Financial Affairs at UCSC has taken on many sustainability-related initiatives these past few years to promote greener improvements. As the folks in charge of managing all the finances throughout campus, they deal with a lot of paperwork. Many of the initiatives and changes that have been implemented involve replacing physical paperwork with digital documents on the computer, saving massive amounts of paper, ink, and storage space.
Along with these changes, Financial Affairs is taking other steps towards saving water, electricity, and reducing waste to landfill. We visited Scotts Valley Center recently to learn more.
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| Front Row, L to R: Annette Truong, Enterprise Financial Systems; Cynthia von Bargen, Extramural Funds Office; Kirk Lew, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Financial Affairs. Back Row, L to R: Andrea Miner, Procurement Services; Lee Ann D'Arcy-Levitre, Payroll Office; Teri Gardner, Financial Administrative Services and Transactions; Gloria Lopez, Financial Accounting and Reporting. |
New Travel Software
One major change that will affect staff and faculty throughout campus is the implementation of travel software, which is anticipated to begin as a pilot program by June of 2019. Kirk Lew, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Financial Affairs, is in charge of implementing the travel software change, which will make it easier for travelers to submit documentation from their trip without needing to print receipts, conference programs, and travel forms.
He has been trying to get the software in place for nearly twenty years, but, until recently, the cost of implementation and maintaining a system was prohibitive. A relatively new and affordable hosted cloud-based travel reporting system that integrates with the campus’ financial information system has made it possible.
“The goal has always been, even since 1999, to simplify the process, reduce the amount of paper required, and make things more efficient and better for the travelers,” says Lew.
In addition to reducing the number of filing cabinets and paper in the recycling bins, there is a certain “satisfaction that when you engage in sustainable practices in doing your work, or even at home, it is helping to support important university value and goals, such as zero waste and zero carbon emissions,” says Kirk Lew. “We remind people that these are important goals we are trying to reach, and it is not just personal satisfaction of doing something good but you are helping the university achieve a major objective.”
The changes that will come with the new travel software will also save time in the entire process of documenting and approving payments. Ed Moran, the Accounting Services Director, states that the new electronic travel processing platform will eliminate the many piles of documents and receipts that staff who have processed travel paperwork are familiar with. He has seen many changes implemented through his many years working at Financial Affairs. As someone who is actively working to reduce the amount of paper he prints when reviewing documents, he is an advocate towards “not wasting resources, using them as efficiently as possible and preserving our resources so they’re available for our future.”
In addition to travel software, Financial Affairs has taken steps toward supporting businesses whose values align with UCSC, as Lew and the rest of Financial Affairs alludes to.
Along with supporting businesses with similar values, UCSC prides itself for putting what we say into action, not just part of the mission statement or annual policy. Darin Matthews, Director of Procurement and Supply Chain Services has instigated many changes, including a ‘Purchaser Pledge to Prefer Safer Furniture Products,’ which ensures suppliers understand the campus’ preference for chemical-free and fire safe products.
Procurement Services also advocates for buying supplies locally and from business owned by women, veterans, LGBTQ, and people of color. Although UCSC cannot list these businesses as preferred vendors, Procurement Services has made it easy to identify these businesses with tags on the CruzBuy purchasing portal. UCSC is also the first UC campus to include sustainability as part of the Request for Proposals (RFP) selection criteria when putting projects and business contracts out to bid.
We also spoke with Robert Kemp, Director of Copy, Mail, and Receiving Services, who has been at UCSC since 1990 and has seen the campus evolve. “It’s not just about the environment and saving paper. It’s trying to find equitable ways to use resources within our department to support environmental and ethical issues,” says Kemp. He is in charge of copying, mail, receiving and surplus on campus.
Now that his department is within Financial Affairs, he is working to be able to influence ways to procure goods that makes sense for the university. He is in the process of getting surplus information into the CruzBuy system so that people would have the option to trade between departments, buy used furniture and equipment at a reasonable price and even get free office supplies rather than continually buying new items. A problem that the campus has to overcome is managing customer expectations while dealing with departments with limited funding and finding ways around those issues.
For Kemp, sustainability is about trying to find an equitable way to use resources to support the environment and by getting others involved. The relationship building he has done over his many years at UCSC and the various roles he has served in throughout campus allow him to identify possible projects and collaborators to advance many different sustainability projects.
For instance, he has worked with Computer Science students and mentored sustainability interns through programs like the Provost Sustainability Internship Program. He is working with faculty in the Computer Science department and collaborating with students interested in creating a mail tracking system to monitor activity from multiple shippers, starting with the USPS. The goal of this system is to reduce the number of delivery vehicles coming onto campus and provide more timely information about letters and parcels.
“Engaging in sustainable practices at work is not just about personal satisfaction of doing something good, but is also about helping the university achieve a major objective,” says Kirk Lew. All it takes, is the thought towards becoming more green, and then putting these thoughts into actions. New software is being developed to diminish the need for paperwork, which makes everything from time-keeping to reimbursement much more time efficient and safe. With all these changes happening in the Financial Affairs office, our campus is transitioning to a more sustainable-conscious environment.
Digital Sub-Cashier Forms
Student Business Services is another department optimizing the forms submission process by putting sub-cashier forms online. Sub-cashiers are any units that accept cash and checks, and main cashiers currently receive around 240 paper forms a day. Because they have been using the same forms since 1979, they decided that digital forms will quicken and simplify the deposit process. “I do not think of sustainability as something global, but as micro individual actions and about what can my unit and I do,” says Emerson Murray, Director of Student Business Services.In addition to reducing the number of filing cabinets and paper in the recycling bins, there is a certain “satisfaction that when you engage in sustainable practices in doing your work, or even at home, it is helping to support important university value and goals, such as zero waste and zero carbon emissions,” says Kirk Lew. “We remind people that these are important goals we are trying to reach, and it is not just personal satisfaction of doing something good but you are helping the university achieve a major objective.”
The changes that will come with the new travel software will also save time in the entire process of documenting and approving payments. Ed Moran, the Accounting Services Director, states that the new electronic travel processing platform will eliminate the many piles of documents and receipts that staff who have processed travel paperwork are familiar with. He has seen many changes implemented through his many years working at Financial Affairs. As someone who is actively working to reduce the amount of paper he prints when reviewing documents, he is an advocate towards “not wasting resources, using them as efficiently as possible and preserving our resources so they’re available for our future.”
Sustainable Procurement & Supporting Local Businesses
“Sustainability in Financial Affairs means trying to do as much as we can with as few resources as possible,” says Lew. “It also extends to the community to do business with suppliers that share the same values as we do in regards to sustainability--because you can have suppliers that waste a lot of energy, create a lot of waste, emit a lot of carbon, and we don’t want to do that. It’s important to us that people are treated well, not just here, but where the products are made. All the directors try to set the best example.”In addition to travel software, Financial Affairs has taken steps toward supporting businesses whose values align with UCSC, as Lew and the rest of Financial Affairs alludes to.
Along with supporting businesses with similar values, UCSC prides itself for putting what we say into action, not just part of the mission statement or annual policy. Darin Matthews, Director of Procurement and Supply Chain Services has instigated many changes, including a ‘Purchaser Pledge to Prefer Safer Furniture Products,’ which ensures suppliers understand the campus’ preference for chemical-free and fire safe products.
Procurement Services also advocates for buying supplies locally and from business owned by women, veterans, LGBTQ, and people of color. Although UCSC cannot list these businesses as preferred vendors, Procurement Services has made it easy to identify these businesses with tags on the CruzBuy purchasing portal. UCSC is also the first UC campus to include sustainability as part of the Request for Proposals (RFP) selection criteria when putting projects and business contracts out to bid.
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| Graph provided by Darin Matthews. |
We also spoke with Robert Kemp, Director of Copy, Mail, and Receiving Services, who has been at UCSC since 1990 and has seen the campus evolve. “It’s not just about the environment and saving paper. It’s trying to find equitable ways to use resources within our department to support environmental and ethical issues,” says Kemp. He is in charge of copying, mail, receiving and surplus on campus.
Now that his department is within Financial Affairs, he is working to be able to influence ways to procure goods that makes sense for the university. He is in the process of getting surplus information into the CruzBuy system so that people would have the option to trade between departments, buy used furniture and equipment at a reasonable price and even get free office supplies rather than continually buying new items. A problem that the campus has to overcome is managing customer expectations while dealing with departments with limited funding and finding ways around those issues.
For Kemp, sustainability is about trying to find an equitable way to use resources to support the environment and by getting others involved. The relationship building he has done over his many years at UCSC and the various roles he has served in throughout campus allow him to identify possible projects and collaborators to advance many different sustainability projects.
For instance, he has worked with Computer Science students and mentored sustainability interns through programs like the Provost Sustainability Internship Program. He is working with faculty in the Computer Science department and collaborating with students interested in creating a mail tracking system to monitor activity from multiple shippers, starting with the USPS. The goal of this system is to reduce the number of delivery vehicles coming onto campus and provide more timely information about letters and parcels.
Green Team in Financial Affairs
The Financial Affairs Green Team’s mission is to share educational opportunities as well as promote and implement practices that support UCSC sustainability goals. Cynthia von Bargen, Green Team Facilitator, states that the key is to “break down goals into functions that folks are willing to pick up.” Each department in Financial Affairs has a representative on the Green Team, and they all meet regularly to discuss sustainability initiatives and opportunities. They were recently awarded a $7500 UCSC Carbon Fund grant to fund an Scotts Valley Center-wide food waste diversion pilot. The grant will be used to add six waste bins in the office kitchen to make recycling convenient and easier for everyone. Some other sustainable practices include having swap areas in the office, a catalogue recycling box, and using biodegradable soap. |
| Recycling, compost, and landfill bins in the Scotts Valley Center. |
Taking Action Every Day
“Let’s not just talk about how sustainable we are, let’s practice it in our everyday lives. Every single purchase we make, at home or at work, represents an opportunity to make a difference,” says Darin Matthews. We gathered sustainability tips from the Financial Affairs Green Team and department directors so that folks throughout campus can support sustainability in their everyday lives at work. To become more sustainable in your own unit, consider the following:- Do not send in receipts that are not necessary for reimbursements
- Recycle receipts after you no longer need them, or scan them for future reference before recycling them
- Print all paperwork double-sided
- Utilize direct deposit and online W-2 forms
- Save digital copies of records whenever possible rather than printing
“Engaging in sustainable practices at work is not just about personal satisfaction of doing something good, but is also about helping the university achieve a major objective,” says Kirk Lew. All it takes, is the thought towards becoming more green, and then putting these thoughts into actions. New software is being developed to diminish the need for paperwork, which makes everything from time-keeping to reimbursement much more time efficient and safe. With all these changes happening in the Financial Affairs office, our campus is transitioning to a more sustainable-conscious environment.
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