The mission of the Business Services department is to provide services that enable faculty and staff to manage resources effectively, facilitate the process by which students achieve their educational goals, and ensure financial stability for the District through sound fiscal operations. 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. The Business Services team strives to achieve high standards of service and to 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 • 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. The goal of the department is to provide a strong foundation of administrative and financial services to college 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.
The Administrative Unit Outcomes are based upon previous standards and measured by a campuswide survey completed in 2016. The 2016 results are included below, along with notes regarding subsequent changes which have occurred since the survey. Another survey is scheduled to be administered in 2018.
Subsequent changes since the 2016 survey:
The Business Services department provides essential services that support the District in meetings its student achievement standards by supporting the financial functions of the college including payroll for students, faculty and staff, support for travel, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and processing financial aid for students. The staff is knowledgeable, experienced and excels at being accessible to everyone in-person and through remote methods of communication. They 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.
The Business Services department supports the college in meeting its Strategic Direction and Priorities by focusing on how the services we provide affects 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 Initiatives 2.a.1, 2.b.2, 2.d.2, and 2.d.5).
A campus-wide survey was conducted through the office of the Vice President of Administration in 2015 and 2016. Another survey is scheduled to be conducted in 2018. The survey portion relating to Business Services included questions for both students and staff. The survey included questions on the current processes that are performed and the satisfaction of the customer. After comparison with prior surveys, the results of the evaluation indicated two primary objectives for follow up:
For students - Consistent with findings from prior surveys, additional resources or methods of implementation are still needed for the appropriate use of Higher One. Student complaints about ATMs out of cash or being non-operational were reviewed after the first survey was completed. An additional ATM was installed on the Main Campus to meet the needs of students. Improvements have been achieved in this area since the first survey results were received. Still, student complaints about per transaction service fees, card delays in being able to access funds, and poor customer service from Higher One when contacted, are still points for improvement.
For staff - Concerns have continued to be raised about various Business Services practices/procedures as it relates to the purchasing process. Many individuals are involved in the purchasing process as it includes requisitions, purchase orders, encumbrance adjustments, budget transfers, expenditure transfers, vendor set ups, invoice receipting, payment of invoices, and mailing of checks. There were inefficiencies in the process that delayed a department's ability to move quickly through this process. Improvements have been made as it relates to speeding up the A/P process, such as purchase orders being printed several times per week and budget/expenditure transfers being posted daily. Training staff on the administrative procedures began in 2016/2017 and will continue in 2017/2018 to ensure that all employees have a chance to improve their knowledge on the proper methods for these practices.
Business Services will help the institution achieve success by being responsive to financial research requests and provide fiscal leadership that reflects and supports the District's strategic initiatives. Business Services is working towards improving upon the following goals:
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 future implementation feasibility. These decisions will be weighted by degree of implementation difficulty and resources necessary, in order to determine the level of return against the institutional resource investment.
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.
Effective communication is the key to reaching the campus community. Conducting forums, 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 implment these sustainable results.
The college has focused its efforts to develop a strong solar program. It now 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 will be significantly reduced.
The significant increase in grants over the last few years has increased the amount of transactions that Business Services processes. Technology grants and other CCCCO grants and restricted funding sources have significantly increased 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 continuing to satisfy customer services 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 | $5,500.00 | $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. |
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