Texas A&M University
Organizational Profile
Committed to Service Excellence
Texas A&M University’s Division of Finance is comprised of 17 departments, and is one of four divisions that support the University. Texas A&M was founded in 1876 as Texas’ first public institution of higher learning, and now encompasses a 5,000-acre campus in Brazos County, Texas, with 48,000 plus students and a nationally recognized faculty. In addition, Texas A&M operates two branch campuses, one located in Galveston, Texas, and one in the Middle Eastern country of Qatar. As one of a select few universities in the nation with land-grant, sea-grant and space-grant designations, Texas A&M is committed to serving the citizens of Texas and the world.
The Division of Finance (Finance or the Division) is committed to supporting Texas A&M University in achieving its mission, which is affirmed through our mission and vision:
Mission: The Division of Finance provides financial, human resources, and operational services in support of the academic, research, and service mission of Texas A&M University.
Vision: To provide and promote excellent higher education business services.
Our core values are aligned with and support the values embraced by Texas A&M University:
Core Values are the guiding principles that direct day-to-day decision making by Finance employees. The definitions are our own, and serve to clarify expected behavior. All Finance employees should be mindful of our values in actions taken on behalf of the Division. We value:
- Integrity: Uncompromising commitment to do the right thing.
- Customer Focus:Treating our internal and external customers with courtesy and respect, while exceeding their expectations.
- Communication: Timely, consistent, and honest exchange of ideas, plans and decisions.
- Accountability: Taking ownership and responsibility for one's decisions and actions.
- Employee Focus: Providing an environment in which employees are valued and given the opportunity to excel.
- Quality: Delivering accurate, timely, consistent, and data-informed services that meet customer needs.
Major Services
The Division's major services are delivered through the following work units:
Budgets & Planning
Controller
- Financial Management Operations
- Accounting Operations
- Accounting Resource Center
- Accounting Services
- Payroll, Tax and Employee Resources
- Student Business Services
Human Resources
- Employee & Organizational Development
- Human Resources Management Services
- Policy & Practice Review
- Continuous Improvement
- Open Records
- Student and Business Affairs Finance
Information Technology Services
Business Services
- Contract Administration
- Facilities Finance
- Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUB) Programs
- Logistics Services
- Procurement Services
- Real Estate Development
- Insurance Services
Our major services are:
- Resources Allocation: As a process, Resources Allocation includes but is not limited to the annual budget process, allocation of positions (internal to Finance and external), classification and compensation, and creating new positions.
- Acquisition: Includes, but is not limited to, facilitation of purchases, contracts, real estate and other acquisitions, and finding the best value in acquiring goods, services, and people.
- Communication and Information Distribution: Includes information, data, records, reporting Finance processes, and providing valuable counsel to others.
- Risk Assessment/Asset Management: Includes internal controls, performance evaluation, employee development, funding, recognition and reward, budget versus actual, compliance, and legislative issues.
- Transaction Processing: Includes transactions such as payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, collections, receipts, reconciliations, travel, benefits, purchasing, contracts, and mail.
We provide these services to Texas A&M's departments and colleges, as well as to other members of the Texas A&M University System. Services are delivered through face-to-face contact, computer, and the internet. Finance contracts with various third-party vendors who provide services on behalf of the Division, usually through web based applications.
Employee Profile
Finance is made up of approximately 300 budgeted employees; 13% executives and administrators, 50% professionals, 29% administrative support, and 8% technical and service/maintenance (see Figure 1). Due to the variety of functional units within the Division, we have 100 unique job titles. Many employees have considerable longevity with the University, as shown by Figure 2. 16% of our employees have been with the University for over 20 years, 32% from 11 to 20 years, and 52% have been with us for 10 years or less. The employee population is 74% female, 26% male (see Figure 3). 55% of our employees have some type of college degree (Associate Degree or higher; see Figure 4). There are no organized bargaining units within the DOF.
Figure 1  |
Figure 2  |
Figure 3  |
Figure 4  |
(Data Source: July 2009 BPP snapshot for budgeted Adloc Part 02 employees with an Executive Code of FN – Finance.)
Facilities
Finance operations are primarily located in Brazos County, Texas, on the campus of Texas A&M University. Our employees are housed in five locations, with the majority in the General Services Complex building on Texas A&M’s West Campus. The following chart shows where our employees are located:
| Employees | Location |
| 210 | General Services Complex (GSC), Agronomy Road, West Campus |
| 63 | Purchasing & Stores Building, Agronomy Road, West Campus |
| 18 | Rudder Tower, Main Campus |
| 9 | East 29th Street, Bryan, TX |
| 8 | Texas A&M University at Galveston Financial Mgmt Operations, Galveston, TX |
Regulatory Environment
State and federal statutes, regulations, and mandates significantly impact our operations. Finance must comply with requirements of numerous regulatory agencies, including but not limited to, the Higher Education Coordinating Board, Legislative Budget Board, Texas Education Agency, Comptroller, IRS, Social Security Administration, OSHA, FERPA, and HIPAA. Reporting is done annually, monthly and daily, and a significant amount of the Division's efforts center on timely and accurate reporting to regulatory entities.
Organizational Relationships
Texas A&M University is the largest institution in the 17 member Texas A&M University System. Finance’s Vice President and Chief Financial Officer reports to Texas A&M’s President. The A&M System Board of Regents and the A&M System Chancellor make decisions and implement policies that directly impact the operations of Texas A&M and Finance. Finance must maintain the ability to respond quickly and efficiently to unexpected policy changes. Key relationships for the organization include those with other TAMU Vice Presidents, the Provost, and the Divisions of Student Affairs, Administration, and Operations.
Major Customers
Service excellence for both internal and external customers is the foundation of Finance's service philosophy. Our major customers are those groups who directly benefit from our programs and services. They are:
- Senior Administration of the University (Provost, Vice President's, the A&M System, Board of Regents): Finance provides financial, operational, and human resources information for decision making, budgeting, and fulfilling regulatory reporting requirements for the University.
- Students: Services we provide to students include financial services, purchasing, collaborating with student government on policy issues, and providing employee opportunities.
- Employees: The human resources function, payroll, employee education, and travel reimbursement are areas where Finance directly benefits employees.
- College & Departmental Business Units & Associated Councils/Committees: Finance supports University business units through all of its critical programs and services. We partner with these groups to administer programs and services to support the mission of the University.
Strategic Challenges
Strategic challenges are those factors that may prevent the Division from achieving performance excellence. Our key strategic challenges are:
- Funding: Limited funding is constantly a challenge which necessitates the need to prioritize our initiatives.
- Succession Planning/Employee Development: There is a recognized lack of formal succession planning and consistent employee development plans across the Division.
- Data Availability: Division departments often face challenges regarding the availability or accessibility to data for decision making purposes.
- Customers' Needs and Expectations: Mechanisms for understanding our customers' needs and expectations are inadequate; this may impact our ability to provide service excellence.
- Strategic Plan: The Division's strategic imperatives and goals for the upcoming three to five years have been identified by the Leadership Team. These will be translated into a strategic plan for the Division. However, there is currently no clearly defined University strategic plan for the Division to align its initiatives.
Performance Improvement System/Performance Measures
The Division is committed to excellence through performance improvement by leading a focused Continuous Improvement (CI) initiative. Departments have identified their mission critical programs and services and have begun mapping those to realize opportunities for improvements. A CI Team works to support the Division through education, information, training and supporting Process Improvement Work Teams. A Performance Excellence Management Model has been identified that best fits the environment and culture of the Division, and work on its components has began. The Division's Leadership Team supports the improvement system through setting performance measures, assessment and monthly reporting, monthly meetings, and retreats.
Our Key Performance Measures, or those measures that are most important to our success, are:
- Audit Findings: Audits are performed regularly throughout the Division by internal and external groups in order to identify areas for improvement.
- Customer/Employee Satisfaction and Retention: Related to our core values of Customer and Employee Focus, measuring customer and employee satisfaction and retention enables the Division to determine if we are headed in the right direction.
- Financial Performance versus Budget: Measures are tracked on a regular basis to assess the Division's financial performance and viability.
- Responsiveness: Processing Time/Meeting Deadlines: This measure will be achieved through consistent data collection and reporting methods, customer surveys of our programs and services, as well as assessing customer expectations.
- Cost Savings/Efficiencies: Quantifying savings and avoidance of both hard and soft costs serves to connect the theory of performance excellence to the bottom line of our business operations.
Strategic Imperatives/Goals
The Division's Leadership Team recently identified the following three to five year Imperatives and Goals. Departments within the Division will now align their goals and activities with the goals of the Division.
Imperative I: Leverage our size and expertise to become the provider of choice for financial, human resources, and operational services to the University and the System
Goal: Identify and implement specific shared services to provide to TAMUS agencies and institutions
Goal: Develop and implement an institutional resource acquisition and management program, that includes revenue enhancement and expense control plans
Imperative II: Effectively manage risk in a decentralized organizational structure
Goal: Develop standardized business practices across colleges and divisions through well-defined vetting processes to ensure appropriate standards and compliance
Imperative III: Nurture the talent in the Division of Finance to create an employee-centric, customer focused organization for the long-term benefit of the Division, the University and the System
Goal: Create meaningful professional development strategies for all division employees
Imperative IV: Build strong working relationships through excellent customer service
Goal: Institutionalize continuous improvement within the Division of Finance
Goal: Develop division-wide assessment tools to measure customer satisfaction and the quality of our working relationships
Imperative V: Leverage technology for the benefit of the Division, the University and the System
Goal: Develop a multi-year technology plan for departments and the Division that ensures business continuity and availability of essential systems
Goal: Implement technology systems that interface with each other, improve business processes, and inform decision-making