The running joke we told ourselves about the UW’s “ancient” Marina down on Boat Street was that the only thing keeping it afloat was all the boats tied to it. Those of us in the Real Estate Office who spent the last seven years ensuring it stayed afloat long enough to give Capital Projects a chance to rebuild it would repeat the joke to each other, sometimes nervously, each fall as we watched the summer ski-boat tenants disappear (like we wished the geese would do) and with them all our reserve buoyancy.

We knew that the Marina’s intended floatation—old growth cedar logs—were sinking deeper every day in the water in which they’d been submerged for most of the 20th Century. Most of these logs were probably cut in the Lake Washington watershed sometime late in the 19th century and most likely arrived soon after at the University’s waterfront porch, floated via the new Portage Bay Log Canal, now known more commonly as the Montlake Cut.

A different and drier fate awaited most of the other logs that took this route—they were rafted and tugged to one of the many sawmills on Lake Union and Portage Bay. Our logs avoided this fate, for a time anyway, and despite the years floating in the bay remained mostly sound and free of rot. They were preserved it seems by the same cold water that threatened now, in the 21st century, to finally sink them. Obviously a sinking Marina is about as valuable an asset as a collapsing building—the only way to preserve the University’s investment in this real property was to find the funds to replace the Marina. The Real Estate Office is responsible for managing several classes of real property assets including those, like the Marina, that the University owns but does not occupy. This class of assets is self-sustaining, which means all costs, including operations, maintenance, capital improvement and replacement are borne by the asset. By the end of 2003 the Marina had generated adequate capital reserves for Real Estate to work seriously with the Debt Dudes (aka UW’s debt financing team) on terms for an internal loan.

All I can say about the terms of the internal loan program is that I’m grateful for the endless challenges and delays associated with waterfront permitting. These issues stretched our project design period to four years, and these four years bought Treasury valuable time to launch the Internal Lending Program (ILP) and made it possible for the Marina to borrow enough to pay for all the additional costs caused by those seemingly endless delays. Hey, I know my reasoning is a bit circular, but what do you expect? I’m in Real Estate.

Ultimately both a brand new Boat Street Marina and Treasury’s brand new General Revenue Bonds were successfully floated. We were proud to be an ILP launch customer and pleased to be 95% leased in the first month of operation. The Marina opened in March as the capstone of a portfolio of waterfront development that we hope will not only be a source of enjoyment for the University and its community but also an example of the University’s commitment to enhancing both the built and the natural environment.

Below find the highlights of the portfolio development project:

Amenities

Boat Street Marina and Agua Verde Cafe. The rebuilt marina provides safe, modern, convenient moorage slips for rent in a prime location with easy access to Lake Washington and Lake Union. Agua Verde Café & Paddle Club offers water views with a full menu, a coffee bar and more.

Paddle Club Launch Dock. An enlarged and greatly improved kayak launch facility has been constructed at the west end of the marina, where the expanded Agua Verde Paddle Club operates a popular kayak rental business. This custom built dock system will allow the Paddle Club to serve more customers with greater comfort, safety, and efficiency.

Small Boat Launch. A public-access hand-carried boat launch is now located at the east end of the site as a public amenity. This fulfills a long-standing obligation of the University to the City of Seattle as part of negotiations for the realignment of 15th Avenue NE, which allowed construction of new Oceanography and Genome Sciences (Foegy) buildings in that area and created Sakuma Viewpoint. Visitors can launch their kayaks, canoes, and rowboats from its custom low-freeboard floating dock in protected waters.

Restrooms. New restrooms were constructed adjacent to the Paddle Club office to replace the Marina’s portable restroom. These restrooms have showers and serve both the Marina and the Paddle Club customers.

Environmental Benefits

Long Lasting Docks. The new Marina dock floatation system is constructed of welded sections of High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) pipe which is expected to last longer, with less maintenance costs than any other recreational boat Marina flotation system available on the market today. HDPE is recyclable and will remain so for many years (HDPE plastic milk jugs are commonly recycled into such things as fleece clothing and plastic lumber).

Reduced Shadows. The new dock surfaces are made of plastic grating which reduces “shadows” by allowing 40% of natural light to penetrate to the water. Shadows threaten endangered salmon by providing hiding places for predators.

Reduced Pilings. The new Marina has 63 steel pilings, compared to the old Marina which was held in place by 156 wooden piles. Piling reduction benefits endangered aquatic species.

Recycled Logs. Floating cedar logs supported much of the old Marina, including a floating office building that was beyond repair. Many of these logs have been milled into usable lumber and some whole logs were used for stream enhancement programs and beach restoration projects administered by the Department of Fish & Wildlife and State Department of Natural Resources.

Shoreline Restoration. Approximately 140 linear feet of concrete bulkhead have been removed and replaced with a shoreline restoration area. This includes a naturally sloping bank planted with native species plants.

Pump-out Station. A new black water pump-out station is provided, funded largely by a state grant through the Washington State Parks Department.

If cash is king, then up-to-date information about cash handling procedures is surely some part of the royal family. Many Financial Management units, from Student Fiscal Services to Grant and Contract Accounting, need to know about cash management processes to perform their jobs. In the past, the information was out there, but it often took a bit of hunting to find what was needed. Web sites provided information and procedures but were often hard to locate. Sites would reference processes of other departments but information was not always updated. Information was confusing and could be contradictory.

As recent audit findings revealed issues around cash handling, representatives from Financial Services, Financial Accounting Grants and Contracts, and Student Fiscal Services did a review of information on their web sites and it became apparent that a “face-lift” was needed. The goal was to create a single web presence where all procedures for dealing with cash could be found. The procedures needed to be up-to-date, accurate, and easy to understand. The outcome of this effort was a new web site for cash handling procedures: http://www.washington.edu/admin/finmgmt/sfs/cash/cash.html.

This website was piloted with key departments and their reaction was overwhelmingly positive. Cash handling training sessions have been scheduled with times and locations listed on the website. There is also a special email address for any questions around cash handling procedures: cashmgmt@u.washington.edu.

We welcome any comments /suggestions you may have about the website. Please direct them to Sandie Rosko (sandier@u.washington.edu). Enhancements will be made on an ongoing basis as input is received from others.

On September 18th and 19th, Financial Management’s Executive Improvement Team (FMEIT) held its 19th annual retreat at the UW’s Pack Forest Conference Facility. Under the dazzling radiance of an unusually warm autumn sun, the group engaged in study and activities focused on becoming more motivating and inspiring leaders.

All FMEIT members received 360 Extraordinary Leadership feedback over the last year. The results were combined to collectively evaluate leadership team results. In a prior exercise using good process improvement techniques, the behaviors Inspiring and Motivating rose to the top of the leadership team priority list. The Extraordinary Leader companion behaviors associated with Inspiring and Motivating align nicely with FM Leadership Qualities. Therefore, this invigorating retreat focused on building skills highlighted in our 360 feedback.
There are 14 members of the expanded FMEIT, half of whom are new to the team. The newest member, the new director of Purchasing, Dennis Gawlik, attended the retreat even though he was not yet scheduled to begin in his employment.

Beautiful weather greeted early arrivals, some of which chose to go on nature walks in the late afternoon, exploring the natural beauty of the forest, and no doubt contemplating their assignments for the kick-off evening event.
Convening in Pack Hall after a hearty northwest dinner, attendees shared an experience, a story or a person that they found inspiring. Many wonderful examples were presented in a number of very interesting ways, from a life changing personal experience to a children’s story with special significance. It was very powerful, and set a tone for the retreat.

After a good night’s sleep in rustic accommodations, a course was set to discover the crucial elements that signify inspiring and motivating behaviors. Cheryl Hawley and Ruth Johnston lead the energetic conversation, exploring leadership attributes by using following the “Inspiring & Motivating Competency Companions”:

• Acts as a role model in the organization
• Adapts influence strategies to individuals
• Creates a learning environment
• Sets high personal standards
• Innovates
• Keeps the team informed
• Ensures agreement on priorities
• Creates a compelling vision
• Demonstrates concern and consideration for others
• Empowers others to take responsibility for projects

It is only possible to be inspiring for so long without needing a team building exercise, something FMEIT veterans call Hoopla. Hoopla is equal parts creative, collaborative and wacky to accomplish a goal. Most notable of these exercises required designated teams to make something beautiful using one piece of paper and anything else found in the outdoors. The stunning results demonstrate the effectiveness of synergy.

Following the vigorous regimen of the day’s activities was an evening designed to strengthen relationships. After a few rounds of ping pong in the outdoor shelter, the group retired (with favorite beverage in hand) to the fire pit where a raging blaze illuminated and comfortably warmed attendees as they talked through the night. After debriefing and work related talk, members of the group took turns responding to questions like: “Who from the past or present would you like to be stuck in an elevator with, and what would you ask them?” The responses proved enlightening and a little strange in some cases, but this type of productive social interaction is vital for building trust, camaraderie and deepening relationships for effective teamwork.

Team exercises demonstrating inspirational leadership continued on the final morning, and then the group focused on next steps for incorporating what was learned into future actions. Much of what was accomplished at the retreat involved critical thinking about behavior. To be inspiring and motivating leaders must walk the talk, but only feedback indicates true success. Listening is essential.

“Inspiring and Motivating” is the theme for the coming year and there will be more conversation about this at all levels within Financial Management.

Financial Management Executive Improvement Team Members
Ann Anderson—Controller’s Office
Barbara Benson—Records Management Services
Sue Camber—Financial Management
Cristi Chapman—Management Accounting and Analysis
Kati Folk-Way—Creative Communications
Jeff Follman—Financial Management
Cindy Gregovich—Payroll, Travel, and Records Management
Cheryl Hawley—Strategy Management
Cathy Hoggan—Creative Communications
Karen Long—Financial Services
Eric Mosher—Creative Communications
Sandie Rosko—Student Fiscal Services
Tami Sadusky—Grant and Contract Accounting
David Wright—e-Commerce

As you read this article it is likely fresh in your mind what it was like to upgrade to Microsoft Office 2007 and convert to the Microsoft Exchange server (Outlook email and calendaring). You may still be asking yourself, why? One reason is to bring our operating software up-to-date but also to improve the way we do business. While learning something new is often frustrating, we’ve heard many individuals are beginning to appreciate the efficiency it brings to their work. One example of this new efficiency: the email notification when someone is requesting your attendance at a meeting.

UW Exchange provides an integrated system of managing email, calendars, tasks and contacts. Our division is one of the first to convert to this system on campus and has provided some lessons learned for other divisions. UW Exchange is also tightly integrated with Microsoft Office products. For example, if you are reading email through remote access and a message has an Excel attachment - you can view the attachment even if the computer you are using does not have Excel installed.

A huge THANK YOU goes out to the team that worked to make this conversion as smooth as possible. This group shared helpful hints with each other and practiced patience and flexibility during this process.

Creative+Communications—Scott Lacey and Sam Somphet
Grant & Contract Accounting and Equipment Inventory Office—Brian Baldwin
Management Accounting & Analysis—Laurent Anstett
Payroll—Tammy Garcia
Purchasing, Financial Accounting and Financial Services—Mary Jane Mackay
Records Management Services—Barbara Benson
Risk Management—Angie Krittenbrink
Strategy Management Group—Michelle Lynch
Student Fiscal Services—Jeff Peterson
Travel—Teresa Crisostomo
Treasury and the Senior Vice President’s Office—Sam Senturia

Internal Audit also converted last summer and the Facilities Division will be the next area to go through the conversion, led by Bob Johnson and Dustin Brewer.

As Treasury was the first group to convert, Sam Senturia provided those of us following with several helpful tips (such as don’t delete the email notification regarding a meeting without taking action or the meeting will be removed from your calendar!). Brian Baldwin and his team also put together some terrific step-by-step instructions for setting calendar permissions in Outlook.

Of course, our Nebula Support Team led by Marcus Hirsch along with Greg Shymko and Bill Shaeffer; and each department’s Nebula contact: Lisa Jones, Kay Lutz, Kellie McComas, Bill Swann and Tobin Wood answered countless calls and made multiple visits to make sure all was working well. Rebecca Galloway, also on the Nebula team, set up classes for both learning the basics and advanced calendaring for those staff who manage multiple calendars.

Many people fear change. Human beings are creatures of habit and find comfort in the familiar. But there inevitably comes a time when it becomes clear that change is necessary because the old ways of doing things stop working.

It may be that our fear of change stems not so much in relinquishing our old ways but from being in that uncomfortable middle place, between the known past and the unknown future. Author Marilyn Ferguson describes it well: “It’s not so much that we’re afraid of change, or so in love with the old ways, but it’s that place in between we fear…it’s like being in between trapezes. It’s Linus when his blanket is in the dryer. There’s nothing to hold on to.”

So how does F2 promote change when so many are naturally averse to it? By creating a new department named Strategy Management (SM) in October of 2007 with the following mission: "SM manages strategy and facilitates change across Finance and Facilities, by supporting development of our people, managing our business performance, communicating our value, and leading strategic university-wide projects and programs."

Leadership

The SM team finds its leadership in Ruth Johnston, Associate VP for Strategy Management. Dr. Johnston's extensive background in human relations and organizational development and her keen interest in strategy management, measuring effectiveness and implementing change makes her a dynamic champion for the our team.

Training

One of the first goals of SM is to train employees how to change. Employees must have an awareness of how changes to process inputs affect the quality of the product or service they deliver, and they must be given tools and resources to measure and evaluate the effects of the changes they implement. Training such as Introduction to Quality Awareness, Process Improvement (PI) and MBTI personality assessment helps F2 employees develop the skills they need to collaboratively improve their work processes. SM staff members Cheryl Hawley, Jeanne Semura and Shelley Tennant develop, coordinate and schedule a variety of organizational development training with and for employees across Finance & Facilities.

Metrics and Reporting

SM also assists F2 employees in gathering the information needed to evaluate how change affects the larger organization. Providing additional services may improve customer satisfaction but service improvements without consideration of effects to the bottom line won't keep customers happy for long because business units can’t operate indefinitely in a financial deficit.

Change must therefore be implemented in a balanced way so that impacts to other business perspectives can be addressed. The Balanced Scorecard provides a model for evaluating how change affects the whole organization. LuAnn Stokke and Vincent Lau of SM’s Metrics and Reporting team help F2 employees use tools such as the balanced scorecard and business dashboards to collect, measure and monitor data about organizational change and its effects on business processes, customer satisfaction, employee learning and growth and our financial bottom line.

Projects and Programs

As F2 employees become comfortable with the tools provided through organizational development and training and recognize the success of their process improvements efforts in their balanced scorecards and dashboards they naturally become motivated to take on more complex processes. But tackling large intra-departmental projects often requires specialized skills in project management and facilitation. SM employs a team of facilitators and project managers to help F2 teams manage the complexities of these larger process improvement projects. SM employees Jeanne Semura, Elise Davis and Susan Freccia provide facilitation and project and strategy management for various units across F2.

In addition to lending assistance on individual projects, SM also provides support to ongoing university-wide programs such as the Business Diversity Program (BDP) and the Office of Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability (ES&S). In return Shaun Spearmon and Lynn Beck of the BDP and AJ Van Wallendael of ES&S provide broad and diverse business and environmental perspectives to the SM team.

Communications

Knowledgeable employees and efficient processes can’t help our customers if our customers can't find us or request our services. Dan Druliner provides F2 employees with web management expertise to make our websites more usable to our customers. And to help our stakeholders describe our value to UW community, administrators and legislators, project manager Debby Seaman is building the story of the successes at the University of Washington through her work on the Washington State Quality Award.

Support

And any great team is only as good as the support it receives. SM gets its support from Office Manager Rae Ann Laubenstein, a skilled administrator who receives valuable assistance from student interns Aubrey Batchelor, and Krystal Kurokawa.

Through its leadership in employee development, measurement, management, communication and support, Finance & Facilities' Strategy Management team helps F2 employees embrace change and respond to it as an opportunity for continued excellence.

"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." — Charles Darwin

"The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity." — Peter Drucker

“Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine.” — Anonymous

You make enough monthly. You’re wasting your money on renting. You’re paying someone else’s mortgage when you should be paying your own. What are you thinking??

What ARE you thinking? You’re thinking it’s time. Time to start looking at houses or condos. Time to become a “first time home buyer.” The thought is nerve racking. Your brain is swelling with thoughts. If you find something, and you get approved, what do you do then? You submit an offer, and wait. The waiting is vicious. Tick tock tick tock. Finally, your offer was accepted, now you need to get the money from the bank. Awwwwwwwh! You meet with the bank. They find out you work for the UW and need more information. They have you sign a release of authorization form. What does this mean?? You feel the goose bumps as you head deeper and deeper into the “Mortgage Verification Zone.” Dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee.

It’s late Friday afternoon. It’s been a long, long, strenuous and frightful day. The hands on the clock seem to be ticking backwards. Your nerves are trembling, palms are drenched from sweat. You sit waiting for that screeching, ear piercing sound. Or better yet, the ring of the telephone. “No! No! Please not me.” The sound is crippling almost overbearing as it blurts out from the receiver…”BRINGHHH BRINGHHH” “AWWWWWWWWRRRRRRR! Please someone save me. Calgon take me away!” you scream. It’s too late. You’ve answered it. “Payroll Office, this is Vanessa.” You’ve done it. You’ve fallen victim to the verification phone line black hole. One company wants this piece of information, one wants that piece of information, another wants it all. You sound like an evil broken record. The forms- they are all the same little creatures nibbling at your brain. You can’t take it anymore. “Why? Why?” you rant in horror. “Why won’t these verification monsters stop attacking me? My ears are bleeding, my lips are cracked and split from the constant nervous chewing each time I hear a ring. My hand aches in arthritic pain.” You want it to stop so badly but what can you do? How can you get these wild beasts to understand you provide only certain information and that all their requests are typical of each others? You need to provide them with correct and accurate information in order to tame their wild antics. Duh da duh! The University of Washington Payroll Office to the rescue! Never fear, the new UW Payroll Office Employment Verification form is here.

Employment Verification Background

The University of Washington Payroll Office receives a large variety of Employment Verification requests. The verifications come in from apartment companies, third party companies, financial institutions, other employers and even credit companies. Each one of which provides their own form requesting certain information: dates of employment, monthly salary, job title, year to date salary information, and status.

Process Improvement

Back in 2006 a team was formed in the Payroll Office to take a look at the current verification process and streamline it to be able to provide consistent and accurate information to each company based on the Privacy Act of 1974. The team compiled the different request forms and found that most were requesting the same employment information: employment period, job position, base salary and full/part time status. Since salary information is specific, employees must provide Payroll with a signed release form authorizing release of their salary to the requestor. The outcome would be to create a standardized UW Payroll form for employment verification. This form would be called the Verification of Employment or VOE form.

New VOE Process Memo:

http://www.washington.edu/admin/payroll/pdf/NewVOELetter.pdf

UW Verification of Employment Request Form:

http://www.washington.edu/admin/payroll/pdf/VerificationPI.pdf

Taking in to consideration the general information each company had been requesting and of course the best interest of the employee, the VOE form was created and implemented in a beta test period February/March of 2008 and eventually pushed live as of June 1st, 2008. Every verification request is filled out and returned using this new form with the exception of mortgage verifications and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) verifications, which require more detailed information. Companies that continue to use their own form receive the requested information filled out on the UW form accompanied by a memo briefly explaining the new procedure. As quoted below, reactions from Payroll to this change in procedure have been very positive.

“I appreciate companies using our form because it expedites the process and our form is straightforward on what it is we can provide. They can always call us if they need more information. I really appreciate companies cooperating because it makes my job go more smoothly and I can accomplish a lot more,” says Vanessa Posadas, Employment Verification Specialist in the Payroll Office.

“It’s truly been a blessing. Companies have been very supportive and cooperative in using the new VOE form. The team put a lot of effort in to creating a form that would help us provide consistent and accurate information to customers. We still have a few companies out there we are working with to streamline our form a little more for them,” explained Christa Woodhull, supervisor of the verification area. The new form has streamlined the employment verification process. It has made it easier for companies to request information and for the Payroll Office to provide consistent information on each employee

Financial Management was able to taste diversity…literally. On September 30th, the FM&T Diversity Team sponsored “Bite of Diversity” in the Ethnic Cultural Center. The event started at 11:30am and there were still plenty of edible treats left over when the event ended at 1:30pm. Over 60 participants brought in dishes that included pot stickers, Persian cookies, paella, and down home red beans and rice.

Over 100 attendees sampled Chinese dumplings and Asian barbecued pork with 3 types of dipping sauces. Several of the dishes included recipes for attendees to write down in case they want to make them at home. “You have to try this!” was heard several times throughout the event as attendees perused the tables. Tables categorized by continent, Asia, North America/Africa, Europe and South America, were overloaded with delectable representation.

An atmosphere of community and togetherness was created as staff mingled and networked with each other and asked questions regarding not only the food, but also about culture. The Diversity Team works diligently to bring cultures and customs to the awareness of the division and the Bite of Diversity was a great way to experience this.