Finance & Administration
Update
September 2014
Welcome To The Fall 2014 Semester
Li’l Jay smelling flowers in the Jay Walk garden
As we start our new academic
year, we would like to welcome
everyone back for what is sure to
be a productive, successful and
exciting year – our 50th.
challenge. Feel free to capture
his adventures by taking pictures with him and posting them
on social media #JJCLilJay or
#JJC50.
There will be many activities
throughout the year dedicated to
the celebration of this important
milestone, and we sure hope you
can take an active part in them.
A detailed description of the
program, including the arrival of
the Big Jay statue in December,
receptions, contests, art and history exhibits, alumni events and
much more can be found on our
50th Anniversary website at
http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/jjc50
You may have noticed the presence of Li’l Jay—a bobble-head
representation of John Jay—
who’s got the coolest job of all:
he can be anywhere and do
(almost) anything he wishes,
from sitting in a classroom to
taking on the job of the SVP for
Finance and Administration to
participating in the ice bucket
This edition of our newsletter
provides an update on various
Finance and Administration
projects, news and events. So,
read on, stay engaged and, as
always, we welcome your feedback.
New John Jay Online Bookstore
It’s official! We have a new bookstore on campus–
it’s a virtual one. It is the first totally online campus
bookstore in all CUNY...and it’s doing very well!
The new John Jay Online Bookstore website was
launched just last month. Since then, almost 3,000
students ordered 7,965 books for their classes with
total savings over $139,000 off list price this term.
A team of dedicated professionals from Finance and
Business Services, DoIT, and Student Affairs
worked with the new vendor, Akademos, to establish a seamless experience for textbook adoptions
and ordering for faculty and students. Faculty can
now enter textbooks directly into the Akademos
website via a user-friendly webpage. Students can
view their courses and order the required course
material through a single sign on using their
CUNYfirst credentials. The ability to integrate the
data with CUNYfirst well before the semester start
took a massive effort from CUNY CIS and John
Jay’s team in DoIT.
Among many features, the bookstore offers on average 60% off list price, shipping options to home or
campus, price comparison for different retailers
across the nation for new, used, rental and e-books,
and year round buyback. College-branded merchandise will soon be available on the bookstore’s
website and in our soon to open Li’l Jay Café on the
corner of 11th Avenue and 58th street.
To learn more, visit www.JohnJayBooks.com
Finance and Administration Update, September 2014
Page 2
BRAVO Employee Institute and Recognition Program
On June 6th, the College held its annual BRAVO Summer Institute organized by the Department of Human
Resources. The theme of this year’s
Institute was Volunteerism. It was attended by over 340 employees who
participated in a variety of workshops
and activities dedicated to personal,
professional and community development. Volunteers were involved in
many activities throughout the day,
including the preparation of 10,000
meal packs for children in 65 countries and planting the Jay Walk garden.
And, of course, we found out who became the Employee of the Year! This
year this distinction was awarded to
Emily Karp. During her 29 year career
at John Jay, Emily has played a major
role in managing student financial
accounts. Last semester she spent a
significant amount of time reconciling and cleaning up data in preparation for the transition to CUNYfirst
Campus Solutions. John Jay was
recognized by CUNY to be #1 on financial reconciliation among all the
CUNY Schools. This was a direct
result of Emily’s due diligence, dedication and efforts to insure the data
within the student financial system
was accurate. During the conversion
to Campus Solutions, Emily’s efforts
insured a seamless transition for our
students and their financial accounts.
Congratulations again, Emily, and
thank you for your outstanding
work!
Emily Karp at the BRAVO Institute
HR team at the Meal Pack-A-Thon
SVP Robert Pignatello and his band Forty-Six
West rocking during lunch
OFA Managers Engagement Workshop
Last semester, the directors
and managers of the Office of
Finance and Administration
gathered in the Moot Court for
the Managers’ Engagement
Workshop organized by the
Department of Human Resources.
Led by the very engaging Executive Director of HR Kevin
Hauss, the participants spent a
couple of hours playing teambuilding games, brainstorming
workplace engagement concepts and just having fun.
Each team was asked to respond to a series of questions
related to employee engagement, and at the end of each
assignment the responses
were compared. Overwhelmingly and unsurprisingly, all
teams were on the same page
about workplace engagement
success factors, employee motivation and importance of
appreciation. This was great
news– that means putting
these concepts to practice in
their own divisions should be
just a natural next step. The
upcoming Managers’ Workshop in October is going to
focus on strengthening leadership skills and brainstorming
ideas on how to make campus
a better and easier to navigate
place for students.
Ryan Eustace (Public Safety Dept.) makes a list of his team’s motivators
Finance and Administration managers working in teams
Page 3
Finance and Administration Update, September 2014
A Shower of Appreciation for Facilities and Public Safety Staff
There’s no better news than learning
that hard-working employees get
recognized and appreciated by their
colleagues for their dedication and
commitment.
Last semester, two Facilities employees, Ana Cabrera and Angel
Paneta, received The Watch Dog
Award from the Athletics Department. The Watch Dog award is given
to an individual for commitment to
the mission of the athletics, recreation and intramurals program, and
for help given from the heart that
was above and beyond the call of
duty. This year, Athletics gave out 3
awards, out of which 2 were received
by Facilities employees. Facilities
has received this award 2 years in a
row.
Ana also received an award from
Campus Activity Board (CAB) and
Student Life for her tireless work
and continued support and dedication to student events.
When asked how she felt about the
awards, Ana said: “I was so surprised!...When Student Life gave me
this plaque in appreciation...I cried.
I was so overwhelmed with joy. Day
in and day out, I come to work, do
what I have to do and make it happen for all the events or even for
regular work orders that come in.
Never expected anyone to actually
notice it. It’s a great feeling!”
The Department of Public Safety
also received an award from the
Student Council for unprecedented
commitment to student engagement. Kevin Cassidy, the Director
of Public Safety, received a plaque
on behalf of his department at a
year-end dinner organized by the
Student Government.
To continue a nice tradition started
last year, Facilities held its Staff Appreciation Day in May. The food
and refreshments for all employees
were complemented by a surprise
entertainment program where one
student brought his guitar and
sang. His introduction stated that
Facilities is the soul and blood of
John Jay College. To top it off, the
students made a banner with written thank you notes for Facilities.
It looks like students totally get
what employee engagement is all
about. Way to go, future leaders!
Ana Cabrera and Angel Paneta receiving
the Watch Dog Awards at the banquet
“Thank You” banner made for Facilities by
John Jay students
Twilight Concert Series
This summer we had another successful Twilight Concert Series on Jay Walk. Organized by Theater and Events Support
Services, free and open to public, the series is an ever popular
event offering attendees a chance to relax, enjoy wonderful
music and a glass of sangria. The artist on the night of July
29th was Monika Oliveira & The Brazilians, and on August
12th was Manuel Valera and New Cuban Express.
Monika Oliveira and The Brazilians with a dancing fan
Both events were fantastic. The musicians played with so
much passion and energy and the music was so lively that
some couldn’t help but dance their shoes off.
Finance and Administration Update, September 2014
Page 4
Li’l Jay’s Café Coming Soon
The opening of our newest food and beverage hub on campus is
just around the corner. No, it’s literally on the corner! Located
right on the corner of 58th Street and 11th Avenue, Li’l Jay’s Café is expected to be unveiled in the next few weeks. Food options
will include gourmet sandwiches, salads, snacks, pastries and
Starbucks brand coffees and blended drinks.
In the near future, once all the logistics are finalized, the café
will also have John Jay branded merchandise for sale. An announcement with further details on the opening date will follow.
Stay tuned...
Li’l Jay’s Café on the corner of 58th St. and 11th Ave.
13th Annual CUNY IT Conference - Save the Date
This year, on December 4th and 5th, John Jay will host CUNY’s Annual IT Conference for the 13th time. For
the past decade, it has been a great honor and privilege to host this important event that brings together progressive minds from all over CUNY and beyond.
The topic of this year’s conference is Change. Presentations by notable members of the CUNY community will
examine and discuss complex and essential questions such as: What shifts are taking place in the core enterprises of teaching, learning, and research? In what ways has our functioning as a university system changed?
What are we doing to make effective change more visible, more accessible, more supportable? and many others.
The event will offer overviews of the University’s key IT initiatives, discussions of how technology continues to
affect teaching, scholarship and administration, and a chance to meet with vendors.
Keep an eye on your inbox for an email from the University announcing the start of registration.
Annual Public Safety Day
Last semester, the Department of Public Safety held its annual Public Safety Awareness Day. Members of the
John Jay College community attended and heard presentations on Safety Tips from Detective Trent from
NYPD Community Affairs, Active Shooter Awareness by Kevin Cassidy, Emergency Preparedness by David
Rivera, Sexual Harassment Awareness by Silvia Montalban and Domestic Violence by Lorraine Belasco.
The program also included the recruiters from
NYPD, FDNY, and Court Officers in addition to a
private security company run by an alum, Stephen
Campbell. There was cellphone and laptop registration, as well as CUNY Alert registration. The Center
for Career and Professional Development, Community Outreach and Alumni Affairs also had tables
providing information to students attending. There
were raffles after every session and refreshments
throughout the day.
Many attendees expressed appreciation for the practical information they received.
David Rivera, Assistant Director of Public Safety, is speaking about emergency preparedness during the Annual Public Safety Day
Finance and Administration Update, September 2014
Page 5
New Space Reservation System Is Live
Our new Virtual Event Management System (VEMS)
is up and running!
This is a complete campus scheduling system that
integrates various schedules across the College. VEMS provides the College with precise information about the usage of our spaces. It makes the
scheduling request and approval process more
streamlined and efficient. It is a robust, intuitive, and
user-friendly system that allows users to browse various available spaces based on their specific requirements, choose from many added features, and place
holds on preferred locations.
The new VEMS link is located on Inside John Jay/Resource Center/Space Request. It replaced the previously
used Space Request and Audio Visual Services forms. All requests for space, Audio Visual Services and Video
Production Services are now done entirely through VEMS. The Facilities work order form is still required to
be filled out in the Archibus system for any facilities work such as set-up of the room and any electrical requirements.
Faculty and staff were trained on the new system over several weeks in summer. If your department has not
yet sent a representative to the training, please make an appointment by contacting Kim Karam at 212-2378005 or kikaram@jjay.cuny.edu
Haaren Hall Backfill Project Update
The major construction in Haaren Hall to
renovate many areas of the building on
2, 3, 4, 5, and 6th floors is well underway.
Sociology Department expansion
At this time, most of the floors remain
inaccessible to public use for the duration of the project. These pictures by the
Department of Space Planning and Capital Projects (SPCP) provide a glimpse of
the scale of work going on behind the
temporarily constructed sheetrock walls.
For more details and updates on the progress of the construction, visit the SPCP’s
webpage at www.jjay.cuny.edu/7391.php
Haaren Hall - 5th Floor South
We will continue to keep the College Community informed of all
construction-related activities via SPCP’s webpage and Important
Announcements. If there are any questions or concerns, please contact Ynes Leon, Director of Space Planning and Capital Projects at
ext. 8013 yleon@jjay.cuny.edu, or Holly Kallman at ext. 8885
hkallman@jjay.cuny.edu.
The project is expected to be completed in Summer-early Fall 2015.
Public Management, Pre-Law Institute and Undergrad. Studies
Finance and Administration Update, September 2014
Page 6
P-cards Policy Update
The John Jay College Purchasing
card (P-card) program is designed to be an efficient and cost
effective way to expedite small
dollar purchases. At this time the
P-Cards are only held by Purchasing Department personnel
but departments can utilize the
card by submitting a requisition
indicating a credit card purchase
is required.
P-cards should never be used to
purchase items that are considered CUNY Assets and are to be
tagged by the Property Management Department. Any items
that Property Managers currently
tag, including laptops, iPads, and
printers, CANNOT be purchased
using a CUNY Procurement Card.
If you have any questions, please
contact Wendy Fan at x8007 or
wfan@jjay.cuny.edu.
OFA Customer Survey
Last spring, due to heavy involvement in the CUNYfirst launch,
our office had to postpone its annual customer satisfaction survey
until fall– and here we are.
For those unfamiliar with this
survey and those who forgot what
it is, the survey is a vital instrument for the Office of Finance
and Administration to annually
asses the performance of its support services via soliciting feedback from faculty and staff. Since
its implementation, the survey
had been key in uncovering service areas that required attention
and serving as a valuable management decision-making tool.
The survey has two versions: general (with, well, general questions)
and specific (a detailed drill-down
conducted every other
year). This year we are
conducting a general
version of the survey.
The Office of Institutional Research will
administer the survey
via third-party software
which will collect the
results. The survey will
be completely anony-
mous and the OFA will not receive
any information that would enable
it to trace the responses to any
specific person.
Please keep an eye on your email
for an announcement with the
survey link, and when you receive
it, we ask that you take a moment
to complete the survey and share
your feedback. Your responses
will be used to help the Office of
Finance and Administration improve the quality of the services
we provide to you.
Thank you in advance for your
participation!
New Faculty and Staff Lounge in North Hall
A new Faculty and Staff Lounge opened in
April on the 1st floor of North Hall. The
space that formerly housed the Children’s
Center, was outfitted to become a place
where all faculty and staff can go for a resKitchen
pite with their colleagues, have lunch or prepare for their next class. The Lounge is furnished with sofas
and has seating capacity for at least 10 people. The dining area
is large enough for at least 23 people. There is a flat screen TV,
computers, and three built-in closets in the Lounge area, one
built-in closet in the dining area and lockers for faculty use.
Entrance Area
Published by
Robert Pignatello, Senior Vice President, Office of Finance and Administration
Alena Ryjov, Office of the Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration
If you have questions about the newsletter, please email us at aryjov@jjay.cuny.edu