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 that generate revenue and reduce costs. Business Services strives for high standards of service that meet the needs of the District and community.
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 � Accounting Supervisor 1.0 FTE � Account Clerk Senior 7.0 FTE � Account Clerk II 1.0 FTE � Accountant 1.0 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.
Past surveys relating to Business Services included questions for both staff and students. The surveys included questions regarding current processes and customer satisfaction. After reviewing responses, the results of the evaluation indicated the following objectives for follow up:
Business Services will continue to support institutional success by being responsive to financial research requests and providing fiscal leadership that embodies the District's strategic initiatives. Through the ongoing remote work environment due to Covid-19 restrictions, Business Services continues to work towards improvements in the following areas:
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 support 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 streamlining current processes.
Cross-training Business Services staff on administrative and financial operations to ensure ongoing process improvements.
Business Services will continue to work with the IT Department in reviewing the District's ERP Self-Service software for any pieces that may be implemented to improve current support and processes.
Strategy 1 - Campus Communication
Develop additional and more effective methods of communicating and educating the campus community on budget issues, such as restricted grant processes, purchasing issues, and payroll items. Conduct various workshops and communicate issues through existing planning committees.
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.
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.
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.
Business Services is continually looking for virtual opportunites as well as 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.
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 1.25 FTE funded by these restricted sources (in 5 areas ranging from 0.025 FTE in the CA Community College Technology Center (CCCTC) Common Assessment Program to 0.6875 FTE in the CCCTC Core Application Program). 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.
| 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 ever increasing document retention demands of the College 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. The swift shift to remote work environments experienced in 2020 also highlighted the need for more paperless options to process the District's business operations. |
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