UPlan moves forward, sets path to improve financial efficiencies

The UPlan project team recently held a kickoff meeting where almost 130 business administrators were invited to learn about the budget process, tool and implementation roadmap.

The UPlan project will create a digital tool that will:

• Enhance current unit-based processes.
• Provide consistent data to support strategic decision-making.
• Create a system to respond to reporting needs and information requests.
• Decrease manual data gathering, verification and formatting.
• Improve forecasting, reporting and scenario planning.

The initiative is sponsored by Laura Hubbard, vice president for finance and administration, and A. Scott Weber, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.

“UB is committed to analyzing and improving our existing business process to be more strategic, efficient and effective.” Hubbard says. “UPlan — one of the largest projects in UB’s operational excellence initiative — will increase efficiency, improve effectiveness and align resources across the university by bringing our annual resource-planning process together with our current information systems. We’re excited to move forward with a clear roadmap this year.”

The project launched in December 2023 with governance planning, workshops and a project timeline. In the next few months, the group will continue to hold unit liaison meetings, build the application and validate data. They will also create and implement a training plan with pilot testing and develop a transition plan.

Looking ahead to fall-winter 2024, UPlan will further roll out the product with training, documentation and community of practice.

“For UB’s decanal units, UPlan will integrate directly with the most up-to-date enrollment, HR and financial systems data to enhance budget planning and analysis, and align resources with our academic and research goals, thereby providing a consistent and streamlined approach to budget planning across the university,” says Weber. 

The UPlan project team spans multiple departments and units, including:

• Peter DiNunzio, senior resource analyst, Resource Planning.
• Nancy Kielar, assistant vice president and director, Office of the Vice President and CIO.
• Debra Lowe, assistant dean and director of finance, School of Management.
• Thomas Okon, assistant vice president, Business Reporting and Systems.
• Beth Rogan, director of finance, Office of the Vice President for Student Life.
• Zachary Root, financial analyst, Financial Management.
• Andrea Roy, project coordination, Business Reporting and Systems.
• Heidi Waddy, project administration.

Beth Corry, associate vice president of business services and controller, and Joe Lewandowski, director of resource planning, serve as initiative owners.

UB is partnering with Huron, a global consulting group, to implement UPlan. Huron has worked with more than 40 higher education institutions, including all R1 universities. Huron’s tool will integrate UB data — including actuals, encumbrances, enrollment and credit hours, and employee-level staffing — to help enable planning processes.

“The UPlan initiative has been in the works for several years,” Hubbard says. “We want to thank everyone who has helped us get to this milestone and to all those currently working with our team through this process.”