Over coffee at a local café, Kris Alise (Left) shares with Finance Manager Rayna King (Right) her aspirations for a career in Finance at Cornell. "Protégé" Kris and "Mentor" Rayna are one of eight partners participating in DFA's current mentoring program. DFA invites seasoned finance professionals and aspiring administrators to sign up for Year Two of the Finance Career Mentoring Program that starts in September.
If you perform any finance functions at Cornell, the Division of Financial Affairs (DFA) invites you to participate in a mentoring program to help “protégés” develop careers in Finance at the university. DFA urges exempt-level finance professionals to become “mentors” in its second, one-year Finance Career Mentoring Program, which starts this September 2006.
After a one-hour training session, selected individuals will be expected to spend at least one hour per month throughout the year with their assigned partners, and complete a feedback form each quarter. Partners may choose to continue meeting on a voluntary basis after the year, outside the program.
Submit your mentor 
or protégé application form by Friday, August 11, and include your résumé to help DFA assign you to a partner.
DFA’s Director of Human Resources, Judy Small, has said: “In this second year of DFA's Finance Mentoring Program, we look forward to increased participation from across campus, because the more applications we receive, the more matches we will be able to make.”
For more information, see DFA’s Financial Mentoring Program Web site .
One-Stop Online Purchasing
The Office for Purchasing Services (OPS) is teaming with a cross-functional campus team to use “SciQuest” to improve the ordering and requistioning experience for faculty and staff. According to technology analysis firm, Giga Information Group, SciQuest is the recognized leader in providing Web-based procurement (“e-Procurement”) solutions for higher education.
In addition to shopping-cart technology similar to online retailers, SciQuest’s benefits will include the following:
Staggered deployment of the new system is targeted to begin late 2006 and to continue throughout 2007.
Learn more about e-Procurement on the Purchasing Web site .
New Training Registration System
Staff will begin using a new method to register for Finance training classes this August, when Cornell implements the latest online registration system. Initially, staff will view only course information and will be able to register for classes, but later this year, added functionality will give staff attendance reminders via e-mail, online registration cancellation, and wait-list capabilities.
Until all features become available, DFA asks that staff keep track of their registration information manually, and that wait-listed registrants enroll in the next available class if the one they had hoped to register for is full. Also, staff who need to cancel registration for these courses, must contact Heather Carpenter 
at least one business day before the event to avoid a $35.00 “no-show” charge to the staff member’s department.
The partnership of DFA Finance Training, CIT, and Organizational Development Services (ODS) developed the new registration system, which will be available at the current Course Catalog and Registration site .
Purchasing’s eBulletins Keep Customers Informed
Supply Management eBulletins are now available on the Office
for Purchasing Services’ (OPS’s) Web site.
Each
bulletin will focus on a different subject. The first bulletin
introduces SciQuest , a user-friendly, Web-based
purchasing
system that
will integrate with current systems.
The second provides
instruction on
Household Moves
and summarizes four
preferred
supplier agreements that
provide service and
protection for
employees who receive
relocation assistance.
Future eBulletins will address the following topics:
One or more documents referenced here open with Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Build Your Finance Career at Cornell 
One-Stop Online Purchasing
New eBulletins Keep Buyers Informed
New Training Registration System
Web Financials Released University-Wide
Travel System Reminder
Effective August 1, 2006, individuals responsible for handling travel reimbursements are required to use the online Travel Reimbursement System 
for transactions involving qualified travelers with a Cornell NetID.
The new, user-friendly travel application electronically routes reimbursement requests into the Payment Request System so that users don’t have to re-enter data. This time-saving process means more timely reimbursements for Cornell travelers.
For questions and training, please contact Disbursement Review and Tax .
Visit the Kuali Blog!
Do you know about the Kuali Blog ? Visit this frequently updated site to get the latest news on Cornell's partnership in the development of this new open-source financial system that is customized to the special needs of higher education.
New Service Commitment
The Office for Purchasing Services (OPS) has renewed its commitment to “respect, courtesy, and a sense of urgency” in responding to customer needs. A new "Service Level Commitment Statement” promises the following responses within the same day, or within 24 hours (by the next business day):
See OPS’s Service Level Commitment Statement in full.
New ACP Grads!
In April 2006, DFA graduated its eigth Accounting Certification Program (ACP) class (pictured below).
Click to enlarge and view names of the Accounting Certificate recipients .
Prospective students can view DFA course information in the new training registration system!. See "New Training Registration System."
For more information about Finance Training, please visit the DFA Training site.
Two Policies Revised
Two policies were revised and re-issued in the months of June and July 2006. University Policy 3.9, Capital Assets was updated to reflect new procedures due to technology changes. University Policy 6.9, Time Away From Work was revised to establish new provisions for leave for parental and family health care reasons, and workers’ compensation and disability.
Web site.The Bottom Line
Editor, Jamie Churchill
Director, Marguerite Spencer
Assistant, Taina Nilson
Questions, comments, listserv changes:
dfa-comm@cornell.edu .
The Bottom Line is a publication of the:
Division of Financial Affairs
Cornell University
341 Pine Tree Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
T: 607.255.6240
Partners, Stewards, Innovators
Web Financials Released University-Wide
Staff and faculty who need access to Cornell financial information
can go to a new Web-based system starting mid-August.
“Web Financials” will save units time and effort by providing the
following:
. Also, finance managers can add account notes, create local
commitments, and search archived transactions to manage
information more effectively.
Using point-and-click technology and intuitive menus, Web Financials is simpler to navigate than more complex,
ad-hoc reporting tools like Brio-Hyperion , Cornell's ad hoc query and analysis tool for financial data. Also, the system produces reports similar to the online monthly accounting statements in Actuate.
This system was developed and implemented in a partnership between the Division of Financial Affairs (DFA), the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), and Cornell Information Technologies (CIT).
Get more information by contacting Web Financials Administration . If you have access to the version currently in testing, see the upcoming release in Test Drive mode , and watch an online tutorial .
Top
Another Fiscal-Year Ended!
As Cornell enters fiscal year 2007, DFA thanks units who helped close the 2006 fiscal year successfully. Without your accurate, timely efforts, DFA could not produce Cornell’s yearly financial statements, which communicate the financial health of the university. The statements for the 2006 fiscal year are expected to be published in late September.
