Executive Vice President, Business Operations, and Interim CFO Nathan Brostrom on Sept. 4 announced additional changes to the organizational structure of UCOP’s Business Operations and the Office of the Chief Financial Officer:

Dear UCOP colleagues:

I’m writing to provide you with additional details about the changes we are making in the Business Operations and the CFO divisions as a result of the recent organizational review. These details, which were shared with Business Operations and CFO staff earlier this morning, build upon the changes that President Napolitano announced on Aug. 19. The effective dates for these changes will be communicated once transition plans are finalized.

Given the complexity of the changes, leaders and staff in both divisions will be working together over the coming weeks to identify the best possible paths for implementation. In order to meet President Napolitano’s request that these changes be largely in place by the end of the year, we will move swiftly while being careful to balance both employee and business needs.

CFO division changes

As the president noted in her announcement, all units involved in systemwide financial operations will be located within the CFO Division. This includes moving budget and capital planning functions from Business Operations. Accordingly, we are making the following changes:

• Patrick Lenz will assume the role of Deputy CFO, reporting to me. As I announced Tuesday, Sept. 2, Patrick is planning to retire at the end of 2014. A key focus for him between now and his retirement will be working closely with me to ensure the successful implementation of these organizational changes.
• Sandra Kim will lead the combined Capital Markets Finance and Capital Resources Management unit. Deborah Wylie and the Capital Resources Management department, with the exception of the Sustainability team, will move from the former Budget and Capital Resources department under Patrick into this blended organization.
• Debbie Obley will continue to lead the Operating Budget team, now within the CFO Division. This department will be renamed Budget Analysis and Planning, reflecting an augmentation of existing financial analysis and modeling functions. Debbie will also oversee, on an interim basis, the new Energy and Sustainability unit within the COO/Business Operations division until a new leader for that unit is hired. The location of the Integrated Capital Asset Management Program (ICAMP) and facilities functions is being determined through the transition planning process.
• Zoanne Nelson and Cathy O’Sullivan will continue in their current roles until a new COO is on board, working closely with me on the management of the two divisions and the ongoing implementation of these organizational changes. Cathy will also continue in her role as director of the Working Smarter initiative.

Over the coming weeks, I will be further assessing the functions within the CFO division, and I anticipate additional changes will be made.

COO/Business Operations division changes

As the president also announced on Aug. 19, all units involved in operational activity will be located under the COO/EVP. This includes (1) consolidation of units involved in local OP business operations under a new executive director, and (2) elevation and consolidation of units involved in energy and sustainability-related activities under a new leader reporting to the COO, to better reflect the importance of this work and to better align and integrate these activities. Accordingly, we are implementing the following:

• The UCPath Center, led by Jim Leedy, will be moving into the COO division once the new COO is on board and following UCOP’s transition to Path. The UCPath Project Management Office (PMO) will remain under me until the project is complete.
• The Strategic Resources Group and the Center for Operations Excellence will be consolidated into one unit named the Program Management Office. The leader of this unit will report directly to the COO. Zoanne will oversee this consolidated unit until the new COO is on board.
• The above-referenced Energy and Sustainability unit will reside within the COO division.
• Open positions in the COO division will be filled after the new COO is on board.

This high-level organization chart shows how the new structure of each division is taking shape. We will distribute updated charts as we work through final details and decisions.

I have asked Zoanne Nelson, Cathy O’Sullivan and Kathy Eftekhari to manage the transition phase, including finalizing the effective dates of these changes. They will be working with departmental leaders and staff to develop transition plans and keep the lines of communication open.

I am committed to keeping everyone informed as we move through this process. I’ll be in touch again in the weeks ahead as we have more information to share. Meanwhile, I want to thank everyone involved in this effort for their support. I recognize that some of this is not easy, and I appreciate everyone’s professionalism and partnership.

Sincerely,

Nathan

Nathan Brostrom
Executive Vice President, Business Operations and Interim CFO

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