In recent years, changes in University of California policy and California law have impacted our processes at UC Riverside. Because these changes will alter ways of working for most faculty and staff in addition to those directly responsible for financial transactions, I want to call your attention to the work of Impact23 and SB 27, a California Senate Bill that was passed into law last year and took effect in 2024.
But first, it’s important to highlight the philosophy and organizations that affect our ways of working.
Over the last two years, the Impact23 initiative at UCR aimed to replace outdated software and systems for travel, project and grant management, and accounting. Prior to this initiative, the last major finance software update was in 1999 in preparation for Y2K, long before many technologies we use today had been developed. Additionally, the UC Office of the President has required all campuses to switch to a common accounting system. You may have heard of the term Chart of Accounts, or COA, which is the type of accounting system we now use. This allows UCOP to standardize reporting practices across the system, given that they are responsible for the UC-wide financial audit.
Implementing change is a challenge, even when upgrading to systems with greater capability. If you are not yet familiar with Impact23, I encourage you to visit the website where you can access the objectives, known issues, training, and other support.
Within a public entity, procurement’s highest priority is to assure open and fair opportunities for private vendors. We must also abide by strict policy and safety standards. We have both state and UC system requirements that may govern vendor choice; and, when UCR receives federal contracts or grants, we must also comply with requirements set forth by the awarding agency, such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Agriculture (USDA), and National Institutes of Health (NIH), among others.
A new law, SB 27, which establishes many requirements on UC vendors as it relates to compensation for the vendors’ employees, will also impact our processes. This new law helps to support fair wage/fair work standards, but does come with some significant overhead for our vendors. Specifically, the law requires vendors to meet salary and benefit parity with UC for their staff, provide vendor employees with written notices regarding contracted compensation rates, and pay employees according to the rate listed within the contract or face fines and penalties. Moreover, it requires documentation from the vendors confirming their compliance with these requirements.
As we continue to implement Impact23 and understand California SB 27, we will distribute more information about how they impact you. While operational changes may cause some frustration as we work through new processes or update software programming to fit our needs, we will work to keep you informed. In the long run, these changes allow us to align with regulation and policy to carry out our responsibilities and meet our objectives.
Please anticipate updates and more information on these topics from Planning, Budget, and Administration.