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Leaders of Tomorrow! APRILVMAY 1998 MBC Wolverine OBSERVER 11
THE MBC FISCAL PARTNER
Ghost of the Past, the
Spirit of the Present, the
Hope for the Future
Denise Smith-Moore
Vice President, Finance
.
he following is
an excerpt of the
Fiscal Affairs
recent presentation to the
Executive Committee of
the Morris Brown College
Board of Trustees. The
purpose of the presentation
was to provide a status of
the division. I chose the
theme because I believe it
exemplifies the state of af
fairs in the Finance Divi
sion and perhaps college
wide. It seems that while
we are presently seeking to
move forward with progres
sive thinking and plans
of action, the past keeps
haunting us in one fashion
or another. Nevertheless,
we maintain hope that
Morris Brown’s future will
be exorcised of its past ills.
Ghosts of the Past
that we seek to lay to rest perma
nently in Fiscal Affairs include:
Non existent financial plan
ning; Morris Brown College had
no system to monitor investments
including the endowment, and re
turns have been substandard.
Morris Brown College also lacked
cash flow planning.
The Budgeting Process was
lacking. The current year’s budget
was undocumented as to the ration
ale for budgeted costs. Salaries and
many contractual obligations were
under-budgeted. As a result, prior
years’ budgets had been overspent.
The Procurement function
at Morris Brown College was non
existent. Vendors were in control
of this function which often times
resulted in high prices and sub
standard goods and services to the
College.
The administration of and ac
counting for restricted grants was
inaccurate and non-compliant with
the grant requirements for several
programs.
The accounting for student
charges, payments, and balances has
been grossly inaccurate. In general,
accounting entries have been incom
plete and inaccurate.
Fixed Asset accountability and
related capital planning, and capital
funding has been nonexistent.
The spirit of teamwork and
customer service has not been a
priority.
The Spirit of the Present
records accomplishments which
demonstrate that we are committed
to improving the division and rid
ding it of past ills include:
A procurement function has
been established which has resulted
in cost savings to Morris Brown
College, a larger pool of quality ven
dors, and better contract terms for
the college.
The Morris Brown College
budget has been revised to be more
reflective of actual commitments.
Spending is now monitored for bud
get compliance and no cost overruns
are evident.
Cash Flow and Investment
management has improved which
has resulted in transfer of the en
dowment to Nations Bank from an
East Coast fund manager that would
not even return phone calls to my
office. We monitor cash flow daily
and currently have approximately
$5 million of operating funds on
hand and invested.
Over $1 million in construction
grant funds was successfully requ
isitioned. The college was entitled to
these funds, however, the amounts
had remained dormant and not
monitored by Morris Brown College
for over a year.
Thoughtful analysis in student
accounts has allowed Morris Brown
College to identify weaknesses in the
registration and financial aid award
processes that will allow better
management of these functions. The
cleanup of student account balances
is underway.
The Hope for the Future
of planned improvements demon
strates that there is still a lot of work
to be done. The following list is but
a sample of the voluminous set of
objectives this division plans to ac
complish in the near future. With
your cooperation, ideas, and under
standing, we know we can accom
plish the following ambitious sched
ule of goals and objectives:
The Procurement Department
objectives include developing value
added relationships with our ven
dors whereby our students will re
ceive opportunities for internships
and employment opportunities. The
vendors must give back to Morris
Brown College.
The Procurement Department
realizes that Morris Brown College
can afford to be more selective of its
vendors. Therefore vendor certifica
tion as well as vendor outreach is a
priority.
The Procurement Department
also wants to be less bureaucratic
and more user friendly by providing
training to users, automating the
requisition process, and decreasing
the processing time reauMse^ln^Tect
a purchase order.-
The Accounts Payable Depart
ment plans to improve its filing sys
tems and payment processes to as
sure that all vendors are paid timely,
and all employees and students are
reimbursed expeditiously.
The Payroll Department plans
to decrease and eventually alleviate
the error rate in the ongoing payroll
process by acquiring better software,
training internal personnel as well
as eternal timekeeper personnel, and
providing ongoing feedback and
communication, and quality control.
The Morris Brown College
Accounting Department will seek
to have accurate and timely book
keeping practices that support fiscal
responsibility. This includes estab
lishing detailed checklists, financial
reports, and quality control over
posting to the ledgers.
The Students Accounts Depart
ment seeks to improve services to
all of the constituents by correcting
past accounting errors on each in
dividual account, by including a sug
gestion box, and by developing an
internet/E-mail site for two-way
communication.
Our ultimate measurement
of success on this one will be a favor
able customer service rating from
students.
My goals as Vice-President
are to have a cohesive, synergistic,
and technically qualified fiscal af
fairs team and to optimize the effi
ciency of operations in all depart
ments and manage the college’s re
sources with integrity and a cus
tomer service focus.
In summary, we know that we
don’t have the option of calling
ghostbusters to exorcise Morris
Brown College’s ills; and divine
intervention is not likely. How
ever, we do know that the power
of teamwork, cooperation,
critical thinking, and prayer
can overcome all!
NAFEO ANNOUNCES NATIONAL
PARK SERVICE JOB OPENINGS FOR
COLLEGE STUDENTS
NAFEO, the Historically Black College
Association, is pleased to announce that it is
recruiting students for job openings with the
National Park Service, U.S. Department of the
Interior. These are exciting opportunities for
college students to experience nature in an
outdoor setting, and to learn about the envi
ronment. Work assignments are at locations
all over the United States—including Alaska!
Jobs include... Tour Guides, Park Rangers,
Forestry Technicians, Visual Technicians...and
more. Salaries range from $8.00 to $13.00
per hour and above.
Students enrolled in community colleges, or
universities are eligible to apply. Students
attending Historically Black Colleges and
Universities are strongly encouraged.
For applications and more information
contact: Mrs. Freeman, NAFEO National
Park Service Summer Jobs, 8701 Georgia
Avenue, Suite 200, Silver Spring, MD 20910-
371, 301-650-2440/FAX 301-495-3306,
rjmpub@earth!ink. com.
Student Activity Fee Analysis
AMOUNT
PERCENTAGE
ACTIVITIES
225
31%
PUBLICATIONS (YEARBOOK & NEWSPAPER)
72
10%
RECREATION
36
5%
ATHLETIC
174
24%
LIBRARY
219
30%
726
100%
30%
31%
10%
W ACTIVITIES
H PUBLICATIONS
(YEARBOOK &
NEWSPAPER)
□ RECREATION
□ ATHLETIC
II LIBRARY