Texas State Agency Business Administrators’ Association ... · cost-benefit analysis of the...
Transcript of Texas State Agency Business Administrators’ Association ... · cost-benefit analysis of the...
INSIDE Message from President | State Agency Wellness | Bi-Monthly Meeting
TheAdministrator
Texas State Agency Business Administrators’ Association • Volume 27, Number 4 • November 2009
continued on page 3
Meet Your 2009–10 Executive Committee
Instead of just providing the board member bios, again this year everyone was asked to answer a few interview questions. The answers make for fun and illuminating reading.
President Michael Doerr works with the Financials Process Management Team in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer at the Department of Aging and Disabilities Services (DADS). In this role, Michael performs process analysis and makes process improvement recommendations for the Budget, Accounting and Claims Management Divisions. Prior to this position, Michael worked 15 years for the Texas State Auditor’s Office, where he served as the Chief Business Officer for seven years. Michael has a BBA in Accounting and an MBA from Southwest Texas State University. He is a Certified Government Financial Manager, a graduate of the Texas Fiscal Officers’ Academy, currently attending the Governor’s Executive Development Program and Past-President of the Association of Government Accountants.
If you could have dinner with any three people (living or from history), who would you choose and why? “Three people I would enjoy having dinner with include George Strait, country singer; Bill Dance, professional bass fisherman; and John Wayne, movie star. Country music, fishing and the movies — Can you imagine the stories you would hear?”
What has been the biggest challenge in your career and how did you handle it? “One of the biggest challenges throughout my career has been developing effective strategies to facilitate organizational change. Researching theories on change management
ERP Comes to Texas
The 80th Legislature passed House Bill 3106,
which addressed the concept of Enterprise
Resource Planning (ERP) for the state. This
project refers to an integrated software
package that provides functionality
similar to the existing
legacy systems, such as
the Uniform Statewide
Accounting System, State
Property Accounting
System, Uniform
Statewide Payroll/Personnel
System and Standardized
Payroll/Personnel Reporting
System. The project
would also add critical functionality to the
systems currently in use by agencies and
institutions of higher education.
In June 2008, the ERP Advisory Committee
established by the Comptroller’s office initiated
a business case study (BCS) to be conducted
by an independent consulting firm (Salvaggio,
Teal & Associates) to develop a comprehensive
cost-benefit analysis of the legacy systems
compared to the new ERP project. The ERP
Advisory Committee used the information from
the BCS to recommend that the state replace
the legacy systems with a new fully integrated,
commercially-available ERP system based on a
“Hub” implementation model at a total funding
cost of $285 million. More information can
be found in the Plan for the Implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) for the State of Texas.
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2 The Administrator | Volume 27, Number 4 | November 2009
Action by the 81st LegislatureThe Legislature assessed the ERP plan during
the 2009 session. As part of its assessment, the Legislature took into consideration that several agencies had a compelling need to implement an ERP system in the short term. The Legislature weighed this need with the fact that some other states have failed to successfully implement ERP
on a statewide basis. As a result, the Legislature
approved a modified ERP plan with a smaller
scale approach to mitigate risk to the state.
Under the modified ERP plan, the Texas
Department of Transportation (TxDOT),
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and Department of Information Resources (DIR) will
be implemented on the new ERP HR/Payroll and
Financial system with the Comptroller’s office operating as the Application Service Provider (ASP). Once these initial participating agencies are successfully implemented and in productional use of the ERP system, additional agencies will be considered for ERP system deployment. Also, under the modified ERP plan, the five Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies will move to the new ERP HR/Payroll system with either the Comptroller’s office or HHS operating as the ASP. During the course of the ERP project, the HHS agencies will conduct a cost/benefit analysis to determine as a group if it is more cost effective for
the HHS agencies or for the Comptroller’s office to host and maintain their financial management system.
In the long term, the Comptroller’s office would operate as an ASP for all state agencies with the exception of institutions of higher education. Institutions of higher education would operate under a decentralized processing model as data reporting hubs. They would interface with the Statewide Data Warehouse platform, and their transactional data would interface with the new ERP system.
Project funding associated with the modified ERP plan was appropriated for the 2010–11 biennium. These costs included hardware, software, project management and implementation services. As project manager for this initiative, the Comptroller’s office is in the process of entering into interagency contract agreements with the initial ERP agencies to provide project oversight and secure funding for the project expenses described above.
Recent Activity• On Aug. 13, the Comptroller’s office issued
a Request for Offer to solicit pricing from qualified vendors for ERP Implementation Services.*
• On Aug. 25, the Comptroller’s office issued a Pricing Request for ERP Project Management Services. The Pricing Request was issued under DIR’s Contracts for Deliverables-Based Information Technology Services, Project Management Technology Category.*
• In Sept. 2009, the Comptroller’s office acquired a new “enterprise” license for the benefit of 143 authorized state agencies, including the five HHS agencies, TxDOT, DMV and DIR (the initial agencies implementing ERP).
*Note: The evaluation committee expects to make an award in Nov. 2009.
For the latest project updates, go to the Texas
Enterprise Resource Planning Web site.
ERP Comes to Texascontinued from page 1
November 2009 | Volume 27, Number 4 | The Administrator 3
Meet Your 2009–10 Executive Committeecontinued from page 1
models along with training classes have provided
useful information on the ‘emotional element’
of organizational change. Understanding what
folks are thinking and just as importantly feeling
is very important for the overall successful
implementation of change in an organization.”
Describe the most helpful business-related book you’ve ever read (or read recently). “The most recent
business-related book I read was the One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson.
One very important theme for this book is we need
to remember to take a moment out of each day to
look into the faces of the people we manage — and
to realize they are our most important resource.
Always remember it is through the efforts of
others that you are successful.”
What is your favorite food and where is the best place to get it? “One of my favorite foods is still the
traditional chicken fried steak with sides of mashed
potatoes and gravy and green beans. A nice side
salad with tomatoes is not only tasty but helps
with rationalizing the overall ‘healthy’ nature of
this wonderful meal. Two good restaurants for
enjoying a really good chicken fried steak include
the 15th Street Café in the Double Tree Hotel and
Threadgill’s. And don’t forget the ketchup.”
First Vice President Cecilia Whitley is
currently Deputy Director of HHSC Enterprise Contract and Procurement
Services. Before this position,
she spent 23 years with the
Texas State Senate, 13 as
Director of Purchasing. Cecilia was named
TSABAA Administrator
of the Year in 2007. In her leisure time, she volunteers with
the Down Home Ranch in Elgin (a place near and
dear to her heart), and she spends hours working
in her yard and quilting. Cecilia and her husband
love to travel and do so every chance they get. She has three wonderful boys who are all grown
and out of the house and on their own — what an
accomplishment that is.
If you could have dinner with any three people (living or from history), who would you choose and why? “St. Anthony of Padua — He is commonly referred as the Catholic Saint who is the ‘finder of lost articles.’ Let’s just say I call on him often. Cleopatra —I have a thing for Egyptians. Every time I visit the Met in New York City, I spend hours upon hours learning about their history. My great Aunt Bessie — She lived to 104, and I loved talking with her. She saw so many things in her lifetime, and I miss hearing her stories.”
What has been the biggest challenge in your career and how did you handle it? “The biggest challenge for me in my career is not being able to pay the employees who are dedicated state employees what they are worth. In my 24 years of state service, I have come across very talented individuals who give of their time and talent because they believe in what they are doing and believe they are making a difference. Being strapped with a budget and not being able to compensate them as they should be has been very difficult. The loyalty and dedication of state employees never ceases to amaze me.”
What is your favorite food and where is the best place to get it? “Big Nick’s restaurant in New York City. The menu is a book (no joke) you can get anything and everything from this place. It’s not so much the food as it is the atmosphere that is so wonderful. You literally sit right next to other patrons (NYC, what else would you expect), and every time I go I meet really interesting people from all over the world.”
Second Vice President Sandra Woodruff has served as the Director of Special Projects in the Fiscal Management Division of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts since March 1, 2006. Over the past 23 years, Sandra has worked on the statewide financial systems in various capacities. She participated in the implementation of the Human Resource Information System (HRIS) and subsequently in the redesign, development, implementation and conversion of
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4 The Administrator | Volume 27, Number 4 | November 2009
HRIS for institutions of higher education. Sandra
also led a team of state and contract staff in the
planning, development and implementation of
the Standardized Payroll/Personnel Reporting
System (SPRS). She then oversaw the conversion
of agencies to SPRS. Recently, Sandra has played
a key role in the planning and procurement of
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software,
project management and implementation
services. She directs staff in the planning and
implementation of desktop, Web and mainframe
systems in support of the Fiscal Management
Division. She is also involved in the interpretation
and implementation of payroll and personnel
policies. Sandra and her husband, Jody, enjoy
traveling and fishing together.
If you could have dinner with any three people (living or from history), who would you choose and why? “I would choose Robert Frost and Willem
de Kooning. Frost has a way of creating a vision
through his words, and de Kooning led an
interesting life and went through several phases in
his artwork. It would be fascinating to have dinner
and conversations with both of them.”
Describe the most helpful business-related book you’ve ever read (or read recently). “Since I’m currently
enrolled in an undergraduate program at Concordia
University, most of the books I’ve read lately relate
to my degree plan. However, I’ve really enjoyed the
textbooks on sociology and psychology, which have
given me some insight into a few of the issues that
have come up in the workplace.”
What is your favorite food and where is the best place to get it? “I love Chinese food — I could eat it every day! One of my favorite restaurants is P.F. Chang’s.”
Treasurer Daniel Benjamin is a Financial
Analyst in the Fiscal Management Division
of the Comptroller’s office, where he has
worked since April 2004. Before working
for the Comptroller, he was Manager of the Fiscal Management Section at the
Texas Lottery Commission. Daniel also
worked for several years as a consultant
and was as an auditor for Arthur Andersen.
He graduated from Southwest Texas State University with a BBA in Accounting in May 1991 and became a CPA in 1993. In his off time, Daniel enjoys spending his time with his family boating, water skiing and fishing. He is very involved with his two sons and coaching their various sport endeavors and assisting with Cub Scouts.
If you could have dinner with any three people (living or from history), who would you choose and why? “First would be Jesus. Being a Christian, I would love to speak with him. Second would be King Leonidas of Sparta. It would be great to talk with him about the battle of Thermopylea and get a real sense of what it meant to be a Spartan warrior. Third would be Goro Nyudo Masamune of Japan. He is recognized as the greatest Japanese swordsmith. I have always loved ancient weapons and really like Japanese swords.”
What is your favorite food and where is the best place to get it? “Super Beef Nachos with extra queso from Taco Cabana!”
Secretary Carla James is the Director of Staff Services at the Texas State Securities Board. Before joining the Securities Board in 2003, she served as the Executive Director of the Texas Incentive and Productivity Commission, Budget Analyst for the Legislative Budget Board and Program Director with the Texas Building and Procurement Commission (now the Texas Facilities Commission). Carla received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas at Austin in Political Science. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling the world with her husband Ray and spending time with her four “children” dogs.
If you could have dinner with any three people (living or from history), who would you choose and why? “Abe Lincoln, President Obama and finally the first female president (I know I am supposed to pick alive or historical, but I could not resist this one). Lincoln made a huge impact to history, Obama has a chance to do the same, and the first female president will be another historic event.”
Meet Your 2009–10 Executive Committeecontinued from page 3
November 2009 | Volume 27, Number 4 | The Administrator 5
What has been the biggest challenge in your career and how did you handle it? “The biggest challenge in
my career has been working with people reluctant
to change, and I’ve learned that patience can work
wonders.”
Describe the most helpful business-related book you’ve ever read (or read recently). “The most helpful
business related book I have read would be the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It was helpful in
allowing me to see that I don’t have to ‘try’ and
control everything in my life (especially work) and
that you have to pick your battles.”
What is your favorite food and where is the best place to get it? “My favorite food is Mexican, and I don’t
really care where we go as long as it is spicy… :-)”
Parliamentarian Lori Trank has worked
for the Texas Health and Human Services
Commission for nine years, the past seven as the
Manager of Accounting Operations.
Prior to that, she worked for eight
years in various accounting lead
positions at the Texas Education
Agency. She started her state
career in Texas in 1988 as an Adult
Probation Auditor with the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice.
Before moving to Austin, she worked for
a mortgage banker and a CPA firm in Northern
California. She graduated from San Diego State
University with a Bachelor of Science degree in
Accounting in 1981 and earned her CPA license in 1993. In her spare time, she likes to travel,
especially anywhere where they have casino gambling. She also enjoys country western
dancing and watching all types of sports.
If you could have dinner with any three people (living or from history), who would you choose and why? “Pope
John Paul II — He had amazing charisma and
such a kindness about him, especially for children.
I find him to be one of the most fascinating men
in history. Queen Elizabeth I — Such a strong and interesting woman, and so independent for her
time! Her reign was called the Elizabethan era,
which I find to be one of the most interesting in all of history for the clothing and architecture. George
Strait — I love all his music and the person that he
is. Plus, he looks awesome in a pair of Wranglers!”
What has been the biggest challenge in your career and how did you handle it? “My boss at the mortgage banking company I worked at in California was the owner and president and very chauvinistic. He’d made many inappropriate comments over the four years I’d worked for him, and most of them I just chose to ignore. I ran the entire office for him and also handled his personal business activities, even though those were not in the scope of my job duties. As the company grew, I convinced him to allow me to hire an assistant to help handle the workload. Several months into her tenure, he made the comment that he could easily hire her to do my job, and he’d only have to pay her half what I was making. So I said, ‘Be my guest,’ and quit on the spot. Actually, this was the motivation for me to pack up and move to Texas as I’d wanted to do for some time. In a way he did me a favor. In the end, he called me a couple of months later begging me to come back because my successor had made a huge mess of things after I left, and she clearly could not take my place. He had to have a CPA firm come in and do the books — the very same firm he’d hired me away from years earlier! Needless to say, I am very happy to be in Texas, and I’ve never looked back!”
What is your favorite food and where is the best place to get it? “I absolutely love Tex Mex and have several favorite places. El Arroyo is probably my most favorite. But my favorite meal is one my Mom makes for me on special occasions like my birthday. It’s beef tips and gravy over egg noodles — yum!”
Past-President Greg Herbert has been the Director of Accounting for the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) since August 1994. Previously he held the positions of Assistant Director of Accounting and Manager of Grant Reporting for the OAG and served as an Assistant State Auditor for the State Auditor’s Office. Greg received business degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and Southwest Texas State University, and is a Certified Internal Auditor, Certified Government Financial Manager, and Certified Fraud Examiner. In his leisure time, Greg actively restores antique automobiles, spends
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6 The Administrator | Volume 27, Number 4 | November 2009
TSABAA
Message from the Incoming President
As the next legislative session approaches, many of us are thinking about current environmental factors and the possibility of new legislation that will impact either our agencies or us as individuals. Very often, the first thoughts are assumptions that additional work may be added to an already full schedule or even cost-cutting measures that might affect budgets and resources.
While those are valid concerns, we also understand that from time to time, change is inevitable. When new mandates are initiated or changes made to existing requirements, there are always “dedicated” state employees who step up and take the initiative to successfully implement new programs, processes and procedures to achieve our goals.
During the many years that I have been an active participant in TSABAA, I can think of numerous occasions where I have contacted folks in other agencies to discuss plans for implementing the required changes. In a majority of those instances, my initial contact was through interactions at TSABAA conferences and bi-monthly meetings.
TSABAA was created to provide a central point for discussing and focusing on issues affecting the business operations of Texas state government. Throughout my professional career, I have emphasized the concept of teamwork to create a successful environment, and the networking opportunities with other TSABAA members create a great mechanism for sharing knowledge and ideas.
The membership of our organization is its strength. To further the mission of TSABAA, I encourage everyone to continue building your professional network and to support other members of TSABAA as we strive to provide quality services for the citizens of Texas.
Michael P. Doerr, CGFM
2010 TSABAA President
“Dedication i s not at others expe of you; it i s at you can give to others.”
Author Unknown
November 2009 | Volume 27, Number 4 | The Administrator 7
Personnel MovesOn Oct. 15, the ERS Board of Trustees
announced that Cheryl MacBride will be the newest member of the Board. Cheryl is filling the spot previously filled by Don Green. In addition, after almost 24 years at the General Land Office, Cheryl recently joined the Department of Public Safety as their Chief Financial Officer. Congratulations Cheryl!
Meet Your 2009–10 Executive Committeecontinued from page 5
time with his wife of 18 years and treasures every minute he can with his 13 year-old daughter.
If you could have dinner with any three people (living or from history), who would you choose and why? “Henry Ford, Agatha Christie, and Henry Winkler. Sounds like a strange combination, but these individuals have something in common. They all openly admit to being severely dyslexic and/or dysgraphic, and they all found ways to compensate for this adversity and become very successful in their field of work. Most people don’t know that due to his dyslexia, Henry Winkler has actually never ridden a motorcycle because he doesn’t have the ability to use the clutch, brake, and throttle simultaneously. Those scenes in Happy Days were just great photography of Fonzie. Winkler has also authored a dozen books about a fictional 10-year-old boy with dyslexia that have sold more that 20 million copies so far.”
What is the biggest challenge in your career, and how did you handle it? “Accepting the fact that there will never be enough time or available resources to develop and implement all of the innovative ideas and solutions that I envision is against my nature. I have had to learn to be thankful for the goals that have been attained so far — while quietly continuing to push for more. ”
What is your favorite food, and where is the best place to get it? “I can never go wrong with any type of fresh seafood. My real preference is to cook it at home myself, but when it is time to take my wife out for a relaxing evening, Trulucks is our first choice.”
Were you aware that the 80th Legislature amended the State Employee Health and Fitness Act of 1983 with several important changes affecting how state agencies implement their state employee wellness programs? For example, House Bill 1297 specifies that:
• Agencies are no longer required to submit a plan for review and approval and may implement a wellness program based on a model program and/or evidence-based components developed by the Department of State Health Services (DSHS).
• Agencies must designate an employee to serve as the wellness liaison between the agency and the DSHS Statewide Wellness Coordinator.
Some of the more popular aspects outlined in HB 1297 allow agencies to:
• Develop an agency wellness council.
• Allow their employees to participate in wellness council activities for two or more hours each month.
• Allow each employee 30 minutes during normal working hours for exercise three times each week.
• Allow all employees time to attend on-site wellness seminars when offered.
• Provide eight hours of additional leave time each year to any employee who receives an annual physical examination and completes an approved health risk assessment.
Extensive Resources for State Agency Wellness Initiatives Available
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8 The Administrator | Volume 27, Number 4 | November 2009
Statewide Agency Wellness Program Web SiteHB 1297 also calls for a Web site where agency leaders and wellness planners can find guidance,
data and statistics, model programs and policies, templates, forms and other resources to support their wellness initiatives.
The comprehensive Statewide Agency Wellness Program Web site focuses on seven priorities for state agency wellness programs to address:
• Increasing the use of preventive screenings and services,
• Improving healthy eating,
• Increasing physical activity,
• Improving tobacco prevention and cessation policies and benefits,
• Improving stress management,
• Increasing the use of Employee Assistance Program benefits, and
• Improving support for breastfeeding mothers.
The Web site offers the resources a state agency needs to get started on a path to wellness and provides practical steps for creating
a wellness program—one that can work for its
employees. To encourage those
who may be a little skeptical, the Web site contains some great success stories from agencies from around the state that have
launched their own programs.
Worksite Wellness Promising Practice Award ProgramThe Texas Public Health Association partnered with DSHS to sponsor the 2009 Worksite Wellness
Promising Practices Awards that were presented in October at the State Agency Wellness Conference. Four monetary awards of $1,000 were given to agencies that had implemented successful wellness programs or policies or changed the agency’s environment to support healthy habits. The awards to the
agencies will be used to support more wellness program activities.
The Comptroller of Public Accounts received the gold certificate in recognition of the agency’s successful Fitness Leave policy, which encourages employees to be physically active by enabling them to earn leave for participating in physical activities. The Texas Water Development Board’s “A Taste of Good Health – Healthy Food Tasting” won an award for awareness of healthy food options. Texas Tech University’s F.I.T. Tech won an award for a behavior change program to increase physical activity and healthy eating in faculty and students. And the Texas Legislative Council’s Farm to Work won an award for environmental change, by making fresh fruits and vegetables available at the worksite. Congratulations go out to all the agencies whose outstanding wellness policies were recognized at the conference.
For More InformationIf you have questions or would like to know more about the Building Healthy Texans Wellness Program, contact Statewide Wellness Coordinator Brett Spencer at (512) 458- 7111, ext. 6161, or [email protected].
Extensive Resources for State Agency Wellness Initiatives Availablecontinued from page 7
Farm to Work ToolkitA guide for
implementing
a local produce
delivery
program at
your worksite
November 2009 | Volume 27, Number 4 | The Administrator 9
Senior Investigator Ralph Disher of the State
Auditor’s Office provided a framework on how
to read people and make informed judgments
regarding the validity of their statements. When
engaging a person of interest, Disher states that it
is important to ask him or her questions that help
get a sense of how they communicate and better
understand their state of mind. Some examples of
these trigger questions include, “What do you do
on a normal day?” or “What would look for if you
were in charge?”
Disher gave four characteristics of how people
speak and why each is important when detecting
fraud:1. They tell you what is important to them
— this could be their family, job, money, religion, etc. Understanding what is important to the person can often be a clue to a potential motive.
2. They speak about relationships — It is important to pay attention to how and when people are introduced in conversations. Relationships may also define a motive.
3. They speak using pronouns — Pronouns matter because they represent a person’s reality. When a person changes their pronouns, they are essentially changing their reality. According to Disher, 80-90 percent of the admissions and confessions in people’s statements can be attributed to the way they use their pronouns.
4. They speak using time and distance — Most people talk with the same pace and in the traditional format of an introduction, statement, and conclusion. When either of these things changes, it is for a reason. When a person relates certain events, it is also important to notice gaps in time.
When taking all of these considerations in
mind, Disher stressed that you still must know
your audience. A person’s culture, ethnicity,
economic status and a host of other attributes
affect how the person communicates. In other
words, the “signs” might not always be the same.
Every situation will be different, so Disher
recommended that an open mind be used each
time a person’s communication is examined.
Disher also discussed the role
of the Special
Investigations
Unit of the
State Auditor’s
Office.
The Unit’s
mission is to
improve the
accountability of
government by investigating
allegations of impropriety
and illegal acts affecting
state resources. He
explained that if the head
of an agency has reasonable
cause to believe that state money may have
been misused in relation to the operation of the
agency, the agency head must report the reason
and the basis of the belief to the State Auditor.
Concerned employees are also encouraged to
report any suspicious activities or fraudulent acts
they encounter. Disher provided the following
contact information:
• Online Fraud, Waste, or Abuse Hotline • P.O. Box 12067, Austin, TX 78711-2067• State Auditor’s Office Hotline:
1-800-TX-AUDIT (892-8348)
All reports of fraud, waste, and abuse are held
in confidence. However, any person who provides
information to the unit may choose to remain
anonymous. When a person does report fraud
or abuse, they should provide as much detail as
possible so that appropriate action can be taken.
Disher encouraged people to e-mail him at
[email protected] if you have any
questions.
September Bi-Monthly Meeting UpdateUnderstanding What People Say – Detecting Fraud in Language
10 The Administrator | Volume 27, Number 4 | November 2009
CreditsEditorDavid Galanski
Contributors Paul Campbell, Michael Doerr, David Galanski, Greg Herbert, Vince Houston, Joni Sager, Brett Spencer, Ben Strauser and Sandra Woodruff
Art DirectorJulie Vela
Texas State Agency Business Administrators’ Association
2010 OfficersPresident
Michael DoerrFinancials Process Management
Department of Aging and Disability<[email protected]>
438-5319
First Vice PresidentCecilia Whitley
Deputy Director of Enterprise Contract and Procurement Services, Health and Human Services
Commission<[email protected]>
206-4571
Second Vice PresidentSandra Woodruff
Director, Special ProjectsTexas Comptroller of Public Accounts
<[email protected]>463-4947
TreasurerDaniel Benjamin
Financial Analyst, Fiscal ManagementTexas Comptroller of Public Accounts
<[email protected]>936-6295
SecretaryCarla James
Director of Staff ServicesState Securities Board
<[email protected]>305-8331
ParliamentarianLori Trank
Manager of Accounting OperationsHealth and Human Services Commission
<[email protected]>424-6527
Past PresidentGreg Herbert
Director of Accounting Office of Attorney General
<[email protected]>475-4375
“Shootout at the YO” Theme of Mid-Winter Conference
It’s just about time to dust off those cowboy boots and mosey on over to the YO Ranch Resort and Conference Center in Kerrville for the 30th Annual Mid-Winter Conference. The conference is scheduled for Jan. 13-15, and as always, there will be a passel of opportunities to network, exchange ideas, and acquire new tools to assist in your personal and professional development.
Although the program is still in the process of being corralled, you can bet “all in” that there will be informative and entertaining presentations on the latest statewide initiatives, communication techniques, and motivational topics.
So be sure to check the TSABAA Web site periodically for additional details and registration information. You can call the YO Ranch Resort and Conference Center at (877) 967-3767 for reservations today.
Learn About the 5th Habit of Highly Effective People at the Dec. 3 Meeting
At the next bi-monthly meeting, Jenny Newman will be presenting the FranklinCovey company’s 5th habit from the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People course: “Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood.” This session will help you understand problems, resulting in targeted solutions, and promote better communications, leading to successful problem-solving. Newman is a Professional Development Specialist at the Texas State Auditor’s Office. Her areas of expertise range from financial concepts to training the trainer to individual needs assessment, with one of her specialties being developing your strengths at work. She is certified to teach the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People course. For more information, see the Bi-Monthly Meetings page on the TSABAA Web site.
“Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood”