Administration

Penn State initiative to examine financial organization, engages consultant

Effort is part of ongoing optimization of financial organization and processes in support of mission-critical priorities

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State this month will broaden its examination of ways to best steward resources through an effort known as the Financial Resources Enhancement Initiative (FREI). Over the coming months, FREI will study how the University’s overall financial organization, policies, roles, skills, and training programs support and enhance the ongoing transformation of Penn State’s budgeting and fiscal management. 

FREI is the next area of focus in the financial transformation of the University. For the past few years, Penn State has led a variety of budgeting and financial efforts — such as the 2020 launch of SIMBA, the University-wide business and financial system, and the Strategic Budget Approach Initiative — with a goal to help modernize outdated systems and processes, create better financial controls that minimize costs, and keep a Penn State education affordable and accessible for students. 

“The work of FREI will allow us to understand the big picture when it comes to our organizational structure and align the skills and responsibilities of our current and future financial staff members with new technology and strategic priorities,” said Sara Thorndike, senior vice president for Finance and Business and treasurer. “Our intent is to modernize and keep pace with new innovations, while continuing to invest in and to develop our valued financial staff members so they can make the most of those capabilities in support of our core mission.” 

As executive sponsors, Thorndike, Executive Vice President and Provost Nick Jones, and Interim Vice President for Human Resources Jennifer Wilkes, charged a team of leaders in the University Budget Office, the Office of the Corporate Controller, and Human Resources to lead the effort. 

To complete the exploratory analysis, the FREI team has engaged Ernst & Young, an external consultant with experience in higher education, finance and organizational structure design, to review the current financial structure at Penn State and to develop recommendations.  

Along with examining policies and processes, the study will include a review of the University’s broader financial organization comprised of staff members in full-time financial roles and those who may have limited financial responsibilities, including those in administrative support roles, across all units, colleges and campuses, excluding Penn State Health and Penn College.  

Among potential areas of focus, the analysis will look at how to continue to enhance capacity, streamline processes and policies, better balance workloads for individuals, identify if there are redundant responsibilities, offer appropriate training and development opportunities to support skill development, and to establish baseline qualifications for new hires.  

“In a time of disruptive change across all of higher education, the goals of this initiative are to support University priorities and steward resources appropriately, while also creating opportunities for continued growth and professional development for current and future staff who steer our financial organization,” Jones said. “To enable the University’s new strategic budget approach, we must make sure that we have the right financial structure and organization in place, provide appropriate training for our employees, and have consistent hiring requirements and practices.” 

Throughout this effort, the University will seek to hear and learn from financial staff members about their opinions, suggestions and feedback on current and future operations. This spring, financial staff members will be asked to participate in an anonymous survey and focus groups to discuss current operations, barriers and opportunities for the future.  

“As we move forward, we will be creating opportunities for financial staff members to share their thoughts and have their questions answered,” Wilkes said. “Their hard work and dedication to our University is appreciated, and their feedback on our current and future operations will be valuable.”  

While FREI will be focused on understanding the University’s financial organization, processes and skill sets, no recommendations or decisions have been made at this time, according to Jones.  

The analysis will begin in February and proceed through the spring semester 2022. Recommendations are expected to be shared with others in Penn State leadership in late spring. Following a review, broad findings will be shared with the University community. 

To learn more, frequently asked questions are available on the Finance and Business website. 

Last Updated February 22, 2022