April 22, 2020

To: UAPB Employees
From: Carla M. Martin, Vice Chancellor – Finance & Administration
Subject: Overcoming The Challenges Of Covid-19

We are living and working in the middle of history as it is being made. How we react during this period will also be written as our history and it will define our future. We are strong…not just when times are easy. We are strong…in the midst of difficult times like these. Our strength is showing and it makes me proud. This pandemic – COVID-19 – is stretching us and it is making us operate outside our normal daily activities. Thank you for your commitment of excellence as we serve our students and one other.

Like many of you, Finance and Administration has altered how we work so we can be in accordance with guidance provided by Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Below is a brief update detailing how we are continuing to operate in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Budget Office (Ms. Belinda Ingram) – Operations have continued as usual. Those requiring budget adjustments, fund checks, or PAF processing have been submitting the required documentation via email to Ms. Ingram. Once she has processed the requests, she routes them to the next reviewer.
• Facilities Management – Facilities Management staff has remained on the front lines to ensure the sterilization of our campus facilities. During the absence of most of the campus, Facilities Management has also focused on the many deferred maintenance needs of the campus and the completion of construction projects.
• Controller’s Office – Although the Cashier’s Window is closed, students are capable of making payments to their accounts via WebAdvisor and paying Graduation Fees via the UAPB Shopping Cart. Accounts Payable is running checks on a weekly basis to ensure payments are going out to vendors. Please email invoices, send them through campus mail or drop invoices in the basket outside the Controller’s Office’s door for processing.
• Human Resources – Information in response to the CARES Act as well as the Families First Coronavirus Response Act was provided to employees from HR. Time and Effort Reporting continues to be a focus as well as the processing of time sheets and PAFs.
• Technical Services – The migration of many systems has moved to the cloud. Technical Services continues to support employees and troubleshoot technical issues for our students.
• Procurement – The processing of requisitions has transitioned to being completely electronic. Those requisitions requiring additional signatures have been secured thanks to Procurement’s purchase of DocuSign.
• Printing Services/Mail Center – Campus operations are at its peak on Thursday as the Mail Center and the Print Shop are on site to complete print jobs, deliver mail, and accept mail drop-offs.

I encourage you to keep coming up with ways to serve our students and colleagues while remaining socially distant. I encourage you to check on those you love. I encourage you to be kind to yourself and others during this unpredicted time in our lives. I encourage you to remain hopeful that one day we will return to our offices and that our campus will be pulsating with life as students inhabit our dorms and classrooms!!

Thank you and please stay safe.