Changes Ongoing at UC Merced

New CIO and Vice Chancellor

• Ann Kovalchick will serve as chief information officer (CIO) and associate vice chancellor of Information Technology effective Feb. 3, pending final approval from the Office of the President.
• Michael Reese was appointed vice chancellor of the Division of Business and Administrative Services (BAS). Reese has served as the division’s interim vice chancellor on a part-time basis since July 2013. You can hear more about Reese’s background and plans for the division in this introductory video.  

Human Resources Reorganization

• Business Partners unit – two business partners, supported by human resources generalists, will serve as the campus-facing representatives of HR. The business partners will become the single points of contact for campus managers and will provide strategic support, problem solving and customer service to clients. 
• Centers of Expertise – this unit will provide in-depth subject matter knowledge regarding compensation, talent acquisition, labor and employee relations, training, and equal opportunity and affirmative action issues. 
• An additional change will occur in benefits, including retirement counseling, workers compensation, unemployment and disability.  Counseling for these services will be provided by the new HR generalists and through services the campus will contract for at the Office of the President.

Shifts, Name Changes in Business and Financial Services 

• Campus Purchasing has been renamed Procurement Services to better reflect the various functional areas of the department. Procurement Services will be led by newly appointed Director Karen Meade and will be reorganized into two commodity teams.
  • Denise Garcia will manage the Facilities and Auxiliaries team with Senior Buyer Todd Harris reporting to Denise. 
  • Terry Thun will manage the Science and Technology team with Senior Buyer Jackie Mendez reporting to Terry.
  • A fast track buyer who will support both teams will be added for quick turnaround times on lower risk and/or less complex contracts. This position will report to Denise Garcia.  Additionally, new team/department assignments will be created to provide ongoing communication and support between the commodity teams and campus clients.
  • Mondo Building receptionist Christine Yap, who also provides administrative support to Procurement Services, will report to Karen Meade. 

• Student Business Services will continue to be led by Director Oli Nandkishore. Associate Director Chris Robinson will assume the supervision of accountants Christie Harvey and Dana Bautista in addition to the two accounting assistants who already report to Robinson.

• Emily Bustos has assumed the role of interim director of Payroll Services and will continue to provide ongoing support and leadership for the UCPath project.

• Finance Group. This unit is responsible for managing the process for the development and recommendation of the campus operating budget.   In addition, this department will be responsible for the development and recommendations regarding the development of the campus’s capital budget.  A search for a new assistant vice chancellor for finance has been launched. 
• The Finance Group will include the Operating Budget and Capital Finance units. Emma Loethen is the interim director of Operating Budget and John While oversees Capital Finance. During the time that the assistant vice chancellor of finance position is vacant, the departments will report to Vice Chancellor Feitelberg.

• Real Estate Services Group. This unit is responsible for all campus real estate development and transaction support services. The unit will administer the acquisition and disposition of real property, manage the development of new campus buildings that may be procured through public/private partnerships and provide asset management services for all leased space. Planning and Budget has launched a search for an assistant vice chancellor, Real Estate Services/Chief Real Estate Development Officer who will report to Vice Chancellor Feitelberg. 
• Steve Rabedeaux continues to lead Academic Facilities Planning and Phillip Woods continues to lead Physical and Environmental Planning, reporting to the chief real estate development officer. In addition, space management staff that includes Irwin Band and Ramona Dai’Re, will report to the chief real estate development officer.
• Institutional Planning and Analysis (IPA) has changed its name to Institutional Research and Decision Support to better reflect its focus on providing research and decision support services for senior management and clients across campus. Nancy Ochsner continues to lead the group, serving as assistant vice chancellor, reporting to Vice Chancellor Feitelberg.