Running head: INTERVIEW WITH BUSINESS MANAGER 1

Interview with Business Manager:

Pamela Davis



By

LENA M. FRIEND

SAA7680 Finance and Budget Management
Wright State University
February 20, 2013








BUSINESS MANAGER INTERVIEW-L. FRIEND 2
On February 20, 2013 Felix Torres and I met with Pam Davis,
Business Manager for the division of Student Affairs. In this
meeting she shared information about her job responsibilities,
colleagues, programs, fiscal decision-making, challenges, and
principles. She works as a direct report to Dr. Dan
Abrahamowicz, Vice President of Student Affairs. She has
budgetary responsibility for the thirteen units that fall under
the division of Student Affairs, which include: Campus
Recreation, Career Services, Community Standards and Student
Conduct, Counseling and Wellness Services, Disability Services,
Intercollegiate Athletics, The Nutter Center, Police Department,
Residence Services, Student Health Services, Student Activities
and Greek Life, Student Support Services, and Student Union.
While she works directly for the division of Student
Affairs, she is guided by regulation that comes down from the
Controllers Office and the State of Ohio. It is the mission of
the Business Manager to carry out the directives they receive.
She also meets regularly with the Controller and Budget Managers
from across campus to be informed of new regulation and work out
policy and procedures to carry them out.
When problems arise Pam counts on Dr. Abrahamowicz and
Kathy Morris for advise. She also counts on them for helping her
set reasonable expectations and high-level budget decisions.
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According to our text, everyone within the budget unit has
both strengths and weaknesses, and an assessment of their
financial skills and capabilities must be considered prior to
granting them authority in money matters (Barr & McClellan,
2001). When asked, How do you assess capabilities of colleagues
before granting authority in financial matters? Pam replied
that people at the Director level have already proven themselves
through previous experience by the time they are granted
financial authority. However, if a gap occurs, she must
intervene quickly with whatever means necessary to correct the
situation. Depending on the level of concern she could employ
anything from requesting an internal audit to getting Dr.
Abrahamowicz or Kathy Morris involved. Regular reviews of Banner
reports are another way to monitor gaps and see how colleagues
are managing program budgets.
In most cases, when Pam discovers a pattern of over
spending she works with the program Director to balance their
budget. Unfortunate for some, this means they must carry over a
negative balance into the next fiscal year budget. For others,
overspending is an inherent problem and not much can be done
about it. Adjustments in the budget have to be allowed in
certain support areas such as Security and Disability Services.
This is because they are expected to preserve campus safety and
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sustain the quality of life and academic success of our students
with disabilities.
Like over spending of expenses, over estimating revenue
will bring similar results. It too, forces Directors to reduce
expenses or seek grants. An example is how Gary Dickstein
overestimated revenue in fees and fines and had to make it up in
the next years budget.
Funding is the most common reason program budget proposals
or requests are refused. In recent years, budget reductions have
been Pams biggest challenge. Budget cuts in recent years have
forced program directors to become more creative and
entrepreneurial, as they look for alternative funding sources.
Some have been successful in garnering funds through research
grants. Others have worked more collaboratively with similar
programs or units to consolidate tasks and work jointly on
projects.
The biggest factor that influences the development of the
Student Affairs budget is, not surprisingly, budget reductions.
It forces everyone in the division to refocus their mode of
operation and seek new ways to increase revenue or cut expenses.
New programs are encouraged to go out and find grant funding for
seed money to start up their programs, such as what Assistant
Director of Outdoor Recreation, Amy Anslinger did. She often has
BUSINESS MANAGER INTERVIEW-L. FRIEND 5
great ideas and gets to implement them because she has become
really good at seeking out and garnering grants to fund them.
Pams approach to solving chronic budget and financial
problems is to first exam the process and operations and then
make recommendations for remediation. The Student Union had
chronic budgeting problems, which resulted in a merge with the
department of Conference and Events in a 2004. Later, the Nutter
Center and Athletics merged for similar reasons.
When facing budget cuts, it is hard to determine what line
items to target. Typically, travel is one of the first things to
go. Some have no travel budget, such as Disability Services,
while others cannot do without it such as Student Organizations;
they have to stay current with their professional development.
In tight a budget situation, positions are often under
consideration. When a person leaves, the question has to be
asked, Can this job opening be re-positioned, merged, or
eliminated?
Across-the-board cuts are not practical in student affairs.
Upper management will always try an across-the-board strategy
first because its easier, but it cant always work that way.
Each line item has a different impact and variance in
flexibility, such as with the Student Union. They have a three
million dollar budget: one million for debt, one million for
indirect costs, and one million for everything else
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(operations). Debt payments cannot be cut because creditors
wont allow it. Indirects are not flexible, so therefore the
only place for cutting is in the operations budget. For example,
taking a twenty percent ($600,000 in the case) cut from one
third of the budget ($1,000,000) is impractical, because it
leaves barely anything ($400,000) to operate the department on.
Understanding from the Controllers Office is the most
common issue she faces. They dont see the issues divisions have
to consider individually. Services that provide safety for
students, staff, and faculty, and special support services for
our students with disabilities have to be preserved because we
have a reputation to fulfill and obligation to meet our student
needs. Budget reductions are always a challenge. Another big
problem is that program Directors have an attitude of
entitlement and dont want their programs to be under the scope
for cuts.
Unlike the authors of our text, Pam believes there are no
situations where avoidance is a reasonable strategy. She would
recommend a different strategy maybe, but never avoidance. If
she sees something unethical or not right and doesnt want to
face the person directly, she will contact the Business
Integrity Hotline and let them investigate the problem.
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In this position, Pam says you have to breathe and bleed
principles of integrity, consistency, and fairness in fiscal
affairs. It cant be any other way.
When asked, What is your biggest challenge in becoming an
effective Business Manager? She replied, No challenge is too
big, but rather, have I got an opportunity for you.
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References
Barr, M., & McClellan, G. (2001). Budgets and financial
management in higher education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-
Bass