2019-20 Unit Plan
Business Services

Mission Statement

Business Services exists to provide operational support for the District and to facilitate student achievement.
Business Services provides sound fiscal management which enables faculty and staff to manage resources effectively, facilitate the process by which students achieve their educational goals, and ensure financial stability for the District.  The Business Services team is committed to supporting the campus with ongoing communication and training, effective and efficient systems and procedures, and strategies for generating revenue and saving costs.  Business Services strives for high standards of service that meet the needs of the District and community.

Program Description

Business Services is located on the third floor of the Student and Administrative Services building on the main campus.  The department consists of fourteen individuals representing 14.0 full-time equivalent employees.  Student employees are also employed by the department.  The department consists of the following positions:
�	Director of Business Services 1.0 FTE
�	Payroll Supervisor 1.0 FTE
�	Payroll Technician 2.0 FTE
�	Account Clerk Senior 7.0 FTE
�	Account Clerk II 1.0 FTE
�	Accountant 2.0 FTE
Business Services is responsible for administrative and business operations such as accounting (including auxiliary and foundation), budget development, planning and monitoring, cashiering, accounts receivable, grant reporting/monitoring, purchasing and accounts payable, financial aid disbursements, and payroll.  Department goals focus on providing a strong foundation of administrative and financial services to students, faculty, and staff.
Business Services ensures that the student-learning mission of the District is achieved by providing services that support effective and efficient implementation of the institution�s core foundational processes.

Student Learning/Administrative Unit Outcomes (Optional)

The Administrative Unit Outcomes are continuing standards listed below, along with notes regarding subsequent changes which have occurred since the standards were originally identified. 

Subsequent changes since the standards were identified:


Standards/Goals for Student Achievement (Instruction Departments) (Optional)


        

Standards/Goals for Student Achievement (All Other Departments) (Optional)

The Business Services department has many strengths that benefit the District and allow better focus on the student and help ensure student success. The staff is knowledgeable and experienced, and excels at being accessible to everyone in-person and through remote methods of communication.  Staff Members are highly motivated to serve students, faculty, and staff in the most effective ways possible, including training the campus community on administrative procedures and processes.


Strategic Direction (Optional)

The Business Services department supports the college in meeting its Strategic Direction and Priorities by focusing on how the services provided affect the student's experience at Butte College.  By providing assistance to the campus community with their business and financial needs, supporting faculty and staff in ways that allow effective management of resources, smoothing the administrative process by which students achieve their educational goals, and ensuring financial stability for the District through sound fiscal operations, Strategic Goals 2.a.1, 2.b.2, 2.d.1, and 2.d.2 are promoted.


Program Review (Optional)

Past surveys relating to Business Services included questions for both staff and students.  The survey included questions regarding current processes and satisfaction of the customer.  After reviewing responses, the results of the evaluation indicated two primary objectives for follow up:


Department Goals

Business Services will help the institution achieve success by being responsive to financial research requests and providing fiscal leadership that embodies the District's strategic initiatives. Business Services is working towards improving upon the following goals:

Continuing to provide a strong foundation of administrative and financial services to college students, faculty, and staff.

Providing staff development and training to continually improve the performance of high-quality, diverse staff, dedicated to business operations supportive to the mission of the College. 

Continuing to foster a spirit of teamwork, unity, pride, and professionalism in the workplace.

Embracing technology to become more efficient, including the streamlining of current processes.

Cross-training Business Services staff on administrative and financial operations to ensure process improvements continue.

 Business Services will continue to review the portions of the District’s ERP system which are not currently being utilized, specifically Self-Service functions, the Student Accounts Receivable module, and the Budget module, to determine opportunities for future implementations.  These decisions will be weighted by degree of implementation difficulty and resource allocation needed, in order to determine the level of potential return against the institutional resource investment.


Future Development Strategies

Strategy 1 - Campus Communication

Develop additional and more effective methods of communicating and educating the campus community on various budget issues, such as restricted grant processes, purchasing issues, and payroll items. Conduct various workshops and communicate issues through existing planning committees.


Initiatives
  • Supporting Student, Faculty and Staff Success

Supporting Rationale

Effective communication is the key to reaching the campus community. Conducting forums, providing workshops, and working with standing committees is an important element of strategic messaging.

 


Supporting Rationale Alignment
Supports Previous Program Review Recommendations: Yes
Supports Changes from Student Learning Outcomes Assessment: No
Supports Meeting Standards and Goals for Student Achievement: Yes
Improving Student Achievement: No
Addressing Strategies Identified by the Department Learning Outcomes Reports: No
Addressing Outstanding Program Review Recommendations: No
Supporting the College's Strategic Direction and Priorities: No

Strategy 2 - Streamline Systems and Processes

Business Services will work on developing systems and processes to reduce or eliminate the need for paper and paper storage whenever possible. It will seek to capitalize on current District assets, tools, and processes in order to efficiently implement these sustainable results.


Initiatives
  • Modeling Sustainability
  • Supporting Student, Faculty and Staff Success
  • Maximizing Resources to Support Student Learning

Supporting Rationale

The college has focused its efforts to develop a strong solar program. It utilizes water saving methods whenever possible. The next step in sustainability stewardship is to reduce paper usage and waste. By doing this, the need for storage facilites and upkeep related to document storage, as well as paper consumption, will be significantly reduced.


Supporting Rationale Alignment
Supports Previous Program Review Recommendations: No
Supports Changes from Student Learning Outcomes Assessment: No
Supports Meeting Standards and Goals for Student Achievement: Yes
Improving Student Achievement: No
Addressing Strategies Identified by the Department Learning Outcomes Reports: No
Addressing Outstanding Program Review Recommendations: No
Supporting the College's Strategic Direction and Priorities: No

Requested Non-Financial Resources

Business Services will be looking for available rooms to hold standing training meetings.  These trainings will be aimed at creating informal training time for employees who have formal District training but may need additional information or hands on tutoring regarding specific processes.

Current Financial Resources

The large number of grants the District receives has a significant impact on the volume of transactions that Business Services processes.  Technology grants and other CCCCO grants and restricted funding sources significantly increases the revenue and expenses of the District.  The Business Services team currently has 1.35 FTE funded by these restricted sources (in 6 areas ranging from 0.1 FTE in Transportation to 0.5 FTE in Career Pathways).  Preserving staffing levels is essential for maintaining customer service expectations of internal and external customers. A reduction in grant funding could lead to a negative reduction in Business Services staffing which could threaten the current level of customer service provided to the District.

Augmentation Requests

Original Priority Program, Unit, Area Resource Type Account Number Object Code One Time Augment Ongoing Augment
Description Supporting Rationale Potential Alternative Funding Sources Prioritization Criteria
1 Business Services, Document support and retention Equipment 11-000-280-1-672000-56411 56411 $7,500.00 $0.00
Desktop scanning hardware and software access to allow movement towards a paper reduced work environment. The increased size of the College over the last several years has put a strain on the amount of documentation passing through Business Services. The need to address, file, and then retain this paper load is reaching a saturation level in the Business Office as well as the record retention facilities. Transitioning to a paper reduced, and eventually paperless, work environment should increase efficiency while supporting the College's sustainability goals. The reduced work papers will also decrease the need for additional record retention facilities and reduce the amount needed for upkeep of the facilities.
  • Scheduled Maintenance (Facilities)
  • Addressing Health/Life/Safety issues
  • Maintaining ongoing operations at current levels (excludes grants)
  • Implementing the 2019-2020 Strategic Direction Priorities
  • Improving Processes: a. Data and Reporting; b. Internal Communications
2 Business Services, District reports Operating Expenses 11-000-280-1-672000-55730 55730 $8,000.00 $3,000.00
Audit and actuarial reports to meet state compliance The District is required to have an independent audit performed annually. Professional fees have increased slightly each year over the last few years requiring additional funds to be budgeted to meet this requirement. Additionally, the District is required to have an actuarial study performed at a minimum of every 2 years in order to meet our OPEB obligation. $8,000 in one-time funds is being requested to allow for the bi-annual compliance report.
  • Maintaining ongoing operations at current levels (excludes grants)
8/2/23