
Financial Management Advisory Committee (FinMAC)
FinMAC is a standing committee formed by the University Chief Financial Officer to provide recommendations and structured feedback from the financial community to the CFO and the management team reporting to the CFO.
The committee provides regular input on all aspects of financial management at the University including EFS, financial policies, budgeting, financial reporting, business processes, internal control, and other topic areas. FinMAC identifies issues important to the financial community that it wants the CFO's management team to address.
FinMAC approaches issues it works on with the dual goals of
- establishing financial operations that effectively balance efficiency and risk, and
- ensuring responsible stewardship of University resources.
Financial Systems User Network (FSUN)
FSUN exists as a network of employees within the University of Minnesota 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 system.
Browse the FinMAC / FSUN Event Archive page for useful presentations, documents, and job aids provided from previous events.
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
- System campus (with a responsibility to consult with and represent all system campuses)
The five rotating positions are assigned at large by the CFO from collegiate, system 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. System campus staff from a campus other than that of the permanent system 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
- Michelle Wills (Chair), [email protected], Carlson School of Management
- Elizabeth Eull, eullx001@umn.edu, College of Biological Sciences
- Sue Bosell, [email protected], UMD Finance and Operations
- David Ulaszek, [email protected], College of Liberal Arts
- Shaan Hamilton, [email protected], Libraries
- Jill Merriam, [email protected], Academic Affairs/Provost
- David Pappone, [email protected], College of Science and Engineering
- Jerian Lind, [email protected], Medical School
- Kristin Charles, [email protected], Office of the Vice President of Research
- Charlene Paitrick, [email protected], Office of Academic and Clinical Affairs
- Liya Fitzpatrick, [email protected], College of Continuing and Professional Studies
- Mark Erickson, [email protected], Humphrey School of Public Affairs/Law School
FinMAC Formal Recommendations
- Cash basis for UM Reports April 2011
- Expenses should show as positive numbers April 2011
- Accounts Receivable should be used for TIP April 2011
- Shift Combo Codes to "behind the scenes" functionality August 2011
- Advisory committee proposal (creation of FinMAC) February 2012
- EFS approval processes April 2012
- PCard February 2013
- Internal/External Sales Issues February 2013
- Finance dotted line reporting relationship July 2013
- Provisional access March 2014
- Financial training curriculum and suggested training grid December 2014
- Transfers between Funds December 2014
- FinMAC's membership guidelines September 2016
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 on 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 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.
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:
- University of Minnesota employees.
- Involved full-time or part-time in any aspect of financial management related to originating, maintaining, or using financial system information.
- Interested in continually improving the financial systems and increasing effective use of the financial systems as financial reporting, recording and management decision-making systems.
- Willing to participate in guiding the future direction of the financial systems.
- 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 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 Lightning Links
Topic | Link |
Chart of Accounts | Chart of Accounts Manual, Chart of Accounts ChartField Values (Google Sheet) |
Perceptive Content | Perceptive Content (imaging system) |
Purchasing | |
Purchasing Services | purchasing.umn.edu |
Purchasing Goods and Services Policy | Purchasing Goods and Services policy |
Business Expense Policy | Business Expenses |
Hospitality & Entertainment of Non-Employees Policy | Hospitality policy |
Expense Allowability | Expense Allowability Grid |
Non-Purchase Order Related Payments | Non-PO payments list |
PCard Policy | PCard policy |
Receipt Job Aid | Receipting on Blanket PO (courtesy of Med School) |
U Market | umarket.umn.edu |
University-Wide Pricing Agreements | uwidecontracts.umn.edu |
Certificate of Exemption (relating to sales tax) | ST-3 tax exemption certificate |
Prepared Foods (relating to taxability) | List of taxable items, prepared foods |
Candy (relating to taxability) | List of taxable items, candy |
Soft Drinks (relating to taxability) | List of taxable items, soft drinks |
Reports/Forms | |
University Forms Library | Forms Library |
Access Request Form (ARF) | ARF for EFS |
Travel | |
U Travel Site | U Travel |
Traveling on University Business Policy | Travel policy |
Chrome River | Go to MyU > Key Links > U Travel |
Domestic & International Per Diem Rates | Travel policy (contains per diem information) |
Foreign Currency Converter | Currency converter |
Foundation | |
University of MN Foundation | University of Minnesota Foundation (UMF) |
Sponsored Projects | |
Sponsored Projects Administration | Sponsored Projects Administration (SPA) |
Sponsored Financial Reporting | Sponsored Financial Reporting (SFR) |
Certified Approvers | Certified Approver community of practice |
Effort Certification and Reporting Technology | Effort Certification and Reporting Technology (ECRT) |
Risk Intelligence and Compliance | Risk Intelligence & Compliance Team |
Office of the Vice President for Research | Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) |
Training | |
Training Hub | Training Hub (finance, human resources, and other training) |
Financial Training | Financial Training (courses and materials) |
Other Helpful Links | |
Facilities Management | Facilities Management |
Auxillary Services (eStatement) | estatement.umn.edu |
Information Technology/Central Computing Operations | it.umn.edu/resources-it-staff-partners/enterprise-applications and it.umn.edu/experts-communities/office-information-technology-organization |
NTS | https://nts-mys-prd2.oit.umn.edu/SelfService/default.aspx |
Printing Services | printing.umn.edu |
Tax Management Office (W-9, ST3, TMOG) | tax.umn.edu |
*Suggestions for additions are welcome! Email [email protected]
FSUN Subcommittee
The subcommittee can be reached via [email protected].
- Cheryl Oulicky (CLA) (Chair)
- Amelia Hedberg (Med School - CNC) (Vice-Chair and Chair-Elect)
- Jaylee Engebretson (Med School - DO)
- Kim Frey (Med School)
- Royce Hunter (CLA)
- Mio Ishida (CURA)
- Amber Kevelin (CFANS
- Eric Krum (SPH)
- Sandy Meints (Duluth-Swenson CSE)
- Heather Nisan (OIT)
- Shelley Tan (SAFL)
- Karen Wagner (OGC)
- Ex officio: Crista Endo, Carrie Meyer (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]
FSUN 2019 Fall Membership Meeting
The 2019 Fall Membership Meeting was held on October 16, 2019 at the Great Hall of Coffman Memorial Union.
Chrome River Navigators
- Navigator 101
- Leading Up Resources
- Leading Up (coaching and service tips for Navigators)
Contact
FinMAC may be reached by contacting the chair of the committee.
FSUN may be reached via [email protected].