TO: All Employees
FR: M. Monir Ahmed, Vice President for Administration and Finance
Dear Colleagues,
I am writing to provide important updates from Administration & Finance since my communication from earlier this summer.
Personnel Update
Capital Planning Design and Construction (CPDC) - In August, Kristi “Kat” Marian vacated the Director of CPDC at SSU to accept a position with a sister campus. While we will miss her, we are very excited for Kat to pursue a new opportunity within the CSU family.
As our campus is in the process of reassessing our need and re-aligning workforce in certain areas, we wanted to take a pause in filling the position to ensure CPDC, and Facilities Services, is doing its share in this important initiative. Given the importance of the director role and the services CPDC provides to the campus, Christopher Dinno, Chief Planning Officer has offered to assist during this transition period. Christopher, in coordination with Dana Twedell, Associate Vice President for Facilities Services, will assist with overseeing current CPDC projects, CPDC staff, and eventually filling the Director of CPDC position.
Human Resources - Following a national recruitment and advancing finalists to campus, it has been decided the Associate Vice President for Human Resources position vacated by Jeff Banks will not be filled at this time. Chandra Holte, Director of Talent Acquisition and Workforce Administration, has been serving the campus as Administrator in charge during the past few months. Chandra has now agreed to serve the campus as the Interim Senior Director for Human Resources while the associate vice president position remains vacant.
Campus Facilities Update
The Stevenson Hall renovation project is on schedule and the building will be repopulated starting mid-December. We are very excited to celebrate completion of this important project, which represents the campus’ first LEED certified building. A ribbon cutting ceremony is scheduled for December 2, at 9 a.m. to celebrate this accomplishment. Please be on the lookout for further updates.
The Campus Utilities refresh project is well underway with replacement of our power substation, electrical feeder and the associated cabling on campus. The construction for the campus's first solar project is expected to begin in early summer 2023. At the completion of this 4.5 megawatt project with 1.5 megawatt battery backup, the campus will be able to derive one-third of its peak energy usage from sustainable / renewable sources and provide emergency power to selected vital operations during power outages.
Voluntary Separation Incentive Program (VSIP)
As a number of CSU campuses, including SSU, continue to be faced with enrollment decline due to changing conditions in the higher education space, our campus is continuing to explore options to address our budget deficit. To be able to balance our budget, we must find ways to reduce our payroll costs and realign our workforce with the current student body served. SSU is currently proposing the implementation of a one-time Voluntary Separation Incentive Program (VSIP) and, following union meet and confer meetings, the campus will look to formally announce this program and eligibility requirements.
CalPERS Retirement Planning
On Wednesday, November 9 and Monday, November 14 from 9-10:30 a.m. Trisha Ramos will be hosting a “Understanding Your CalPERS Retirement” workshop via Zoom. The workshop size is limited and you must RSVP directly to receive the Zoom access details. Please send your RSVP with preferred workshop date to trisha.ramos@sonoma.edu. If you are unable to attend either of the scheduled workshops, please know this presentation will be offered regularly to ensure CalPERS retirement planning.
Process Automation
Concur Travel Solution
As the campus continues to move forward with automating services to gain efficiency and reduce pressure on our colleagues, the university has implemented SAP Concur, an electronic system for processing travel authorization and reimbursements. The system eliminates redundancy, streamlines approvals, payment tracking and aids users with policy parameters already built in. The campus is currently processing about 50% of travel requests using SAP Concur and our goal is to increase participation. This system is designed to expedite and simplify the travel claim process, reducing dependence on a representative’s availability or workload. If you are not already using the system we encourage you to do so. The travel team holds open office hours via Zoom every Monday and Wednesday to assist travelers with becoming accustomed to the new tool. To learn more about SAP Concur, visit the website here.
Employee Self Service Update
We are also happy to announce that Sonoma State has elected into an expansion of the employee self-service features in Cal Employee Connect (CEC) to include Multi Factor Authentication (MFA). Once MFA is enabled, in addition to viewing pay warrants and W-2 information, employees can now enroll or change their direct deposit with the State Controller’s Office. For more information on accessing CEC and enabling MFA, please visit the Payroll and Benefits website at Cal Employee Connect | Human Resources at Sonoma State University.
22/23 Salary Programs
We are happy to share that more than 95% of the retroactive payments associated with the 22/23 General Salary Increases (GSI) for APC, CFA, CSUEU, Teamsters, SUPA and the MPP/C99 salary program have been issued. All One-Time and Recognition Bonuses have been issued for eligible CSUEU, Teamsters, SUPA, APC and MPP/C99 employees. HR and Payroll are actively working with the State Controller’s Office to process and issue the remaining payments, which includes the 7/1/22 retro 3% portion of the APC salary program (to be reflected on the 12/1/22 pay warrant).
As always, we look forward to receiving feedback and ideas to improve our services to the campus community. Please feel free to contact any of the Administration and Finance leaders from A&F Leadership by emailing me directly at mahmed@sonoma.edu