matters, including but not limited to: professional services, industry sponsored research, material transfer, confidentiality/non-disclosure agreements, aspects of technology transfer, and other contract related assignments.
Allen’s office is located in the Office of Finance and Administration, SSC 425. He may be reached at 501.569.3363 or adstanley@ualr.edu.
The Office of Finance and Administration has been promoting ongoing training and awareness programs within the Finance departments to help prevent fraudulent activity on campus. An important part of this has been to encourage employees from various areas of Finance to pursue the Certified Fraud Examiner designation. Steve McClellan, associate vice chancellor of finance, recently state, “It was our goal to strategically place Certified Fraud Examiners in our key Finance departments, and I am pleased to announce we have achieved this goal.”
The following individuals have passed all course work and received notice from the certification committee of their right to use the CFE credentials: Phylesia Davis, financial systems administrator; Cassandra Williams, reconciliation coordinator, Accounts Payable; Clarice Anderson, buyer, Purchasing; and Christopher Hickman, fiscal support analyst, Payroll.
As a matter of good business practices and fiscal responsibility, UALR operates under a set of standard procedures and internal controls. To further solidify the university’s responsible fiscal practices, the Signature Authority Delegation for University Financial Transactions and Documents policy was adopted on March 25, 2013.
Internal controls are put in place to ensure that no single employee is authorized to both approve a commitment of funds and to authorize the processing of payments. This new policy details the university’s significant controls that are in place to ensure funds availability and property approvals in the following areas: payroll expenditures; requisitions for purchase; P-Card purchases; travel expenses; contracts, agreements, and MOUs; and construction contracts. Most of these controls have been in place as standard operating procedures and were simply formalized into this policy.
The one exception is the procedures for contracts, agreements, and MOUs, which have been updated now that the university has a contract review manager on staff. The purpose of the update was to ensure that all contracts are properly reviewed and authorized by the administration. According to this policy, “All university contracts, agreements (including professional service contracts, international student exchange agreements, and software license agreements), as well as MOUs that contain vendor specified terms and conditions are initially reviewed by the contract review manager.”
Allen Stanley, UALR’s contract review manager, reviews these documents for all required language and impermissible clauses. If necessary, complex agreements are submitted to the university’s legal counsel for review. Once the document complies with all state laws and board policies, it is executed by the chancellor or the vice chancellor for finance and administration. It is important to note that no other campus employees are authorized to sign on behalf of the university. Allen may be reached at 501.569.3363 or adstandley@ualr.edu to assist with this process or to answer questions on the correct procedures.
In conclusion, this policy provides a sound internal control environment with clearly defined authority on who can obligate the university with external parties and approve financial transactions for the university. A copy of the policy is located at ualr.edu/policy under the “Administration” section.