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ORED Financial and Business Services (OFBS)

OFBS Team

  • John Jackson, Assistant Vice Chancellor, and Assistant Dean of the Agricultural Experimental Station
  • Ariel Harrison, Director of ORED Financial and Business Services
  • Rosalina Aranda, Project Policy Analyst  
  • Tammy Burgess, Business Systems Analyst
  • Crystal Galvan, Chief Administrative Officer
  • Carla LaBass, Executive Assistant to the Vice Chancellor for Research

OFBS Overview

ORED Financial and Business Services provides support, guidance, and leadership in the areas of Finance and Accounting, Strategic Planning, Personnel Management, Recharge Administration, Procurement/Travel, General Administrative Operations, including procedures, policy, and guidelines for all business units under the ORED division. The units we serve are listed below with a link to their respective websites.

  • Office of Research Development (ORD)
  •  Vice Chancellor for Research (VCR)
  • Research Compliance & Integrity (RCI)
  • Office of Technology, Innovation, and Industry Relations (OTIIR)
  • Sponsored Projects Office
  • Contracts and Grants Accounting
  • Natural Reserve System
    • Yosemite Sequoia Field Station
    • Merced Vernal Pools Grassland Reserve
  • Organized Research Units
    • Health Sciences Research Institute (HSRI)
    • Sierra Nevada Research Institute (SNRI)
    • Community and Labor Center
  • Campus Core Facilities
    • Stem Cell Instrumentation Foundry (SCIF)
      • Cleanroom
      • Cytometry
    • Department of Animal Research Services (DARS)
    • Stable Isotope Ecosystem Lab of UC Merced (SIELO)
    • Imaging and Microscopy Facility (IMF)
    • Environmental Analytical Laboratory (EAL)
    • Imaging and Microscopy Facility (IMF)
    • Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)
    • Biostatistics and Data Systems (BDS)

What we do

  • Finance and Accounting
    •  ORED Financial and Business Services (OFBS) is responsible for the allocation of funding to all departments, institutes, centers and core facilities under the Office of Research and Economic Development. The Director of Operations, Ariel Harrison, works with the department directors to provide oversight and guidance on state, private, federal, extramural, endowment, and recharge funding to ensure compliance with all relevant regulations and policies. Specific service list below.
      • Budgeting and forecasting
      • Recharge Administration -Responsible for providing formal oversight of all recharge operations within the These include the Stem Cell Instrumentation Foundry (SCIF), the Stable Isotope Ecosystems Laboratory (SIELO), the Environmental Analytical Lab (EAL), the Department of Animal Research Services (DARS), the Imaging and Microscopy Facility (IMF), the Biostatistics and Data Support (BDS), the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) facility, and the Natural Reserve System (NRS) –Research Field Station at Wawona. ORED Business Operations works with facility managers to provide cost effective billing and receivables services to users of the facility. Specific services include:
        • Act as a resource and guide
        • Monitors recharge revenue and expenditure accounts
        • Recharge billing and allocation of revenue
        • External Clients
          • Facility Use Agreement Form
        • Internal Client Service Agreement
        • Recharge Proposal Process
          • Becoming a recharge unit
          • Establishing a recharge rate
          • Invoicing
          • Software Support
            • iLab System, UC Merced’s Core Facility Management tool
          • Documents and reconciles recharge revenue against associated expenditures activity
    • Budget Call 
    • VCR funding commitments
  • Personnel Management
    • Provides high-level support in the areas of personnel management and payroll for current and prospective academic and non-academic appointments under the Office of Research and Economic Development. This unit is responsible for providing guidance on policy interpretation and best practices related to personnel and payroll matters. Specific services provided include the following.
      • Processing of new appointments, reappointments, merit, reclassifications, position reviews, performance evaluations and separations.
      • Provides guidance and assists managers and supervisors with recruitment and onboarding of new staff to include moving and relocation
      • Responsible for monitoring deadlines for performance evaluation submission.
      • Designated authority for merit distribution and data upload
      • Processing of payroll, payroll adjustments, sick leave and vacation
      • Provides guidance on policy interpretation
      • Collaborates with Campus HR staff to provide assistance on labor relations and collective bargaining agreements
      • Collaborates with Academic Personnel Office (APO) to stay abreast of changes in policy
      • Coordinate visas including, J-1, H-1B, F-1 with OPT status and Permanent Residency
      • Maintain employee records within the department’s central repository
      • Identity Management for all academic and non-academic appointments
  • General Services
    • Responsible for processing various general service requests that typically require interaction with central units like Facilities management, IT, Help Desk, Locksmith Services, CAT Card Office or Division of Finance and Administration. Specific services provided include the following.
      •  Act as a resource and guide
      • Space Management Requests
      • Key Card Access Requests
      • Training
      • Self Service Model
        • Financial Systems Services (FSS)
        • Oracle
        • Concur
        • Service Now
        • Cell Phones
      • Document Management
      • Communications
      • Tracking
        • Inventory
        • Space Management
  • Business Systems
    • Responsible for maintaining multiple electronic based systems within ORED. Overview of systems with link to the specific system below.
      • CAYUSE SP/424
        • Technical Support
        • Data integrity
        • Training
        • Upgrades
        • Updates
      • iLab
        • Technical Support
        • Training
        • New user set up request