Financial Management Advisory Committee (FinMAC)

Two University of Minnesota students working together at a computer lab.

Financial Systems User Network (FSUN)

FSUN exists as a network of employees within the University who are involved in, or interested in, finance-related topics. If you are involved in any aspect of financial management related to originating, maintaining, or using financial information, you are encouraged to join FSUN (details below). The FSUN group is guided by a subcommittee appointed by FinMAC. The subcommittee is made up of employees from across the University of Minnesota.

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About FinMAC

FinMAC consists of a chair and eleven members: six permanent and five rotating. Each position is filled by appointment by the CFO in consultation with the senior leader of the organizations represented on the committee (e.g., provost, VP, dean).

Appointees are expected to be chief financial managers or other senior finance leaders in the organizations represented on the committee. The six permanent positions are assigned to:

  • Provost's Office
  • Academic Health Center VP area
  • College of Liberal Arts
  • College of Science and Engineering
  • Medical School
  • Campus (with a responsibility to consult with and represent all campuses)

The five rotating positions are assigned at large by the CFO from collegiate, campus, and administrative units not already represented by the six permanent positions, and rotating appointments may not be made from units within the CFO's organization. The five rotating appointments will be made in such a way as to promote a balanced perspective on the committee. 

The five rotating positions will be appointed for three years each. Recommendations for at-large appointees will be sought from current FinMAC members. Members will be eligible for reappointment to consecutive three-year terms at the recommendation of FinMAC, and when the CFO determines that reappointment to another term is in the best interest of the committee and financial community. Rotating members from the Twin Cities campus may not come from organizations already represented by the six permanent positions. Campus staff from a campus other than that of the permanent campus member are eligible.

If a member steps down prior to the conclusion of his or her three-year term, the vacancy will be filled for the remainder of the term by an interim appointment, and the position will be eligible to be refilled for a full three-year term on its usual cycle. The individual appointed to fill the partial term need not be from the same unit as the person who stepped down.

A non-voting chair for FinMAC will be appointed by the CFO, subject to ratification by a 2/3 vote of FinMAC. The chair can be, but need not be, chosen from FinMAC’s membership.  If the chair is chosen from FinMAC’s existing membership, a new committee member will be chosen to fill the seat on the committee vacated by the chair. (Approved by FinMAC, 9/8/2016)

FinMAC Committee Members

Full Committee

Mark Erickson, [email protected], Humphrey School of Public Affairs/Law School

FinMAC EFS Subcommittee & Work Groups

FinMAC will participate on four standing work groups that align with the structure of the Controller's Module Support Team. One FinMAC member will be the lead user representative on each group, and there will be five additional members of each work group from the user community. The FinMAC lead and all five user representatives will be selected by FinMAC -- typically the lead and one of the five additional members will be from FinMAC, while the other four user representatives typically will come from outside of FinMAC. In addition to the representatives from FinMAC and the broader user community, the relevant BPOs, Module Support leads, and central subject matter experts will participate in the work groups.

The four FinMAC leads will constitute FinMAC's EFS subcommittee. They will coordinate with each other, raise issues to the full committee when necessary, and jointly propose to the full committee user representatives to fill the work groups and replacement users when vacancies occur. The full committee will discuss and approve the user representatives proposed for the work groups. In consultation with central representatives, the FinMAC EFS subcommittee is empowered to make other decisions about the operation of the work groups and will use their judgment regarding issue escalation to the full committee. The FinMAC subcommittee periodically will report on its work to the full committee

These are the groups FinMAC convenes to advise on matters related to the Enterprise Financial System:

  • Accounts Payable, Purchasing, Expense, PCard
  • Grants, Projects, Contracts, Accounts Receivable, Billing
  • General Ledger, Asset Management (capital assets), Budgeting, Treasury, Endowments
  • Payroll Accounting, HCM Integration

FinMAC Financial Reporting Groups

Financial Reporting Groups

There are two financial reporting groups that FinMAC has representation on or for which they recommend members. These groups are led by the business process owners (Budget Office and Controller's Office) and provide input and prioritization as part of the finance pillar that feeds into the Enterprise Data Management and Reporting (EDMR) Steering Committee. The two groups are:

Finance Strategic Reporting Committee (FSRC)

The role of the FSRC is to provide overall direction and strategic guidance related to the finance reporting roadmap and initiatives to the finance pillar. The current charge of the FSRC is to improve the financial data and reporting environment at the University. To accomplish this major task the committee will establish a roadmap that includes a series of long, medium and short term recommendations. The roadmap includes a variety of tasks ranging from infrastructure and data standards to creating reports, dashboards, queries, and a data dictionary, and implementing new tools as appropriate. Prioritizing infrastructure initiatives, requirements and requests is a key responsibility of this committee.

Finance Report Design Team (FRDT)

This team represents the primary finance report and data consumer group that assists with the implementation of the overall direction, priorities and work scope for the finance pillar. Specifically assists with detail report design specifics and testing of developed financial content. Group represents financial content users and have knowledge with current uses of reports/data and gaps.

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FSUN Membership

Why become a member of FSUN?

If you are a full-time or part-time employee of the University of Minnesota and are involved in any aspect of financial management related to originating, maintaining, or using financial information, you are encouraged to join FSUN. As a member of FSUN, you will be invited to attend periodic events that highlight detailed information on the latest features to our financial systems, visions for the future, topic-specific discussions, and more.

FSUN members are:

  1. University of Minnesota employees.
  2. Involved full-time or part-time in any aspect of financial management related to originating, maintaining, or using financial system information.
  3. Interested in continually improving the financial systems and increasing effective use of the financial systems as financial reporting, recording and management decision-making systems.
  4. Willing to participate in guiding the future direction of the financial systems.
  5. Interested in supporting other financial system users through networking and information exchange.

Do you want to join FSUN (or leave the group)?

FSUN uses Google Groups to share content. Search the University's Google Groups for Financial Systems User Network FSUN General Membership or [email protected]. Anyone can send a join request to the group. Or, if it is more convenient, send us an email at [email protected] indicating you would like to join FSUN. Be sure you use your official University of Minnesota email address (ending in umn.edu).

FSUN Subcommittee

The subcommittee can be reached via [email protected].

  • Heather Nisan (OIT)
  • Melissa Corkins (Med School - OPHTH and Visual Neuroscience)
  • Kim Frey (Med School)
  • Amelia Hedberg (Med School - CNC)
  • Royce Hunter (CLA)
  • Mio Ishida (CURA)
  • Eric Krum (SPH)
  • Tara Plath (Hormel Institute)
  • Ed Sumner (CEHD)
  • Ex officio: Crista Endo, Esther Jordan (Controller's Office)

FSUN Events

The Financial Systems User Network (FSUN) is an organization comprised of over 700 University employees who have finance-related job duties. Group activities are planned by the FSUN subcommittee of FinMAC. Suggestions welcome! FSUN wants to facilitate sessions people find useful, timely, and interesting.

Email us at [email protected]