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Vol 6, No 2 • Quality Improvement in Financial Management at the University of Washington • Spring/Summer 2007 |
To: Jeff Follman (Assistant Controller) Jeff - thanks so much to both you and Ann Anderson for your outstanding support and perseverance in getting this resolved to a much more manageable amount! Thanks again and look forward to talking soon. To: Ann Anderson (Controller) Ann, super work in achieving success in the byzantine world of Olympia tax world. You and your team are awesome. Weldon To: Elizabeth Cherry (Risk Management) Dear Elizabeth, On behalf of myself, Steve, and the students enrolled in EDLPS 583 (Higher Education and the Law), thank you for an excellent presentation on Thursday, March 1, 2007. You brought to life for the students the information they read in the text on liability and risk management. Your willingness to share your expertise was greatly appreciated!!! To: Judy Peterson, Susan Ball (Treasury ) From: Albert Thurmond, Development Office, UW Susan and Judy – Thanks for your presentation at our meeting today and the time you spent on To: Judy Peterson, Susan Ball (Treasury) Judy and Susan: I’ll second Albert's thank you. We appreciated the time you took to talk with us. As I was leaving our meeting, one of the Council members mentioned that he thought it was an excellent presentation. To: Keith Ferguson, Christina Goldman (Treasury) Dear Keith, Thank you for your email and I’ve passed it along to John. Can you thank Christina for me as she was fantastic in sorting everything out for John’s trip. Ah, how I dream of having a wonderful secretary! It must be great. To: Judy Peterson, Ann Sarna (Treasury) Judy & Ann, Firstly, I would like to apologize once again for giving you such a late start to your well-prepared and tailored presentation. It meant very much to us for you to participate in this meeting. The information you provided was very helpful, both for our board members and for me as we think ahead from a development perspective of strategies on how to encourage others to contribute to the UWWS endowment. In fact, I need to let you know that your presentation spurred one board member in particular to consider making an endowed gift to the UW World Series in the next few months. He spoke with Matt (and in front of two other board members!) directly afterward telling him that he was very impressed with how the funds are invested, and particularly with very high returns. This would not have happened without you having been there - we are SO grateful! I will be in touch with you when we have any other board members or donors who might be interested in learning more about this interesting (and persuasive) angle of the CEF. Again, my sincere apologies for your shortened time, but also my thanks for the doors you have opened for us. To: David Wright (Financial Services) Dear Mr. Wright I am returning to Seattle on Monday and I have been informed by Donna that my Travel Reimbursement will be waiting for me. This is entirely due to your efforts on my behalf and I want to thank you for the open, friendly and efficient manner in which you handled this matter. It was a great pleasure to deal with an administrative organization in the University that conceived of their function as one of supporting the faculty and students. Your attitude and your effectiveness should be a model for how we can work together to make UW a better and better place to work. To: Ann Anderson (Controller), David Wright (Financial Services) David was a joy to deal with from the start AND he followed through in a way that was both efficient and transparent to me – the right way. To: V’Ella Warren (Treasury) Another example of your team’s super service—much appreciated as Ed’s email states. To: Dave McCone (Purchasing) Dave: I have watched you help us for years while working along my old boss Pam Shoberg. Our team has recently been helping the Accounting team and MM team as they prepare to upgrade their systems, letting them know how CDS team has worked successfully with McKesson. I wanted to thank you for your work over recent weeks to help guide those departments into safe and well-designed contracts. I never knew just how much you do to watch out for us, so thanks for the many phone calls to McKesson and guidance on these upcoming contract renewals. I hope you know how much we all appreciate that, especially my boss John Hastings. Thanks for hanging in there for us Dave! To: Michael Lanham, Scott Schafer (Student Fiscal Services) From: Shosh Westen, Administrator, Dept of Slavic Lang. & Lit., UW Re: Outstanding service Dear Mr. Lanham, I just wanted to express my appreciation for the outstanding customer service I received from Scott Schafer. On Tuesday, when the paychecks were delivered, I discovered that I had failed to enter TA appointments for two of our grad students. I immediately did so. Yesterday morning I received an email from one of them, who was concerned that her tuition bill still did not reflect the tuition waiver. I called Student Fiscal Services and was told to leave a voice message for Rachel. Thank you very much. To: Andrew Faris (Risk Management), Kerry Kahl (Management Accounting & Analysis) From: Maureen Rhea, Director of Audits, Internal Audit UW Re: great meeting! Andrew and Kerry, I really appreciate the great job you do with the Compliance Council. Your good work ensures the meetings are productive and fun…the perfect combination in my book. The level of participation and enthusiasm has everything to do with your thoughtful, considerate and detailed approach to preparing and managing each meeting. Many thanks for your hard work, patience and persistence! To: Suzette Ashby (Management Accounting & Analysis) Suzette, You are very welcome. While you are very kind in your comments and I enjoyed learning about FEC’s, I also realize that spending four hours helping me with the FEC’s, on short notice, went above and beyond the duties of your position. You were very gracious with your time and very helpful. I cannot begin to tell you how much I appreciated your help in what was a very stressful situation made even more so with a short turn around time. To: AP Customer Service Team (Accounts Payable) This was another good example of the collaborative efforts on the Purchasing (Anne Barry) and Payables (Pramilla) sides of the Financial Management organization. The ePREP team continues to enjoy working with all! To: AP Customer Service Team (Accounts Payable) Thanks for sharing!! And yet another great example of a truly collaborative effort and Bravo! To: Sophia Meyering, Genevieve Barney (Purchasing) As I said by phone, I’d like to acknowledge Sophia and Gen for doing such a tremendous job of immediately handling a time-dependent order for Publication Services. I’d also like to apologize to you all for getting it to you so late that it became an emergency. Since you took care of the order right away, we’ll now be able to collaborate with libraries during summer break to install Husky Card for Dawg-Prints pay-for-print. Thanks for your great client service! To: Ann Anderson (Controller) and Post- Bac Trainee Task Force I wanted to pass along to you how impressed Michael has been with your efforts and with I also want to tell you how thankful I am for all of you and your work on this recruitment. I feel so fortunate to work with such wonderful people. I also think being able to bring this together so quickly is a direct result of the Global Support Project, so special thanks to the GSP and its sponsors and participants. To: Christa Woodhull and Client Services & Training Team (Payroll) Thank you so very much for your help!! I wanted to tell you that I think that your group is AWESOME!! You all have been really great in helping us out (especially when we have been in a pinch) and have been very very patient with us as we all learn the payroll processes! To: Financial Management EDP Program Joanne: One of the sessions I attended was "Career Development" led by Susan Templeton, who you may know through LCVI as the new Career Development Manager. She asked if any the attendees had EDP plans in their department and about half a dozen of us raised our hands. She happened to look at me and asked me what department I worked in and, as at least three other people in that session were from FM, I answered FM. She stopped right there and acknowledged that our EDP plan was very well done and that it was used as a model for the UW's EDP. Great praise and I thought you might enjoy the feedback. Katrina: I went to that same session, but the one later in the day and she said, "FM is the poster child for EDPs." To: Ray Hsu, Denise Grizzell (Purchasing) Ray & Denise, Again THANK YOU for all your help! We just received a confirmation from our vendor that they received the PO and are now processing our order. This is EXCELLENT SERVICE provided by University of Washington Purchasing. You have made our job more efficient. To: Student Fiscal Services Ruth, today is my last day and I wanted to express my appreciation for the warmth and caring I have experienced here at SFS. The staff and students have been a delight to work with, hard working, knowledgeable, sharing and caring with both coworkers and customers. The management is exceptional. I have never worked with such caring management. Every day, Miriam, Nancy, and Sandie came through the office and spend time with each employee, checking in with them and asking how they are doing. They are always available to answer questions and help out, and I have never witnessed any of them in an ill humor even when there were problems, either personal or work related. This is, in my experience, a truly extraordinary management group. I feel honored to have spent time working here with these people. Thank you for a wonderful experience. To: Sam Castro (Payroll) Sam, Thanks. To: Ruth Johnston (Student Fiscal Services) Ruth, This is a very nice “away from my email” – much better than others I’ve seen. I think you’ve got a small, but significant “best practice” here. The above is in response to Ruth’s Away Email Message: Thanks for writing. I’ll be away from the office facilitating meetings/events but will read and respond to email as possible. Please call 206 543 4990 if you need immediate help, or in case of emergency, I can be contacted. Thank you. Ruth Email from Elizabeth Cherry (Risk Management) in regards to comment made by Judy Hart regarding ERM Program (Risk Management): In the course of renewal discussions with underwriters, I presented quite a lot of information about our ERM program. Judy Hart, the head of insurance operations for a major reinsurer, Endurance in Bermuda remarked that our program is the most comprehensive and sophisticated that she's seen. She said "It's fantastic". Nice! To: Susan Lowney (Purchasing) I have been working with Susan Lowney the past several months on some large purchases with Bank & Office Interior. I wanted to let you know that Susan has been so helpful. She gets the orders through in a matter of minutes. She created a system for us that I forward the quote by email so she can get started on it. I get her approval immediately and then I am able to let BO&I know the purchase order. BO&I laugh every time because no one else can get this done so quickly. I owe it all to Susan. She is pleasant, efficient and professional. To: Sophia Meyering (Purchasing) Sophia, You’re fabulous!!! If you ever need a letter of support for your yearly evaluation, please let me know. I’ll be happy to write one. Thanks again for your efforts turning this around so quickly. To: Ann Anderson and Global Support Project Team Ann, I thought you might like to know just how much we appreciate you and the work of your team! (BTW, a PDSA is a quality improvement cycle and stands for plan, do, study and act.) To: Ann Anderson and Global Support Project Team To me, this newsletter demonstrates both the commitment and the progress made by the UW administration in improving global functions. It also demonstrates “PDSA” in that some of the recommendations from the focus groups are already implemented. Ann Anderson and many others deserve a huge amount of credit for listening to I-TECH, “feeling our pain,” and working really really hard to make things better. There still is a long ways to go, but seeing this newsletter reminds me that progress has already been made. To: Ann Anderson and V’Ella Warren Ann and V’Ella: Thank you for taking the time to brief Dean Wahl on the Global Support Project, the accomplishment to date, and the work ahead. It was very informative and captured your commitment to removing barriers to global engagement. In the end, everyone will benefit. To: Kathryn Harrington (Purchasing) Kathryn: You're the best. Thanks for your guidance on these POs. To: Gina Salois (Financial Services) From: Lily Gebrenegus in regards to comment by a UW department Hi Gina, I just heard of a very good customer service interaction with you. You're always so helpful and nice and willing to listen to a problem and help figure out an answer. Karen- There was miscoded petty cash transaction on one of our grants which the department has been trying to clear up for years. We took it back to a few people (including Carolyn) but Gina was the only one who actually got the issue resolved. She went out of her way and consulted different departments to make sure it was done correctly. This isn't the first time that something like this has happened but Gina's always there to help. Thank you! To: Sue Camber, Nancy Linde, Lily Gebrenegus (Grant & Contract Accounting) Dear Sue, I just wanted to send a big "Thanks!" to you and your staff for your assistance in reviewing and submitting the invoice for the prostate cancer research funds. Both Nancy Linde and Lily Gebrenegus demonstrated great patience and responsiveness. Your customer service is to be commended! To: Raymond Hsu, Susan Malysiak (Purchasing) Ray, I wanted to let you know how much we have enjoyed working with Susan. She has been great! She is responsive and timely with our purchase requests. She is professional and provides excellent customer service (she is always willing to follow up with the vendor directly). We have thrown a lot at her at the close of this biennium and her hard work To: Cindy Gregovich (Payroll) and Ann Anderson (Controller) Dear Ann & Cindy: Thank you very much for your efforts to get this set up! We will let you know how this works for our new employee in the coming pay periods. To: Rachel Reichert (Student Fiscal Services) Rachel- My name is Wendy Clark and I’m a student at the ischool’s MCIS program. I’m sorry it took my so long but it’s been crazy with my gardening business and graduate school, but I really wanted to thank you for all of your help getting my $E10,000 load from Sallie Mae in April. You were great and thanks to you my tuition was paid on time! Many, many thanks! To: Nancy Hurja (Student Fiscal Services) Nancy, I can’t thank you enough for all of your attention, kindness, and follow-through with my son, Beau. He really is a worthy young man. Being far away is difficult; I am so glad he has people like you on site there. Bless you. Respectfully, To: Andrew Monusko (Student Fiscal Services) Andrew, Thank you for all the work you have done on our student-athlete accounts. Your efforts each quarter are a huge help to me and the Athletics Department. To: Nancy Hurja (Student Fiscal Services) Dear Nancy, I wanted to thank you so much for coping so ably with all the hassles associated with the tuition account of my son, Peter Smits. I could tell you what a relief it was to finally see a “zero” on his Tuition Account Balance. Your cooperation is truly great! To: Miriam Garvey (Student Fiscal Services) Something tells me you probably rack up a lot of “stars” Miriam. Thank you so much for rolling up your sleeves and diving in over your head to rescue my CT documents last week! It was a much appreciated rescue for this newbie. I am training their permanent person next week, so I will make sure she has the drill down! Cheers! To: Frannie Gladney (Student Fiscal Services) Dear Ms. Gladney, I want to express my immense gratitude to your kind and helpful services for the past two years. With college being as expensive as it is, having to pay off an over-award was a huge burden. However, from the first day I walked in your office, not only did you ensure me that everything will be ok, but that I should put my education first. Having two jobs and a full load last year, I would constantly worry about my expenses. The thought of walking into Schmitz hall overwhelmed me with how I was ever going to pay off my account. What made things different, however, was your understanding of my background and difficulties. Your willingness to work with my financial situation and encourage me to just stay focused on school gave me the strength to keep going. The door to your office was always open and your continued encouragement left me with a positive energy every time I walked out of your office. It is the dedicated work of employees like yourself that make the experience of such a large institute familiar and fulfilling. Most importantly though, I want to acknowledge your ability to accept and communicate with students of diverse backgrounds and financial standings. I wish you every success in your career and know that you are a key asset to our university and community. Sincerely, To: Michael DeShazo (Grant and Contract Accounting) I just wanted to take a moment to say that Michael DeShazo has been so helpful and thorough in his assistance with compliance issues and especially cost share. He is a pleasure to work with. To: Sue Camber, Mena Nguyen (Grant and Contract Accounting) Thanks for all of your hard work on this. I so appreciate your efforts on this and everything else you do for us. To: Stanley Schubert (Grant and Contract Accounting) Once upon a time...late on a Friday afternoon (3/16/07 around 5 minutes 'til 5pm), I needed a copy of an NEA and a e-GC1 from a budget file. Even though I knew it was a long shot that someone would still be at GCA (and if so, probably closing up for the day - and who wants to answer the phone then?) - I got lucky - and Stanley answered! (Team 1 member) Stanley not only answered the phone, he took my request to go and 'find' a Budget file, from which I needed the NEA and GC1 in order to put the pieces together on a problem I had been working on for a week. He copied and faxed the pages over to me - and they had all of the missing information that was needed to solve the mystery! To: Brenda Grayson, Monique Bradley, and Team 5 (Grant and Contract Accounting) Just a little note thank you and the crew of Team 5 for allowing all those advance budgets Aside from the advance budgets, a note on Monique - she has been working very closely with us on this end; she takes the time to meet with us and her staff on "our little issues" - she is appreciated for that. If there were others who worked on this "project" please share this with them. No disrespect is intended; they should not be overlooked. To: Alice Bukengolts (Grant and Contract Accounting) Always a comfort to know you’re there. To: Sue Camber and Grant and Contract Accounting Staff Please express the School of Public Health and Community Medicine's sincerest appreciation to your staff for this sacrifice of weekend time for our benefit. It is a wonderful thing to work in a place that has this degree of commitment to the greater good. To: Farida Ablang (Payroll) |
